Go Back   Colonial Fleets > ALTERNATE UNIVERSES > Miscellaneous Entertainment
Notices
Miscellaneous Entertainment Talk about any other shows not covered by other forums.

Reply

 
Thread Tools
Old June 28th, 2009, 03:02 PM   #1
CaptainHawke
Warrior
 
CaptainHawke's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Somewhere out there
Posts: 159

Default ANOTHER one taken from us!!!

TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home

Billy Mays's rise to iconic status began with an ad for Oxi Clean. His TV personality even started a Halloween costume trend, with shouting encouraged. (By Chris Omeara -- Associated Press)

The road to becoming the Elvis of TV pitchmen involves diversified products, from left: a toilet cleaner, a vacuum and an engraving tool. Mays used the advertised wares, too: "I have Handy Switches in my garage. I have Hercules Hooks." (Sullivan Productions)

(Sullivan Productions)



TAMPA, Fla. -- Billy Mays, the burly, bearded television pitchman whose boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean made him a pop-culture icon, has died. He was 50.

Tampa police said Mays' wife found him unresponsive Sunday morning. A fire rescue crew pronounced him dead at 7:45 a.m. It was not immediately clear how he died. He said he was hit on the head when an airplane he was on made a rough landing Saturday, and his wife, Deborah Mays, told investigators he didn't feel well before he went to bed about 10 p.m. that night.

There were no signs of a break-in at the home, and investigators do not suspect foul play, said Lt. Brian Dugan of the Tampa Police Department, who wouldn't answer questions about how Mays' body was found because of the ongoing investigation. The coroner's office expects to have an autopsy done by Monday afternoon.

"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days," Deborah Mays said in a statement Sunday. "Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."

U.S. Airways confirmed that Mays was among the passengers on a flight that made a rough landing on Saturday afternoon at Tampa International Airport, leaving debris on the runway after apparently blowing its front tires.

Tampa Bay's Fox television affiliate interviewed Mays afterward.


"All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping," MyFox Tampa Bay quoted him as saying. "It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."

Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said linking Mays' death to the landing would "purely be speculation." She said Mays' family members didn't report any health issues with the pitchman, but said he was due to have hip replacement surgery in the coming weeks.

Laura Brown, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said she did not know if Mays was wearing his seat belt on the flight because the FAA is not investigating his death.

U.S. Airways spokesman Jim Olson said there were no reports of serious injury due to the landing.

"If local authorities have any questions for us about yesterday's flight, we'll cooperate fully with them," he said.

Born William Mays in McKees Rocks, Pa., on July 20, 1958, Mays developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other "As Seen on TV" gadgets on Atlantic City's boardwalk. For years he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.

AJ Khubani, founder and CEO of "As Seen on TV," said he first met Mays in the early 1990s when Mays was still pitching one of his early products, the Shammy absorbent cloth, at a trade fair. He said he most recently worked with Mays on the reality TV show "Pitchmen" on the Discovery Channel, which follows Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs.

"His innovative role and impact on the growth and wide acceptance of direct response television cannot be overestimated or easily replaced; he was truly one of a kind," Khubani said of Mays in a statement.

After meeting Orange Glo International founder Max Appel at a home show in Pittsburgh in the mid-1990s, Mays was recruited to demonstrate the environmentally friendly line of cleaning products on the St. Petersburg-based Home Shopping Network.

Commercials and informercials followed, anchored by the high-energy Mays showing how it's done while tossing out kitschy phrases like, "Long live your laundry!"

Sarah Ellerstein worked closely with Mays when she was a buyer for the Home Shopping Network in the 1990s and he was pitching Orange Glo products.

"Billy was such a sweet guy, very lovable, very nice, always smiling, just a great, great guy," she said, adding that Mays met his future wife at the network. "Everybody thinks because he's loud and boisterous on the air that that's the way he is, but I always found him to be a quiet, down-to-earth person."


His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches won Mays plenty of fans for his commercials on a wide variety of products. People lined up at his personal appearances for autographed color glossies, and strangers stopped him in airports to chat about the products.

"I enjoy what I do," Mays told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. "I think it shows."

Mays liked to tell the story of giving bottles of OxiClean to the 300 guests at his wedding, and doing his ad spiel ("powered by the air we breathe!") on the dance floor at the reception. Visitors to his house typically got bottles of cleaner and housekeeping tips.

As part of "Pitchmen," Mays and Sullivan showed viewers new gadgets such as the Impact Gel shoe insert; the Tool Band-it, a magnetized armband that holds tools; and the Soft Buns portable seat cushion.

"One of the things that we hope to do with 'Pitchmen' is to give people an appreciation of what we do," Mays told The Tampa Tribune in an April interview. "I don't take on a product unless I believe in it. I use everything that I sell."

His former wife, Dolores "Dee Dee" Mays, of McKees Rocks, Pa., recalled that the first product he sold was the Wash-matik, a device for pumping water from a bucket to wash cars.

"I knew him since he was 15, and I always knew he had it in him," she said of Mays' success. "He'll live on forever because he always had the biggest heart in the world. He loved his friends and family and would do anything for them. He was a generous soul and a great father."
CaptainHawke is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 29th, 2009, 04:59 PM   #2
skippercollecto
Squadron Leader
 
skippercollecto's Avatar
 


Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Ohio
Posts: 1,038

Default Re: ANOTHER one taken from us!!!

What's freaking me out is that he also was just 50 years old.
skippercollecto is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 29th, 2009, 07:26 PM   #3
Gemini1999
Strike Leader
 
Gemini1999's Avatar
 
FORUM STAFFFleet Moderator
Colonial Fleets

Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Citrus Heights, CA
Posts: 3,544


Default Re: ANOTHER one taken from us!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by skippercollecto View Post
What's freaking me out is that he also was just 50 years old.
Mary -

I read an article later on in the day that said that Billy Mays was hypertensive and that his death was heart related because of that.

I know what you mean though - these 50 year olds are dropping here and there and I just turned 49. It really hits home, eh?

Bryan
__________________
"When Commander Adama sees these, he's gonna go crazy!" - Col. Tigh - "Saga of a Star World"

"If you love long enough, wish hard enough, anything is possible" - From The Boy Who Could Fly
Gemini1999 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 29th, 2009, 08:40 PM   #4
Dawg
Great Wise Guru
 
Dawg's Avatar
 
COMMAND INSIGNIAAdmin
ColonialFleets.com
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDCo-Owner
TombsofKobol.com
Owner/Webmaster
DirkBenedictCentral.com
Colonial Fan ForceCo-Founder
Colonial Fan Force

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Pacific Northwest, USA
Posts: 5,009


Default Re: ANOTHER one taken from us!!!

Another one younger than I am.

And Gale Storm died yesterday, too, at 81. Actress from the '40's and '50's, big on TV in the '50's.

And I saw a story that Fred Travalena died today. For those of you who don't recognize the name, you'd recognize many of the 400 voices he did. Spot-on imitations. He was big in Vegas and on the late-night talk shows. Leukemia at 66.

Yes, I am feeling old tonight.

I am
Dawg
__________________
"...I aim to misbehave." Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, Serenity.

My Places:

DirkBenedictCentral.com, Facebook: Dirk Benedict Central Twitter: @DBCdotCOM Dirk's appearances: Appearances

Tombs of Kobol
Dawg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 30th, 2009, 03:11 AM   #5
gmd3d
Major
 
gmd3d's Avatar
 


Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Ireland
Posts: 5,114

Default Re: ANOTHER one taken from us!!!

cannot say I ever heard of people mentioned .. sad to hear about any death
__________________
Formally Taranis
My Blog

"The world is my country, science my religion.”
gmd3d is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 30th, 2009, 05:35 AM   #6
BST
Snowball, My Angel Baby
 
BST's Avatar
 
COMMAND INSIGNIAAdmin
Colonial Fleets

Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Somewhere across the heavens... aka Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 9,184


Default Re: ANOTHER one taken from us!!!

Billy Mays passing away hits close to home for me.. he's a "Pittsburgh boy", born and raised in McKees Rocks, which is just outside the city limits of Pittsburgh, down the Ohio River.

Although I tend to be very wary of "big mouth hawkers" like that, his story was one of those rags-to-riches, "hometown boy makes the big time" type of stories and, I was genuinely happy for him and his success.

His passing at 50, coupled with that of Michael Jackson, at the same age, was a double dose of reality and mortality for someone who is closely approaching that age.

It truly makes one pause and look around, taking in the beauty that life has to offer since, none of us know when that "look" will be our last.


My sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends.







Rest in Peace

Billy Mays






__________________
Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
The night is falling
You have come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore .


Children are a message that we send
to a time that we will never see.
BST is offline   Reply With Quote

Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump




So sez our Muffit!!!

For fans of the Classic Battlestar Galactica series



COPYRIGHT
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:33 PM. Contact the Fleet - Colonial Fleets - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top
Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.11, Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content and Graphics ©2000-Present Colonial Fleets
The Colonial Fleets Forums are run by Battlestar Galactica fans, paid for by Battlestar Galactica fans, for the enjoyment of fellow Battlestar Galactica fans.



©2000-2008 Colonial Fleets