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Ubiquitous Adman: TV pitchman, tied to OxiClean and other products, found at home by his wife; cause of death unknown

AP Photo

Billy Mays fires a burst of bugs at the windshield of a car while filming an infomercial for a windshield wiper blade in Safety Harbor, Fla.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: June 29, 2009

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 that Mays was found unresponsive by his wife yesterday morning. A fire rescue crew pronounced him dead at 7:45 a.m. It was not immediately clear how he died. He had said he was hit on the head when an airplane he was on made a rough landing Saturday, and Mays' wife Deborah told investigators the TV personality didn't feel well before he went to bed 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 any more questions about how Mays' body was found. The coroner's office expects to have an autopsy done by this afternoon.

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

US Airways confirmed yesterday that Mays was among the passengers on a flight that made a rough landing 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 after the incident.

"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."

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

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.

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

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

Recently he had been seen on commercials for a wide variety of products and is featured on the reality TV show Pitchmen on the Discovery Channel, which follows Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs. He had also been seen in ESPN ads.

His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches won Mays plenty of fans. People line up at his personal appearances for autographed color glossies, and strangers stop him in airports to chat about the products.

"I enjoy what I do," Mays said 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 an ad spiel on the dance floor at the reception. Visitors to his house typically got bottles of cleaner and housekeeping tips.