1958-2009
Infomercials King Billy Mays was found dead in his Tampa home by his wife this morning. He was 50 years old.Tampa, Fla., police confirmed he was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m. today. An autopsy is expected to be completed by Monday afternoon.
His wife, Deborah, released the following statement: "Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days," she said. "Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times," she added.
His son opened up about his father's death on social networking website Twitter: "My dad didn't wake up this morning," he wrote. "He's gone.
Mays was on board a US Airways flight that blew out its front tires as it landed at a Tampa airport yesterday. None of the 138 passengers and five crew members were injured in the incident, but several passengers reported having bumps and bruises, according to several reports.
At this time it is not known whether or not Mays' death was related to the incident.
Mays was born in McKees Rocks, Penn., on July 20, 1958. He began his career as a salesman on the Atlantic City boardwalk, selling the Washmatik portable washing device to passersby. He later traveled to home shows, auto shows and state fairs for 12 years, selling maintenance cleaning products, tools and household gadgets.
His rise to fame stems from informercials he did for a company called Orange Glo International, a Denver-based manufacturer of cleaning products founded by rival salesman Max Appel, whom Mays met at a Pittsburgh show in 1993.
The company hired him to promote its line of cleaners, including OxiClean, Orange Clean, Orange Glo and Kaboom on the Home Shopping Network. Sales of the products he pitched rose sharply after his first day on the network.
After the Home Shopping Network campaign came successful TV commercials and infomercials featuring Mays demonstrating the effectiveness of the products to viewers. Mays immediately stood out for his loud sales pitch--minute-long rants about whatever product he was promoting. (Personally, I hated the shouting.)
The rants worked, and OrangeGlo International was named among the top 10 privately growing companies from 1999 to 2001 by Inc. Magazine. It later was purchased by Church and Dwight, and Appel reportedly attributes much of the comopany's success to Mays' brilliant salesmanship.Mays eventually founded Florida-based Mays Promotions, Inc., as he has appeared in commercials for many "as seen on TV" products and demand for his services increased.
In February, Mays publicly challenged Vince Shlomi, also known as "Vince Offer" to a "pitch-off" between their products: Mays for Zorbeez and Vince for Shamwow. Popular Mechanics magazine compared the absorbency of two towel products and declared Shamwow the clear winner.
In April, the Discovery Channel began airing Pitchmen, a documentary series featuring Mays and Anthony Sullivan doing their jobs in direct response marketing. On the June 10 episode it was revealed that Mays' trademark blue shirt was the idea of fellow pitchman Sullivan before the OxiClean commercial shoot in 1999.
Sources: BNO, Wikipedia
Copyright © 2009
Bernald L. Madoff was arrested on Dec 12, 2008, by federal agents accusing him of running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, the largest in Wall Street's history. (Hiroko Masuike/Getty)
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