Billy Mays Has Died **UPDATED**
by John Nolte
UPDATE: Here’s a terrific piece of video of Billy and Sully with Neil Cavuto. Looks like Billy was a Republican, but both most certainly come across as genuine, warm, positive class acts. Some sites describe Mays as a “pop-culture icon.” Well, we could use a hundred more like him. Terrible loss. END UPDATE
Sometime last night or this morning St. Peter was greeted with the famous words, “Billy Mays here!” Fox News is reporting that television pitchman Billy Mays is dead. He was only 50.
Just last month I posted a review of “Pitchmen,” an entertaining and compelling Discovery Channel reality show starring Mays and his friend and fellow pitchman Anthony Sullivan. In the weeks since, the show only improved becoming much more than a celebration of American ingenuity, but also of family, friendship and generosity.
Obviously we can never truly know someone through a television program, but that Mays was a self-made man who loved having his son close by and enjoyed a lasting and close friendship with Sullivan isn’t in doubt. The show also displayed an individual who took great joy in using his fame to help others and who put the integrity of the product above the quick buck.
Good-humored, fiercely intelligent, a lover of life, and the best in the world at what he did … if I could snap my fingers and make it so, this would be the life capturing the world’s imagination today.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Tips & Feedback
99 Comments
Too bad it is too late to trade his death for Michael Jackson. A truly decent man, he will be missed.
As a man in his later 40's I'm again shocked and saddened with the passing of man my age, this should be a scary wake up call for middle age men everywhere. Jacko seems to have been a healthy 50 year old that used drugs to help him to his demise, I'll be interested to see what the happened with Billy Mays…condolences to his family.
This is sad news. This guy was a great American and there are so few in public life. His death isn't bigger news than Michael Jackson's, but it is certainly worse.
I agree with Alex. I really liked Billy Mays. I still don't know exactly why, but there was something about him that your just liked. Maybe it was the enthusiasm, maybe it was the fact that he just seemed like a nice guy. RIP Billy Mays.
Dropping dead of a heart attack is the first reported sign of cardiac trouble for men about half the time, iirc. Even testing does not always show a problem, people just drop. But get checked out anyway.
What is going on in the world??!! A very good friend of mine, at age 54, died last week *instantly* of a heart attack. Left behind two boys, 17 and 15.
Now Billy Mays … he seemed like a decent guy. I'm sorry for his loved ones. RIP.
Agreed.
Nicely put, my friend.
Holy ****.
Are you serious? I remember seeing his commercials all the time(he made an impression on me because he reminded me of Bob Villa, who of course I got to know from Home Improvement. I've only seen one episode of Pitchmen, but I go to say, it was really addicting. I wouldn't mind seeing a couple more episodes.
R.I.P. Terrible time to be a celebrity.
Unbeleivable news. I am devistated. He was a great example of finding success by thinking outside the box.
Ya, sage advice for all of us that might be silently dying, and not know it. Can you imagine what Obamacare will do to the truly venerable targets of this administration, i.e., middle age white men? How a modern POTUS can have such contempt and quiet hate for the people that make this country work is breathtaking. Dismantling his damage will be a eight year project starting January, 2013.
Nice piece John – RIP Mr. Mays.
True, he really invented his own industry, in a way…that's the American way.
It was a very enjoyable show and Sullivan and Mays where stand up guys it seemed…. It is a shame, that he passed and he will be missed by friends and family…
RIP, Billy!!!
God speed, Mr Mays.
I have to be honest and say that his commercials annoyed the living daylights out of me. However he did seem like a nice enough person.
RIP Billy
BTW, I had heard that he had flown into Tampa on a flight that blew a tire while landing or just before and luggage fell out overhead and he was one of the persons who got hit with some. I wonder if that might have been the reason also, maybe a blood clot if he were hit in the head, that sort of thing.
It could be a leg aneurysm too. I understand that happens way more than people realize when they fly.
My dad died at 42. Once a man gets past 40 it all goes down hill unless he spends a lot of time at the doctor.
Well, Ron Popeil invented it, but Billy Mays certainly took it and ran with it.
I don't know much about him, but I always thought, "now there's a guy who exemplifies part of what makes America great."
When I heard about his passing, I actually felt bad because I never bought anything from him.
The curious part is sometimes you are not dying until you are, a bit of plaque breaks off a blood vessel wall or some injury throws a clot, then blockage then death. I got lucky, after an exhausting schedule and stress I found out sometimes arteries will squeeze themselves smaller, I overheard in the ER I was in "full clampdown." With some of the arteries closing up from "normal" build-up it was a noticeable warning.
I thought cardiovascular disease hit black people harder than whites? To cut back on treatment for such a "preventable" disease, why he would be throwing the most noticeable part of his heritage under the bus for political gain.
Scratch that, already done.
So it was a Natasha Richardson sort of thing? Initially mild head trauma that was actually much more damaging?
I never saw his show, we don't have cable at present, but I'd seen his infomercials over the years. There was really something unique about him, he was so easy to like.
Rest my friend,.
"A human life is a story told by God." ~Hans Christian Andersen
Agreed…I feel sorry for the guy's family and he seemed like a decent guy, but I really wish he could've toned down the commercials. Now I feel guilty that I muted the tv whenever he came on, LOL.
[...] original post here: Billy Mays Has Died This entry is filed under America – Blogs, Big Hollywood. You can follow any responses to this [...]
When I learned BM was dead I asked which one. Sadly it was the middle Billy Mayes
Now, his death is a real loss, IMO, and there is nothing in his background to indicate he was a predator of little boys.
He leaves behind an adult son and a very young daughter. I'm glad I got to know him for a brief time through Pitchmen. He made himself rich through making other people rich. He was an entrepreneur, a bit of a prima donna, and a consummate salesman. He will be missed.
He and Sully recently bought a private plane. I sure wish he had taken it to the Oxyclean shoot instead of flying commercial (assuming that ends up being the cause of death). But, maybe once your name is on the Post-It, there's no escaping your fate.
That is sad. I'd rather watch an entire day's worth of his infomercials than sit through Michael Jackson's vids.
As someone who's been in sales for a few years now, I admired this guy. He was a self-made man who represents the best of capitalism.
This was the best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWPwrIVk6v4&fe...
"Live sports at work? That's better than work at work!"
Now we need 7 more posts on his life just to prove that he was more important than some insane abused pedophile. I saw his commercials they were good. This guy I'll miss.
I hear we finally have MJ's case of death.
A Lightning Bolt
DAMMIT!
"Now my job is way less soul crushing!" I love that line.
I wish I could get that thing to work on my laptop.
There is speculation that there may have been a slow bleed in the brain. Early reports state that he was in an airplane that landed at Tampa International (I think, yesterday) that had it's front tires blow out. As a result of the rough landing, some of the things in the overhead bins fell out and he was struck on the head. His comment was (paraphrased) "I have a hard head." He didn't wake up this morning. A friend of mine working in the TV industry in Orlando knew him well (she's a techie) and is devastated.
a fitting tribute: 21- KA-BOOM! salute
I got a text at work that said "Billy Mays was a great man." and I thought sure it was some sort of joke in the wake of MJ's death, but sadly all too real. He embodied the upbeat, can do spirit that typifies the best of America.
RIP
I liked the man. I was amazed at his recent loss of weight.
Loved OxyClean! Only thing that would get blood, grass stains, and mud out of whites without turning them yellow!
How awful for his family. I pray God comforts them in their loss.
BH reads like an obituary lately that’s five personalities in the past few weeks. RIP Billy Mays.
[...] wife inside his Tampa, Fla., home at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Tampa Police Department. Billy Mays was 50 years old. This concludes one brutal week for celebritity deaths. Billy Mays, eD McMahon, Farrah Fawcet, and [...]
Bonus points if you name the one who really should not have mattered as much.
A bureaucrat will glance at your medical file and decide whether expentiture of the government money that controls healthcare under Obamacare is "cost effective" in your case and sentence you to death. Death by bureaucrat, the Obama legacy…
Wow, that could be it…kind of like the tragic death of Miranda Richardson from what seemed like a "minor" bump to the head…WOW, thanks for the scoop.
Is it awful that I feel more horrible over Billy Mays death than Michael Jackson? I was more shocked… but I guess it's cause I have been seeing his Arm and Hammer commercials as of late and just saw him on Conan… :/
Ya true about Mr. Pocketfisherman, Ron Popeil. Mays seemed more the pure pitchman while Popeil was a "mad genious" inventor type…both examples of why America is the greatest country on Earth.
I don't know if any of you have any Billy Mays stories but here's mine. Years ago when my youngest brother was four, a Billy Mays OxiClean commercial came on. When that commercial ended, my little brother, with absolute sincerity, asked my dad to buy him OxiClean.
What a damn great saleman you must be if you can sell cleaning products to a four year old.
He will be missed greatly. =(
Not to be nit-picky, but it was Natasha Richardson. Miranda is still alive– don't want to spread the news of any more deaths. Too many people are dying as it is.
[...] Hollywood has an obit for the Big Pitchman, Billy Mays, who passed away today at age 50. TMZ, aka, CSI:Hollywood has the early speculation of his cause of [...]
You know I always sensed that Billy Mays had integrity and sincerity when he was selling stuff. I sold cars for the better part of 25 years and sincerity and honesty really would keep you successful in a business full of criminal fast buck artists. People can sense B.S. when it's getting laid on them, kinda like when Obama or Pelosi sell, but honesty and integrity can't be faked. One year a nice young couple came to see me at Covert Ford in Austin and the wife was visably pregnant and the told me they couldn't buy the Expedition the wanted that day but would in the future as soon as they could. About three years latter a young couple walked up to my desk with a little girl holding a littledoll, it was the same couple, now ready to buy. I had never been so gratified to make a sale in my life because they trusted me and came back to me and rewarded me with their business after waiting years. That's how sales is supposed to work, not contentious and ugly by both sides. Mays was a PRO, RIP Billy Mays.
and Andrew Sullivan and Vince "ShamWow" as pallbearers in addition to his his family, it would be fitting and the right thing.
As another longtime salesman I second your sentiment. That he could have fun at his own expense with that great ESPN commercial shows me alot about a guy that loved his work and didn't take himself to seriously. That's the definition of confidence and composure, and a life well lived.
If only Billy Mays had molested some children, then maybe he would have gotten the 24/7 news coverage like Michael Jackson.
OOPS, I'm sorry! …and thank you, wrong Richardson, still a great tragedy. Perhaps if Canada had BETTER and more EASILY ACCESSABLE HEALTH CARE…..she'd be alive today…two hours by land to a suitable hospital, that's criminal, and socialist…kind of the same thing….
Me too.
I just liked Billy. I couldn't put my finger on it as to why – all I knew was that he made me want to laugh and I felt better afterwards. Now, reading all of the obituaries about him, I finally understand. Billy Mays was simply a genuinely nice person. God speed, Billy.
To bad to hear about a man who made it in the world through hard work. The days of men(or women) working hard to get ahead are numbered . The incentive to work hard to build a lifestyle for yourself and family is being destroyed by the Socialists who want to disincentivize hard work and ingenuity.Work hard and have it taken away for those who refuse,the Obama way,thanks Barry.
Ditto. I think he also had a bit of "every man" appeal.
I hear Canadians are starting to get worried about our switch to socialized health care. If we change our system– they'll have no where to go when they can't get decent care at home.
Actually six celebrates Natasha Richardson, Liam Neeson’s wife. Perhaps that will satisfy the Gods, “things happen in threes.” right! I’ll take the bait on your question, MJ?
Ya, I'm sure. I saw an interview with a Canadian doctor. She said unapolgetically that because she had a house full of teenagers that she limited her practice to one and half days a week. Period. If you didn't make it in to see her, too bad, so sad. She stated that there was NO INCENTIVE for her to work harder and she was enjoying being with her kids most of the time. I was England a few days ago, same problem. People are resorting to PULLING their own teeth, because the way the system is set up a N.H. Service dentist has NO INCENTIVE to see you. He/she gets paid the same for one filling or ten. They're trying to reincentive the dentists by introducing a registration system for when they see government health care patients, i.e., not private pay but they're still working it out. Welcome to our future NIGHTMARE. Health care is NOT A BASIC FUNDEMENTAL RIGHT. This is lunacy.
What people don't realize is that these anecdotes are not aberrations, they're commonplace. This is what we have to look forward to. Horrible.
Good evening BH posters. Stage Right do you know if the Lamb"s Theatre is still open/operating on a regular basis? It was located somwhere on 8th Avenue . (sorry-I don't remember the cross street. At the time I was there it was in the red light district and this was in the early 1980's.) They had established a reputation as "the theatre where you can't say any bad words" and was also, I believe, where Godspell had its first production before expanding to a wider audience. We can produce conservative plays, dance, film, and literature. This may be the best time to do so with so much disgust and disillusionment with the powers that be.(the MSM,current administration, the cultural elites, etc.) The question is when and where to "pick our spots". If the Lamb's is still open, it could be a prime venue.
This makes me sad…RIP Billy. Didn't know you were a neighbor. Tampa got a little less friendly.
.
Absolutely. He seemed like a regular guy. I totally respect that. Life is too short for pretensious people.
when Billy entered the pearly gates…bet he said BILLY MAYS HERE…and God welcomed him AND bought the product!
Okay, famous people need to stop dying. Or maybe we need fewer famous people in the first place, so when people die, we won't hear about it as much.
Wow. So young, RIP, Mr. Mays. I just watched "Taken" for the first time last night on PPView, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but it crossed my mind several times during the film, that Liam Neeson was going to lose his beautiful, beloved wife in a freak accident in the very near near future, and that during filming of "Taken", he didn't have a clue. None of us do. So many deaths lately. Unbelievable. I only heard recently that Ed McMahon was a Marine. How impressive, and what a shame the deaths of so many decent people are being overshadowed by one. I'm hugging my family a lot more these days.
Ain't that the truth!
Far to many Good Celebrities have died lately (the gloved one isn't in that list) and far to many Bad Celebrities refuse to take the hint and stop breathing. I wonder if we could work out a trade with God. We'll give him Sean Penn, Perez Hilton and three player's to be named later, for Farrah, Ed and Billy………Just a thought…..
Michael Jordan? Oh man, I knew he was past his prime and must have been in severe pain what with all those Icy Hot ads, but still…
Kidding. But the judges want a better detailed answer next time.
That's the going theory. <shrug>
*MissQuinn*
Always loved Billy Mays, and not just because he was from my home town of McKees Rocks, Pa. Gotta LOVE that Pittsburgh accent … "The Paaahhr of Or-nge Oilhl." A man who achieved his American Dream, and made those who watched him glad he did. RIP, to a favorite son of The Rocks. Yinz in heaven are gonna love having him around.
I have my own tribute to Billy, including his great appearance on Conan just a few days ago, here:
http://infinitemonkeysblog.com/?q=node/6469
"Pitchmen" is the best show on the Discovery Channel.
RIP Billy Mays
Rest in peace, Billy Mays.
I'll miss you a hell of a lot more than I'll miss jacko.
Subdural hematoma. It's what my somewhat educated guess is.
Nolte hit the nail on the heard with Mays, we'd all be better off with more Americans like him. I hate to see good guys die…..
"Looks like he was a Republican, BUT. . ." he somehow managed to be a nice guy anyway? Wow, you can even squeeze a political dig into a quick post about a celebrity death. Classy.
I liked your story James, you must have made a good impression for them to remember and come back to you.
I loved Billy Mays! He cracked me up every time a commercial would come on. Seemed like a nice man, who was self-made with a good family. What a shame.
His commercials with all that shouting drove me nuts, but I have to confess…in my pantry you'll find OxiClean, Kaboom, and OrangeGlo! Billy was the greatest pitchman ever and it's nice to learn that he was a decent guy, too. Condolences to his family.
We are already seeing rationing, just where we normally do not see it. In PA for Medicaid you get the "ACCESS" plastic card to carry around, which is evoking Sunday's Day by Day cartoon. My neighbor on SSI (lost a leg), she had to scour to find a dentist who took the card within three counties when she had a very painful tooth that needed to be fixed or pulled. There were about two that accepted it for children only, the one they finally found was working from a major hospital but insisted on first cleaning the teeth, taking any x-rays, then making her wait for a second appointment.
The Medicaid reimbursements are so low that only dentists with very large practices can afford to take them, and when they do they either show mercy on the children or have a way of getting multiple billings out of it.
One, they expect to squeeze even more money out of that system?
Two, on the other hand, they are more generous on dentures, new sets every so-many years.
A government-run system that cannot even take care of the ones they are mandated to provide for, forcing people to go private pay or suffer. I have heard for awhile now this is happening in the UK, and they want it here? If the dentists cannot survive now, will we still have dentists when government reimbursement levels are the rule?
[...] Big Hollywood, in a touching appreciation, reports Billy Mays was a Republican. Not a big surprise. Self-made man, the embodiment of American free enterprise and homespun ingenuity. Not to mention traditional hucksterism. No cruel jokes about Bush-Cheney WMD infomercials, please. I don’t want to have to trot out any cheap “Hope and Change” shots at a time like this. [...]
I have to agree with you two. He seemed like a nice enough and genuine guy, but when his infomercials were on, my volume control will miss him more than I will.
Still, America needs more of his kind not less.
I can't put my finger on it either. He just seemed like the guy you'd bump into at the mall and wind up having beers with.
It's a damn shame, he will be missed.
Yes…I'll admit I tried OxyClean, and those hooks, too. And yes, the hooks DO work
Of the four pop culture icons that died this week, it saddens me to see the media concentrate on the perverted psycho, and not the others. Actually, "saddened" isn't what I feel, so much as "angered". My furiousity is peaking….
Godspeed, Mr. Mays
He was more entertaining to watch than the products he pitched.
My condolences go out to his family.
The Skunk episode of Pitchmen had me rolling in laughter… And to think he was just getting ready to sign the deal to be the spokesperson for Taco Bell… (or so FOX said.).
"Looks like Billy was a Republican,"
…so if he was a Democrat his death wouldn't matter?
You people are disgusting.
RIP Billy. Like many here, I was a fan, and his death shocked and moved me way more than Michael Jackson's.
I wonder if the knock on the head he took the day before his death had anything to do with it; seems on the surface he had a brain bleed a la Natasha Richardson. A true tragedy.
…."You people are disgusting. "…..
No, there will be a few Dems shoot each other today in Detroit or Philly to make up for the loss of Billy.
I figure he's worth about 10 of them. Any Democrat pediphiles out there could get some demerol to make the bullet not smart going through the brain pan.
It would, you should have seen the grieving Nolte went through when Paul Newman died.
Also, that phrase was an UPDATE! Added to the post AFTER it was posted. But such trivial things go under your radar.
John Nolte praised him BEFORE he found out his political allegiance.
But, alas, that would require looking carefully at the post and thinking it through (two abilities you obviously lack)
Also, there is no proof in the column that his death would not matter if he was a Democrat. His political affiliation was secondary. Something added AFTER the post was put on the web, You are a moron.
So that is why the Dems are gun-banners when they can get away with it, they do not like losing their entrapped voter base.
YELLING is not selling. My MUTE button might miss him but I doubt it.
Mays died a much better death than MJ. I loved his show and will certainly miss him.
This was really a devastating loss. As a infomercial producer, he was somebody I really wish I could have gotten to work with.
What do you mean "you people"? : )
His commericals were always much louder than the show you had just been watching. It was extremely annoying to have to turn that volume down.
I don't know anything about the guy, but he was darn loud.
Ok I know I am in the distinct monority but until last night I had no idea who Billy Mays was. I guess I don't watch enough television.
Speaking of which who was that pitchman who sorta went beserk in a motel room?
So, are you saying John Nolte is a Liberal?
Vince Shlomi, aka Vince Offer. The ShamWow guy and Billy's mortal enemy. He shouldn't have been in a motel room with a hooker, but if his story is right and she bit his tongue, I guess knocking her around to get free was justified.
Exactly, AC! We people didn't say diddly about his politics anywhere I can see here. Bite me, trolly jerk.
You must be logged in to post a comment.