Billy Mays Passes Away

[d_m_n_n]

DEVELOPING: Television pitchman Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets — died Sunday, FOX News confirms.

Mays was found unresponsive by his wife inside his Tampa, Fla., home at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Tampa Police Department.

Police said there were no signs of forced entry to May's residence and foul play is not suspected. Authorities said an autopsy should be complete by Monday afternoon.

Mays, 50, was on board a US Airways flight that blew out its front tires as it landed at a Tampa airport on Saturday, MyFOXTampa.com reported.

US Airways spokesman Jim Olson said that none of the 138 passengers and five crew members were injured in the incident, but several passengers reported having bumps and bruises, according to the station.

Authorities have not said whether Mays' death was related to the incident.

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

How sad...

[ASweetLov]

Wow another death! May he RIP

[badkitty]

Oh, my. How sad. Only 50 years old. Too young.

[scoot241]

Wow. I've been enjoying watching Pitchmen too.

He also has a young daughter and a son who's in his early 20s. His son works with him on the informercials as a production assistant.

[kakn7294]

How sad! Of all of the recent celebrity deaths, I think his is the most shocking and unexpected for me.

[PirateLover]

My family and I have always gotten a kick out of his infomercials and I have enjoyed watching Pitchmen. Very surprised to hear this sad news. R.I.P. Billy Mays.

[vorpalswrd]

I really loved watching Pitchmen. He had a young daughter and a son with a bright future. This really saddens me.

[VWL Mom]

Read on another site that he was actually hit in the head by a piece of luggage on yesterday's flight and walked away joking. Dead the next day, how sad.

[Melanie]

Gosh, wonder if it could have been the same type of head injury Natasha Richardson died from. How sad. :(

[Diznee4Me]

Read on another site that he was actually hit in the head by a piece of luggage on yesterday's flight and walked away joking. Dead the next day, how sad.

A news crew was at the airport when the plane landed and spoke with him as he was getting his luggage. He said a piece of luggage hit him on the head but it was "hard" and he was ok. Sad to see him joking and knowing he would be dead within hours. :(

[diz_girl]

Very sad. His daughter is only 3 years old. Supposedly he was a very nice guy. When his ex-wife told reporters how wonderful he was, that really says something about him. I'm going to miss seeing him on TV.:(

[MNNHFLTX]

There's the possibility it was related to the incident on the airplane. But at his age, there is a chance it was a heart attack too. I guess the autopsy will tell.

This is so sad. I didn't realize he had a daughter that young. :(

[MickeyMousse]

I read that the autopsy revealed heart disease as the cause of death and that there was nothing to indicate any brain injury from the hit on the head.

It's so sad.....we really enjoyed watching his commercials and Pitchmen. He seemed like a very nice person.

[brownie]

Billy Mays' autopsy shows he died of heart disease, coroner says

from the Los Angeles Times

A medical examiner in Florida says Mays, a voluble TV pitchman, showed no evidence of head trauma. Mays said Saturday he had been struck on the head while aboard an airliner that made a rough landing.

By Michael Muskal
10:19 AM PDT, June 29, 2009

Billy Mays, who elevated the art of the television sales spiel to a fevered pitch, apparently died of a heart attack, Florida authorities said this morning.

Preliminary autopsy results show that Mays suffered from hypertensive heart disease, Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Vernard Adams said during a televised news conference this morning. Toxicology and tissue tests will take several weeks before a final cause of death is issued, he said.

Mays, 50, was found dead in his Tampa home on Sunday after returning to Florida on a commercial flight that sustained a rough landing on Saturday. Mays had said that he had bumped his head during the touchdown.

But Adams said the autopsy showed no evidence of trauma to the head, either external or internal.

The autopsy showed that Mays' heart was heavier than normal because the left ventricle had enlarged, a symptom of heart disease, Adams said.

Adams said authorities had ruled out prescription drug abuse. Mays was taking prescription painkillers Tramadol and hydrocodone for hip pain, but the pill counts showed that Mays had taken the correct amount, according to the medical examiner.

[DizneyRox]

All I can say is SHAMWOW! Surprising, and I was just getting into the Pitchmen. Turns out it's a pretty good show!

Hollywood is in turmoil these days with all the deaths.

[d_m_n_n]

"TAMPA (AP) — An autopsy report shows that cocaine use contributed to the heart disease that suddenly killed TV pitchman Billy Mays in June, officials announced Friday.
The Hillsborough County medical examiner's office previously determined that the bearded, boisterous TV spokesman had a heart attack in his sleep. His wife found him unresponsive in bed in their Tampa condo June 28.

Mays was a pop-culture fixture with his energetic commercials pitching gadgets and cleaning products like Orange Glo and OxiClean.

While heart disease was the primary cause of death, a report released Friday by the medical examiner listed cocaine as a "contributory cause of death."

The medical examiner "concluded that cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of his heart disease, and thereby contributed to his death," the office said in a press release.

The office said Mays last used cocaine in the few days before his death but was not under the influence of the drug when he died. Hillsborough County spokeswoman Lori Hudson said nothing in the toxicology report indicated the frequency of Mays' cocaine use.

Cocaine can raise the arterial blood pressure, directly cause thickening of the left wall of the ventricle and accelerate the formation of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, the release said.

The toxicology tests also showed therapeutic amounts of painkillers hydrocodone, oxycodone and tramadol, as well as anti-anxiety drugs alprazolam and diazepam. Mays had suffered hip problems and was scheduled for hip-replacement surgery the day after he was found dead.

The McKees Rocks, Pa., native 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.

He got his start on TV on the Home Shopping Network and then branched out into commercials and infomercials. He developed such a strong following that he became the subject of a reality TV series, Discovery Channel's Pitchmen."

This news really makes me sad... :(