Posted on 06/28/2009 10:13:41 AM PDT by JoeProBono
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY Billy Mays, best known for his high-energy infomercials, has died at the age of 50.
Police have confirmed that he died Sunday morning. He was found at home by his wife at 7:45 a.m.
Police said there was no sign of a break-in, and they do not suspect foul play.
The coroner's office expects to have an autopsy done by Monday afternoon.
Mays became famous for his amped-up infomercials and spots on the Home Shopping Network. His ads featured him shouting about the virtues of products like OxiClean and Orange Glo while demonstrating their efficacy.
Most recently, he teamed up with fellow pitchman Anthony Sullivan for the Discovery Channel documentary "Pitchmen."
Mays was a passenger on the US Airways 737 aircraft that took a hard landing at Tampa International Airport on Saturday, an airport spokesperson has confirmed.
Mays posted about the incident to his Twitter account.
"Just had a close call landing in Tampa," he wrote. "The tires blew out upon landing. Stuck in the plane on the runway. You can always count on US Air."
Officials have not said if his death is connected to that incident.
Mays' wife, Deborah, released a statement Sunday.
"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' son, Billy, posted to his Twitter account Sunday morning.
"My dad didn't wake up this morning.. I'm sure you'll all hear about it. It hasn't yet hit me but it's about to."
Michael sang to me,
Billy screamed at me!!
Nuf said!
Billy must have been REALLY tired of the Jackson coverage.
Kind of grew to like Billy from watching pitchmen. In fact it was on when his death was announced.
What’s with the awful title of this thread?
Just kidding. Rest in peace Billy.
That is a real shame.
I liked the Pitchman TV show. He seemed like a good guy who helped a lot of people.
Yesteday he was on a commercial flight that landed hard and blew a tire. He got hit in the head by a piece of luggage of something and joked that it’s a good thing he had a hard head.
I wonder if it’s related?
Seemed rather young....heart I suppose.
Well, I won’t say I was a huge fan of the guy, but it’s sad that he died. He was still fairly young by today’s standards, and he was far less obnoxious than a lot of other folks on tv. *cougholbermancough*
Officials have not said if his death is connected to that incident.
Sat what?????? He had a somewhat close call the day before (not so nerve-racking as to keep him from tweeting) and it might be related to his death?
That's not reporting, it's just typing.
For some unknown reason, the gods are cleaning house.
No pun intended.
when i first heard this i thought “ Is God ridding the world of annoying celebs who are 50 yrs old?” oxyclean sucks but i really like the orange glo, that’s good stuff. i almost did not try it because of ol’ billy screaming at me about it. rest in peace mr. mays.
DRUDGE has not even mentioned this.
Is Ed McMahon still dead?
“Michael sang to me,
Billy screamed at me!!”
Both were rather high pitched;-]
“What’s with the awful title of this thread?”
Caught your eye did it? Are you a fan?
Seems quite likely ... undiagnosed subdural hematoma? did he refuse medical attention yesterday? Perhaps there is a lesson-to-be-learned there.
Prayers up for his loved ones.
Officials have not said if his death is connected to that incident.
Apart from the roughness of the landing, could it have been deep vein thrombosis? Just brainstorming.
CC
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.