Billy Mays

Pitchman Billy Mays starred in dozens of television infomercials that gained notoriety on YouTube and spawned a variety of humorous re-dubs and remixes. On the morning of June 28, 2009, Mays was found dead by his wife in his Tampa, Florida, home. He was 50 years old.

On June 29, 2009, TMZ released the audio of the 911 call Mays' wife made upon finding his lifeless body. An autopsy showed Mays' suffered from heart disease and suffered an apparent heart attack.http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mays-autopsy30-2009jun30,0,3463271.story

Mays was known for his distinctive, booming voice and enthusiastic, gregarious manner. Appropriately, he began his career selling gadgets on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ, and hawking home improvement wares at home shows. With Orange Glo, more opportunities to appear on the Home Shopping Network and infomercials followed. Mays became so recognizable, he was eventually given his own reality series, Pitchmen. Several whole channels on YouTube are dedicated to remixing and redubbing Mays' various advertisements (many of them making it appear that Mays is yelling profanities or rambling incoherently).

The day before his death, Mays was on a US Airways flight that blew out its front tires upon landing at Tampa. Mays told reporters he had been hit on the head during the crash, but did not appear to be injured. (His final update to Twitter discussed the crash but did not mention an injury or pain). There is currently no evidence that the crash and Mays' death are connected.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529328,00.html

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