Pitchman Billy Mays Dead at 50 - King of Infomercials Billy Mays Joins List of Recent Deaths

Infomercial Salesman Billy Mays Joins the Growing List of Media Icons Who Have Recently Died

Television pitchman and king of infomercials Billy Mays was found dead in his Tampa home on June 28, 2009 at age 50. While his name is not as famous as other media icons lost in June, when it came to television products, Billy Mays was the voice of a generation. As a young woman in sales, I began to follow the career of Billy Mays in the 1990s.

Billy Mays - Early Years in Pennsylvania

Billy Mays was born July 20, 1958 and grew up in Pennsylvania where he played high school football, later dropping out of college to become a salesman. Mays was always unapologetic about his career and selling style, in fact, he was rightfully proud of it. I once heard Billy Mays talk about how pitch men get the largest crowds at the state fairs. Those old carnival barkers influenced Mays when he first started his career on the Atlantic City boardwalk, selling the Washmatik portable washing machine to tourists and other passersby (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mays). Between state fair barkers and the other salesmen on the boardwalk,

Billy Mays - "Yell and Sell"

Billy Mays soon developed his own style of enthusiastic, loud selling which he called "Yell and Sell." He took his sales technique on the road, traveling to home shows, auto shows, and state fairs across the United States selling a variety of household products. It was at one of these trade shows in Pittsburgh where Billy Mays met the founder of Orange Glo International in 1993. He was hired by Orange Glo to sell their line of cleaners including OxiClean and Kaboom on the Home Shopping Network which is where he started to make a name for himself as sales shot up his first day on the job. While many found his "yell and sell" abrasive, the majority of viewers liked him and bought whatever Billy Mays was selling. This led to his long career doing infomercials.

Billy Mays - Mays Promotions