omg- yes! how awful! I was just reading he had just got off a flight that blew out the tires- and a few people had bumps- but, nothing major – no one was really hurt. What a shock!

He was so full of life and to die so suddenly and unexpectedly is a shock.

He was a great pitchman. He loved his work and he knew how to do it best. What a loss, my sympathies to his family and friends.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBIT_...?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

so do you think the pitchmen show will still go on without Billy mays?

Probably will, but it just won’t be the same. He was just too full of life and excitement for anyone to take his place. A real showman. He would have been perfect for the “Music Man” musical.

The British guy will have a lot of weight on his shoulders to continue and make work. I hope he makes it work.

My heart just sank when I heard about Billy Mayes, still cannot believe it! Loved the show Pitchman and DVR’d last wednesdays showing. A fantastic show of what goes on behind the scenes. I hope they will continue the show. My Warmest Sympathies to his family & friends.

some of you may agree with me. i believe that our own EN pitchman Ron komorowski would be a good replacement for Billy mays!

Roflmao!

This was very sad and surprising news. My prayers go out to his family.

Do any of you know if they’ve pulled Billy’s ads from TV? I haven’t seen a single one of his commercials today. It seems eerie.

I have DirectTV and they were still showing his ads this afternoon – before your message, Susan. At the time I remarked that maybe they should put in a little preamble about his death but the commercial just ran as usual. And again and again.

Very sad…..

I doubt that they will continue the show. What gave the show its spark was the friendly rivalry between Anthony and Billy. There is not another pitchman out there who is as recognizable to the public as Billy Mays was. He was truly an original, and he will be missed.

Blilly Mays death will preform a service. People will be made aware that if they have a head injury they MUST seek treatment. This alone could save many lives.

That is true Phillip. Remember the actress Natasha Richardson who died because of head injury this winter? Sad.

Joseph…thanks for the compliment but nobody can replace Billy. Billy was Billy…unique. I am close with the producers and invited for some involvement next year…I have some ideas…maybe even more now.

Maybe Billy Mays Jr. could step in….who knows…all I know is I am VERY upset. People did not see all that was filmed with me and Billy. I was DIFFICULT with him and didn’t even deserve the coverage that way…but he really believed in me and my purpose and did say some special things about me knowing damn well from the start he wasn’t getting a dime of business out of me…he still helped me and put me on the grand stage.

Billy also got up and hugged me during filming and said “I love your passion” He ’s a salesman. He does things for money….but with me he saw I was too stubborn to give up “the show” to him, hand the ball off to him…he still backed me up because he simply wanted my cause to do as well as possible.

Maybe there is still something I can do to help Billy back…maybe do something for his son who is entering the business…we’ll see….I’m thinking.

Response Magazine news on Billy:

http://www.responsemagazine.com/responsemag/Bre...

He most likely died of heart disease says medical examiner:

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/06/29/billy...

But still, you should go get x-rayed if you ever have a head injury no matter what.

I have a DRTV product that was scheduled to be filmed in two weeks with Billy Mays. I wish his family well.

That’s pretty good Don! Sad situation of coarse, but you should tell us more of how you got to that level and about the product. We are all here to learn!

Billy’s production company will surely go on. www.4blindmicetv.com I am sure you will still be working something out and Billy’s family will still be financially linked.

Hopefully I can one day do an infomercial with his son to re-pay Billy for helping me on the Pitchmen show. I was VERY difficult to Billy…he still supported what I was doing knowing he would not make a dime off of my product. He respected that I was going on myself to promote my own product. That was clear, yet he still put me on the show and said wonderful things about me and my product.

Billy was not just a salesman. He was a genuine good guy that cared and tried to do good. I saw that first hand with myself which the general public probably can’t see.

When you analyze it and break it down. Billy let me use his “stage” on the show for no financial interest because he wanted to help me. He certainly got my major purpose of helping handicapped and injured in parts of filming that were cut.

The Discovery producers told me Billy and Anthony make the final decisions…“it’s their show”

I believe that DRTV sales may drop without Billy mays.

Billy Mays was an American Icon. I deal direct with film companies and with DRTV marketing firms. They write the script and hire the actors. I just get a licensing percentage on sales. A great place to get info on DRTV film and marketing companies is RESPONSE magazine. I think you can view past issues online. Just about everything you need to know about DRTV is in past issues.

Just saw the season finale of Pitchmen and thought they did a nice job remembering Billy. He was such a character. I wonder if the show will return. It won’t be the same without Billy, but think it is still a worthy show about helping inventors.

I really enjoyed the last Pitchman show last night. First time I watched it and learned a lot. Billy May’s said time and again that a new product has to have that WOW! factor. Even if I have a product that solves a problem that most people have, it has to have that WOW! factor to get people to reach into their pocket and buy my product. I will keep that in mind with all my products. Even in death Billy Mays is still teaching us how to make are dreams come true. God bless him and his family, so sad.

Yes Ed…we can learn as inventors for a very long time from Billy Mays even still. He will always be a legend.

I feel terrible because he really helped me on the show even though he knew I would not do an infomercial with him from the beginning…I was too difficult with him too (cut from the show). My sales are booming and volume has increased yet because of the tribute yesterday….making me feel worse.

I just received they latest UIA newsletter and by clicking on one of the news stories, it took me to this about Lessons from Billy Mays:

http://inventors.typepad.com/absolutelynew/2009...

i watched the pitchmen last night and saw that Billy mays helped several inventors become millionaires.

I believe the death of Billy mays may be the end of the pitchmen show due to the fact that the pitchmen is not on the air tonight.

Joseph, I agree. It would be like trying to have Batman and Robin without Batman. There are no other Pitchmen out there that could fill that spot. Maybe someday after someone is established like Billy was, it will return. But for now, I think the show will be tabled.

It’s probably not on because the finale was last week.

I was wrong about the pitchmen being off the air. a matter of fact it is on tonight.

There is no doubt that Mr. Billy Mays is the greatest hype / pitch man for Inventors ever! The reason why I say “is” because his work will live on! Many continued prayers to his family.

Just saw on the news that cocaine contributed to the death of Billy Mays. He had heart disease, and the coroner said that it was taken sometime prior to his death. Sad :(

it just goes to prove that drugs kill the rich as well as the poor.illegal drugs, what are they good for, Absolutely Nothing.

Actually legal drugs kill a lot more than all illegal drugs combined …..Billy Mays was on a slew of legal drugs also….guy had a bad hip i’m told…R.I.P.

Another sad chapter in the story of his death. Still, he was a heck of a salesman.

More about this:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/08/07/florida.mays.cocaine/

For what it is worth, I think we should keep focused on the good he has done other’s, helping many live their dreams and not so much here say, be it the media or just by someone over hearing a conversation about him. Let’s keep him and his family in our prayers and let him finally rest in peace. Knowing his style, this is what he more than likely would say, The show must go on!

Nicki Hi,

I do agree.

I also agree

I hope that this finding will not overshadow all that Billy Mays was as a man. He was a great person, a father, a son & husband. All who loved him are still grieving the loss of their loved one. This public autopsy result does not help them in their healing. Continued thoughts and prayers for his family and all who knew and loved him.