Celebrated infomercial product-hawker Billy Mays died on Sunday at the age of 50. For the last year, Ted Kamp, a television producer in Los Angeles, worked with Mays on the Discovery Channel series PitchMen. Herewith, an appreciation of a kind man with a bizarre talent. Before I met Billy Mays in person, I—like you, probably—wondered what the deal was with this man with the impossibly black beard who was always screaming at me. Then I spent the better part of the past year producing the Discovery Channel’s PitchMen—which explored the world of Billy and his pitch partner Anthony “Sully” Sullivan—and found out that there was a lot more to Billy than the stentorian OxiClean evangelist you saw on your television every nine minutes. Off-camera, Billy was actually the quieter of the two pitchmen: a surprisingly anxious, insecure, and eager-to-please guy. He was a working-class kid from Pittsburgh,...
- 6/29/2009
- Vanity Fair
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.