Posted Oct 26th 2009 12:30AM by TMZ Staff
Billy Mays III -- the late pitchman's son -- is hosting a Billy Mays costume contest for Halloween in honor of his dead father ... and get this, zombie Billy Mays submissions are encouraged.
Little Billy posted the following on his website:
"Halloween is approaching rapidly and it goes without saying that "deceased celebrities" (and balloon boy) will most likely be a huge theme at every gathering.
There will no doubt be a multitude of people dressed as Billy Mays (or zombie Billy Mays).. it is one of the easiest costumes of all time to put together. (Beard, blue button-down, khakis, prop product, etc..)"
Billy wants people to send him pics of their Billy getups -- the winner gets a bunch of prizes ... including, of course, a tub of OxiClean.
Filed under: Holidaze, Billy Mays
Tags: billy mays, billy mays III, BillyMays, BillyMaysIii, costume, halloween
Posted Oct 15th 2009 12:12PM by TMZ Staff
We just got hold of the second Billy Mays autopsy report -- and it underscores how cocaine may have played less of a factor than first thought.
According to the full report, "there is no evidence that Mr. Mays' death was related to acute cocaine intoxication .... rather, the use of cocaine by Mr. Mays appears to have occurred at a remote time several days before his death."
The report also states there was no proof that Billy was a "chronic" cocaine user -- and only chronic cocaine use would have contributed to his cause of death ... occasional use would not.
The second medical examiner also claims there was no evidence that Billy "abused" prescription drugs -- as the levels in his system matched the amount he was prescribed to take.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Billy Mays, Exclusives
Tags: as seen on tv, AsSeenOnTv, billy mays, BillyMays, cocaine, drug overdose, DrugOverdose
Posted Oct 15th 2009 9:43AM by TMZ Staff
Billy Mays' widow says she never bought into the medical reports showing cocaine contributed to the legendary pitchman's death -- and now she says a brand new investigation backs up her claim.
Deborah Mays just released a statement claiming the family commissioned a 2nd review by an independent medical examiner, Dr. William L. Manion, who concluded, "chronic cocaine use was not demonstrated by the autopsy findings of Mr. William Mays.
In addition, there is nothing in his medical, social or professional history to suggest chronic cocaine use.
Therefore, I do not believe cocaine played a significant contributing factor in the death of Mr. Mays as the autopsy specimens and findings are not consistent with the cardiac conditions normally observed in a person chronically using cocaine."
Billy died back in June and in the first autopsy report, performed by the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner, cocaine was listed as a "contributing cause" of death -- along with hypertensive and arteriosclerotic heart disease.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Billy Mays
Tags: autopsy, billy mays, BillyMays, cocaine, medical examiner, MedicalExaminer
Posted Oct 15th 2009 1:00AM by TMZ Staff
Billy Mays' tombstone has finally been unveiled in Pennsylvania -- and lets just say it captures every aspect of the pitchman's life ... husband, father, son, "Pitchman."
The gravestone features a full color image of Billy wearing his classic blue shirt, a big smile and a satisfaction guaranteed thumbs up.
Billy's son, Billy Mays III, posted the picture on his Twitter page, with the caption, "So here it is, my dad's gravestone."
Billy's funeral was on July 3 in McKees Rock, Pennsylvania -- and all his pallbearers were decked out in the blue shirts as well.
Filed under: Billy Mays
Tags: billy mays, BillyMays, gravestone, pitchman, tombstone
Posted Oct 9th 2009 3:00PM by TMZ Staff
This may be the first time "South Park" and "tasteful" have ever been used in the same sentence -- but Billy Mays' son thinks the show did a "tasteful" job spoofing his departed dad on this week's episode.
Earlier today, Billy Mays III called into the MJ Morning Show raving about how proud he was to have his dad appear as a cartoon ghost ... who threatened to beat up the ghost of Patrick Swayze.
For the record -- it was pretty damn funny.
Considering the pitchman's death was about three months ago, Mays was shockingly positive -- and said "things are looking up."
Filed under: Billy Mays
Tags: billy mays, BillyMays, death, mj morning show, MjMorningShow, south park, SouthPark
Posted Aug 27th 2009 12:30AM by TMZ Staff
It started as a heartfelt tribute -- but suddenly stickers featuring Billy Mays' face began taking the country by storm.
The craze started after Billy's son, Billy the 3rd, mentioned the stickers on his Twitter page -- then, in a matter of days, the Mays face was everywhere.
The stickers -- which have all been given away for free -- were turning up on cars, windows, street signs and anywhere else you could find a flat surface.
In fact, demand for the stickers was so high, the makers actually ran out. But don't worry, more are on the way.
Act Now!
Filed under: Photo Galleries, Billy Mays
Tags: billy mayes, BillyMayes
Posted Aug 19th 2009 1:15AM by TMZ Staff
It's over before it even began -- the company that was going to hold open auditions for Billy Mays' replacement has pulled the plug on the project, instead offering the spot to one of Billy's closest friends.
The President of Mighty Brand, Bill McAlister, tells TMZ they realized Mays was "irreplaceable" and have made an offer to Anthony Sullivan, his "Pitchmen" co-star. If Sullivan turns 'em down, the commercials will be strictly voice-overs.
We're told the deal thrown at Sullivan is the same one Mays had -- which is a "royalty contract" that netted Mays millions.
Filed under: Billy Mays, Exclusives
Tags: bill mcalister, BillMcalister, billy mays, BillyMays, commercials, pitchmen
Posted Aug 13th 2009 12:29PM by TMZ Staff
Today is the last day you'll be seeing the late, great Billy Mays endorse health insurance -- the company behind one of the legendary pitchman's most recent commercials has officially pulled the spot off the air.
Billy claimed his work for the iCAN benefit group was "the most important product I have ever endorsed" -- but now, 6 weeks after Mays passed away, the company has decided to go another direction.
For the record, the company did get the OK from the family to continue running Billy's ad -- and Billy's son also made the following point on his Twitter page, "When actors die, their movies continue to play, right?"
Filed under: Billy Mays, Exclusives
Tags: billy mays, BillyMays, health care, health insurance, HealthCare, HealthInsurance
Posted Aug 12th 2009 1:45AM by TMZ Staff
The medical examiner who performed the Billy Mays autopsy is under fire for allegedly screwing up the report -- and the man pointing the finger is one of the most famous forensic experts on the planet.
Famed medical examiner Cyril Wecht tells TMZ the people who performed Mays' autopsy were wrong to almost immediately list "heart disease" as Billy's official cause of death.
According to Wecht -- who personally reviewed the autopsy and toxicology report -- the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner should have pointed to "acute combined drug toxicity" as the cause of death.
Wecht claims the M.E. jumped the gun when they published the report and "chose to ignore the combined cumulative effects of the drugs in his system as the cause of death ... this was bad toxicology work".
The lingering question: With Billy's authorized prescription drug use, why would the M.E. be so quick to pin the cause of death on heart disease, before receiving the toxicology results?
In the end, the M.E. concluded cocaine was a contributing factor in Mays' death. There were also traces of several prescription drugs in his system, including Xanax and Vicodin.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Billy Mays, Exclusives
Tags: autopsy, billy mays, BillyMays, vicodin, xanax
Posted Aug 7th 2009 6:00PM by TMZ Staff
Billy Mays' widow is "extremely disappointed" with the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office -- accusing them of sending out a "speculative" report that's damaging her husband's image.
Moments ago, Deborah Mays released the following statement:
"We are extremely disappointed by the press release released by the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office. We believe it contains speculative conclusions that are frankly unnecessary and tend to obscure the conclusion that Billy suffered from chronic, untreated hypertension, which only demonstrates how important it is to regularly monitor one's health.
Given the hectic nature and pace of Billy's life, especially during the past 10 months of his exhaustive travel across the country, it was not surprising to hear that hypertension was the cause of his death. We were totally unaware of any non prescription drug usage and are actively considering an independent evaluation of the autopsy results."
Click here... it's not over yet
Filed under: Billy Mays
Tags: Billy Mays, BillyMays, cause of death, CauseOfDeath, cocaine, wife
Posted Aug 7th 2009 4:33PM by TMZ Staff
A mighty shocking autopsy report concludes cocaine contributed to the sudden death of pitchman Billy Mays back in June.
The report, which was released today, lists "cocaine use" as a contributing cause of death -- along with hypertensive and arteriosclerotic heart disease.
A Hillsborough County press release says "from the presence of metabolites of cocaine and the absence of cocaine itself, it was concluded that Mr. Mays used cocaine in the few days prior to his death but not immediately prior to death."
Mays died in his sleep on June 28 at his home in Florida.
UPDATE: Official documents show the following drugs were in Mays' system -- hydrocodone (Vicodin), oxycodone (painkiller), alprazolam (Xanax), nordiazepam (Valium), benzoylecgonine (byproduct of cocaine) and temazepam (anti-anxiety). Ethanol -- alcohol -- was also in Mays' system.
**Check out today's TMZ Live, when Harvey and Jason answered your questions about Billy Mays and Michael Jackson's toxicology reports.
Filed under: Billy Mays
Tags: billy mays, BillyMays, cocaine, drugs, heart attack, HeartAttack, sudden death, SuddenDeath
Posted Aug 6th 2009 1:00AM by TMZ Staff
It'll be hard to find anyone to fill that blue shirt quite like Billy Mays -- but the marketing company behind Mighty Brand products is prepping a nationwide search for a new pitchman to take his place.
Media Enterprises tells us the hunt will begin August 19 with auditions in Tampa, FL -- and will continue throughout the country. We're told Mays' image will remain on the Mighty products, but the company is looking for someone with as much enthusiasm as Billy to sell it.
The first product the new person would be pitching is the Mighty Sponge -- a sponge so strong it can allegedly absorb 2 liters of Coke.
The gig could end up being pretty lucrative for whoever nails it -- for one of his last commercials, Mays was paid seven figures for one day's work.
Talk about an easy sell.
Filed under: Billy Mays, Exclusives
Tags: billy mays, BillyMays, media enterprises, MediaEnterprises, mighty brand, MightyBrand, nationwide search, NationwideSearch, pitchman, search
Posted Jul 14th 2009 6:10AM by TMZ Staff
It's Billy Mays last commercial -- an ad for Mighty Tape ... so strong it works underwater.
This is the final cut of the spot which was shot two weeks before he died. It will begin airing in August.
Filed under: Billy Mays, Exclusives
Tags: billy mays, BillyMays, commercial, mighty tape, MightyTape, pitchman, video
