In this Dec. 6, 2002 file photo,TV pitchman Billy Mays poses with some of his cleaning products at his Palm Harbor, Fla., home.
DEVELOPING: Television pitchman Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets — died Sunday.
Mays, 50, was found unresponsive by his wife inside his Tampa, Fla., home at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Tampa Police Department.
Police said there were no signs of forced entry to Mays’ residence and foul play is not suspected. Authorities said an autopsy should be complete by Monday afternoon.
“Although Billy lived a public life, we don’t anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times,” Mays wife, Deborah, said in a statement on Sunday.
Mays was well known for his numerous television promotions of such products as Orange Glo and OxiClean. He was also featured on the reality TV show “Pitchmen” on the Discovery Channel, which followed Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs.
Born William Mays in McKees Rocks, Pa., on July 20, 1958, Mays developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other “as seen on TV” gadgets on Atlantic City’s boardwalk. For years he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.
Farrah Fawcett, a reigning symbol of American pop culture who never quite managed to escape the one electrifying role that made her that symbol — as one of “Charlie’s Angels” — has died. She was 62, and had been suffering from anal cancer, which had recently spread to her liver.
A near-mythic figure of ’70s TV screen and pinup poster fame, with her radiant grin and bounteous hair, Fawcett became a cultural star — at one time adored, then mimicked by fans, and mobbed by paparazzi. She was one of those uniquely Hollywood/tabloid creations who was famous simply because … she was famous.
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, after pulling off an increasingly bizarre vanishing act this week, reappeared Wednesday to admit he was having an affair that involved secret visits with his mistress in Argentina.
Sanford’s staff initially told reporters he had left town Thursday to go hiking on the Appalachian Trail, but the governor returned Wednesday morning on a flight from Argentina.
“I’ve let down a lot of people. That’s the bottom line,” Sanford said. “I’ve been unfaithful to my wife.”
E-mails obtained by The State, a South Carolina newspaper, capture deeply personal exchanges between the governor and the woman, whom the newspaper called only by her first name, Maria.
“My heart cries out for you, your voice, your body, the touch of your lips, the touch of your finger tips and an even deeper connection to your soul,” Sanford wrote in one of the e-mails, dated last summer.
The newspaper said a McClatchey correspondent reached Sanford’s mistress, but she declined to be interviewed.
Sanford’s wife, Jenny, who apparently had known about the affair for several months, had asked him to leave home two weeks ago and to stop talking to her and their children. In a written statement, she said the couple needed a trial separation, but that her husband had since “earned a chance to resurrect our marriage.”
Legendary TV personality, game show host and comedian Ed McMahon has died at 86.
DEVELOPING:
Legendary game show host, actor and comedian Ed McMahon is dead at the age of 86.
The former “Tonight Show” announcer reportedly passed away at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in California this morning, according to a report from KNBC in Los Angeles.
Earlier this year, the “Star Search” host was in and out of the hospital for pneumonia and other medical issues, according to sources close to him.
Best known for his famous catchphrase “Heeeeeere’s Johnny,” said every night when Johnny Carson took the stage, McMahon spent three decades as the legendary comedian’s sidekick.
Recently, he has been in the news for his troubles keeping up with payments on his California mansion.
The TV star even did a self-depricating spoof on the subject during this year’s Super Bowl, when he starred in a commercial for Cash4Gold.com.
McMahon was also a veteran of the United States Marines and served as a fighter pilot during WW2
June 12: Sarychev Peak on Matua Island is one of the most active volcanoes in the Kuril Island chain, northeast of Japan.
An amazing new picture from space reveals a volcanic eruption in its earliest stage, with a huge plume of ash and steam billowing skyward and creating a shock wave in the atmosphere.
Sarychev Peak on Matua Island is one of the most active volcanoes in the Kuril Island chain, northeast of Japan.
The new photo was taken June 12 from the International Space Station. NASA says volcano researchers are excited about the picture “because it captures several phenomena that occur during the earliest stages of an explosive volcanic eruption.”
The main plume appears to be a combination of brown ash and white steam, according to a NASA statement. The vigorously rising plume gives the steam a bubble-like appearance
The surrounding atmosphere has been shoved up by the shock wave of the eruption, scientists said.
Oct. 14: Tim Cook, Steve Jobs and Apple vice president Phil Schiller take questions during a meeting at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.
Steve Jobs, who has been on medical leave from Apple Inc. since January to treat an undisclosed medical condition, received a liver transplant in Tennessee about two months ago.
The chief executive has been recovering well and is expected to return to work on schedule later this month, though he may work part-time initially.
Jobs didn’t respond to an e-mail requesting comment.
“Steve continues to look forward to returning at the end of June, and there’s nothing further to say,” said Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton.
LONDON — Guinness World Records said Friday that 113-year-old British World War I veteran Henry Allingham has become the world’s oldest man.
The previous holder of the title, Tomoji Tanabe, died in his sleep in southern Japan earlier Friday at the age of 113.
Allingham is one of only two surviving World War I veterans in Britain and celebrated his 113th birthday June 6. He has been Britain’s oldest man since January 2007.
Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, said the last Englishman to hold the title of world’s oldest man was Frederick Butterfield, who died in March 1974 at the age of 110.
Allingham joined the Royal Naval Air Service — precursor to the Royal Air Force — in 1915, and a year later took part in the Battle of Jutland, the war’s largest naval battle. During World War II he worked on measures to counter magnetic mines.
Allingham joined activities involving other war veterans after he met Dennis Goodwin, an independent inspector for residential care homes who organized trips for veterans who wanted to return to the continent where they had fought.
Goodwin encouraged Allingham to share his experiences. He soon became one of the nation’s most outspoken veterans and has long encouraged everyone to remember the sacrifices of those who died.
He co-wrote an autobiography with Goodwin, “Kitchener’s Last Volunteer,” — a reference to Britain’s war secretary who rallied men to the cause — and was made an Officer of France’s Legion of Honor.
He and his late wife, Dorothy, had two children. He has five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, 14 great-great grandchildren and one great-great-great grandchild.
