Billy Mays joins the list of deceased celebrities

This has been quite a month in celebrity news. Five well-known celebrities have died in June, four of them in the last six days. Many other entertainment industry folks have also passed away, but these five fall into the household name category.

David Carradine - June 3, 2009
Ed McMahon - June 23, 2009
Farrah Fawcett - June 25, 2009
Michael Jackson - June 25, 2009
Billy Mays - June 28, 2009

You may wonder why I include Billy Mays in this group. After all, he was a pitchman, not an entertainer. I beg to differ. My son and I got quite a kick out of watching Mr. Mays effervesce over everything from Orange Glo, to Oxi Clean, to Mighty Mendit. He made infomercials an event. He was also the co-host a new series on the Discovery Channel called Pitchmen. For fun, check out this Hulu clip of Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. It's about eight minutes long, but make sure to watch to the end when Billy takes on the Sham Wow. Funny stuff.

Billy Mays was found unconscious in his Florida home by his wife this morning. He was pronounced dead at 7:45 AM. That's all we know. The family asks that the public respect their privacy. It's a simple request and one that I hope is honored.

Being the pop culture person that I am, I've got a lot of thoughts on Farrah, Michael, and the way we as a nation treat celebrities. For now, though, I'm staying mostly mum. I'm one who likes to know, and share, the facts. I'll give my opinions, too. But for now, I think I'll keep quiet.