Tampa, Fla., police say Billy Mays, the McKees Rocks native and TV pitchman known for his boisterous hawking of such products as Orange Glo and OxiClean, has died. He was 50.

Police said Mr. Mays was found unresponsive by his wife this morning. A fire rescue crew pronounced him dead at 7:45 a.m. It was not immediately clear how he died. He said he was hit on the head when an airplane he was on made a rough landing yesterday, and his wife told investigators the TV personality didn't feel well before he went to bed.

The coroner's office expects to have an autopsy done by tomorrow afternoon.

Mr. Mays' wife, Deborah Mays, told investigators that her husband had complained he didn't feel well before he went to bed some time after 10 p.m., Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days," Ms. Mays said in a statement today. "Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."

US Airways confirmed today that Mr. Mays was among the passengers on a flight that made a rough landing yesterday afternoon at Tampa International Airport, leaving debris on the runway after apparently blowing its front tires.

Tampa Bay's Fox television affiliate interviewed Mr. Mays after the incident.

"All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping," the station quoted him as saying. "It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."

Ms. McElroy said linking Mr. Mays' death to the rough landing would "purely be speculation." She said Mr. Mays' family members didn't report any health issues, but they said he was due to have hip replacement surgery in the coming weeks.

Born and raised in McKees Rocks, Mr. Mays graduated from Sto-Rox High School, where he played football

As he was about to turn 24, he went to Atlantic City with a football buddy who'd been working at the McKees Rocks flea market selling Ginsu knives. Soon Mr. Mays was hawking products on the boardwalk, learning from the old-timers who took a liking to him.

At a fair in 1993, he met the owner of Orange Glo, who'd lost his microphone. Mr. Mays loaned him a spare. They became friends, and in 1996 the businessman called Mr. Mays to pitch the product on the Home Shopping Network. He says he sold 6,000 units right out of the gate. The same company put out OxiClean nine months later, and Mr. Mays' first TV pitch sold out. Within a few years he'd crossed the bridge to TV full time.

Recently, he became the star of his own reality show. The 13-week series, "Pitchmen," began airing on the Discovery Channel in April and followed Mr. Mays and fellow infomercial star Anthony Sullivan as they searched the world for inventions they could take to the big money.

Mr. Mays also was featured in the CNBC documentary "As Seen on TV," which said he was "ready to be crowned king" of all pitchmen now that Ron Popeil of Ronco fame is easing off.