Pitchman, Celebrity Deaths | featured news

In the Mighty Tape pitch, Mays dons scuba gear, goes underwater and punctures a hole in the hose connecting the air tank to his mouth.

Actor Karl Malden, who won an Oscar playing opposite Marlon Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and became known to millions as the American Express pitchman who warned, "Don't leave home without it," died Wednesday at his home in Brentwood at age 97.

Malden died of natural causes, the actor's daughter, Mila Doerner, told the Los Angeles Times.

The Chica

A medical examiner in Florida says Mays, a voluble TV pitchman, showed no evidence of head trauma.

Infomercial pitchman Billy Mays died at his Tampa, Florida, home this morning, authorities told CNN. The 50-year-old known for his shouting OxiClean ads was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m. The Hillborough County medical examiner will perform an autopsy, Tampa police Lieutenant Brian Dugan said.