By Rennie Dyball Originally posted Tuesday June 30, 2009 01:35 PM EDT If you didn't know his name, you probably knew his face – or at least his booming voice. But long before his rise to infomercial greatness, Billy Mays – the ubiquitous TV pitchman who died suddenly over the weekend – was just a guy hawking goods on the Atlantic City boardwalk, hoping not for fame but for somebody to buy his cheap gadgets. In an interview with PEOPLE in March, a spirited Mays, who grew up outside Pittsburgh and played semi-pro football before he tried his luck as a pitchman at the New Jersey seaside resort, recalled his early working days. "People are walking by half drunk, broke from losing their money in the casino, and you're trying to sell them something they don't want," Mays, 50, said with a laugh. "It was the best training ground in... [read full story]
