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Young co-star remembers Mays as funny, nice man

News Channel 8 photo by MAURICE CAPOBIANCO

Brady Reiter got autographs and photos taken with Billy Mays when they worked together in April.

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By KRISTA KLAUS

kklaus@wfla.com

Published: June 30, 2009

The death of pitchman Billy Mays is hitting home extra hard for one 8-year-old New Tampa fourth-grader.

Brady Reiter co-starred in Mays' most recent commercial, which hit the airwaves just last week. Mays died Sunday at his home in Tampa.

"He was really funny," said Brady, who attends Turner Elementary.

The ad, shot in Gulfport in April, features Mays in his signature style shouting the benefits of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda.

Brady said Mays' off-camera voice wasn't nearly as booming as his on-camera one. But she said his good-nature was larger than life both on and off screen.

Brady has framed photographs of their shoot together, one of them showing Mays and his partner Anthony Sullivan, carrying her. Reiter also treasures a framed magazine cover Mays signed for her, in which he hinted at one of their on-set jokes.

"He wrote, 'Keep it clean,' so I took my headshot, and I wrote, 'Billy, talk a little bit louder,'" Reiter said.

Brady, a 4-foot-tall, pigtailed brunette with a big personality herself, has landed roles in several commercials, including an ad for Disney. Her mother said the national spot with Mays was her biggest gig thus far.

"When we saw it was with Billy Mays, that was really exciting," Judy Reiter said.

Reiter said she was struck by Mays' patience throughout the long day of shooting.

"Brady's was one of the last scenes, believe it or not, that they did. And he still was smiling and happy and sweet to her," she said.

Reiter said she is still stunned by Mays' sudden death.

"I could not believe that somebody so alive and so vibrant was just gone, I couldn't believe it," she said.

Brady said she is grateful for the chance to pitch a product with the all-time consummate professional.

"I was sad because he was a really, really nice man, and the world lost him," she said.

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