Ron Popeil

Top 10 TV Pitchmen and Pitchwomen

Popeil, an inventor and marketing personality, won a Noble Prize for Consumer Engineering in 1993 when he decided it made more sense to tape demonstrations of his product the Chop-O-Matic, rather than having salesmen carry around vegetables demonstrating in person since the product was so effective. (Photo by: evancarmichael.com)

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Billy Mays In this Dec. 6, 2002 file photo,TV pitchman Billy Mays poses with some of his cleaning products at his Palm Harbor, Fla., home. Tampa police say Mays, the television pitchman known for his boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean, has died. He was 50. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
Ron Popeil Popeil, an inventor and marketing personality, won a Noble Prize for Consumer Engineering in 1993 when he decided it made more sense to tape demonstrations of his product the Chop-O-Matic, rather than having salesmen carry around vegetables demonstrating in person since the product was so effective. (Photo by: evancarmichael.com)
Ed Valenti The other half of The Ginsu Guys, Ed Valenti has set the bar for the infomercial as we know it. The first Ginsu infomercial aired in 1978 with catch phrases like "But wait, there's more!" and "Now how much would you pay?" and many call to actions. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
George Foreman George Foreman and his "George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine" have made more money than his boxing career. Salton Inc. bought the rights to use George's name and selling skills for $127.5 million in cash and $10 million in stock. Till this day it is one of the biggest endorsement deals of any athlete. (Photo by Jeremy O'Donnell/Getty Images)
Joan Rivers Joan Rivers sells her own line of jewelry, "The Joan Rivers Collection", on QVC regularly. It is one of QVC's best-selling product lines. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images)
Richard Simmons Through his line of aerobics videos and TV programs, Richard Simmons promotes weight-loss programs such as "Live It", "The Simmons Method", "Deal a Meal", and "Food Mover". (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
Vince Offer The ShamWow! man started out with a 20,000 budget and now has a popular hit on his hands. Billy Mays challenged Vince to a "pitch off" in February of 2009 between their respective towel products, the ShamWow! and the Zorbeez. Popular Mechanics actually compared both products and declared the ShamWow! the winner.
Jack LaLanne Jack LaLanne or "The Godfather of Fitness" is the brains behind the "Juice Tiger" and "Jack LaLanne's Power Juicer". He also was the host of the longest ever running television exercise program, "The Jack LaLanne Show". (Photo by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)
Suzanne Somers Suzanne Somers, the famous TV actress is also best known for her companies ELO Somers and Port Carling Inc. where she is the President. She has created hundreds personally branded fashion, beauty, diet and exercise products which are marketed on the Home Shopping Network. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Tony Little Generating more than $4 billion in sales, Tony Little or "America's Personal Trainer" products have over 47 million customers. (Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)