THE ANSWER IS NO. You’re asking yourself if Mays is yelling his way through our interview. But he’s not like that off camera -- not unless he has to be.

“A couple of years back, I was walking through the airport, and a woman stopped me and said, ‘You look like that guy on TV,’ “ Mays recalls from his Florida offices, where Sullivan, who pops in and out of the room during our chat, also works. “I said, ‘Yes ma’am, I am. I’m Billy Mays.’ She said, ‘Prove it.’ “

Mays was dumbstruck. He pulled out his driver’s license, which is issued to William Mays. The woman didn’t buy it. “You just look like him,” she said, and she walked off. That was the last time he bothered with documentation. Now if anyone asks if he is who they think he is, Mays just pauses, sucks in a quick breath of air, and blasts them with, “Hi, Billy Mays here!”

Everyone knows Billy Mays, but not many people know William Mays, who is licensed to operate a motor vehicle in the state of Florida. So just who is he? Let’s get caught up.