--- title: Burt Shavitz of Burt's Bees Fame Passes Away at 80 description: The Burt's Bees website says Shavitz will be remembered as a "free-spirited Maine man, a beekeeper, a wisecracker" canonical: https://time.com/3946136/burt-shavitz-burts-bees-died/ author: Joanna Plucinska article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-06T04:41:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:15.913Z og:title: Burt Shavitz of Burt's Bees Fame Passes Away at 80 og:description: Burt's Bees' website says he will be remembered as a "free-spirited Maine man." og:url: https://time.com/3946136/burt-shavitz-burts-bees-died/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt824babbf924faf85/698859a30a4a220c3b9c503b/ap_123691095508.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Burt Shavitz og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Burt Shavitz of Burt's Bees Fame Passes Away at 80 twitter:description: Burt's Bees' website says he will be remembered as a "free-spirited Maine man." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt824babbf924faf85/698859a30a4a220c3b9c503b/ap_123691095508.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Beekeeper Burt Shavitz of Burt's Bees Fame Passes Away at 80 ## Video: Burt's Buzz Preview Clip: Burt in Taiwan [Watch (HLS stream): Burt's Buzz Preview Clip: Burt in Taiwan](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2c1rfKrK.m3u8) (1:41)  _Published 2014-05-23. Burt of Burt's Bees meets his fans in Taiwan in a preview clip of_ by [Joanna Plucinska](https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Jul 6, 2015 4:41 AM UTC  Burt Shavitz poses for a photo on his property in Parkman, Maine. Shavitz, a former beekeeper, is the Burt behind Burt's Bees Burt Shavitz poses for a photo on his property in Parkman, Maine. Shavitz, a former beekeeper, is the Burt behind Burt's BeesRobert F. Bukaty—AP by [Joanna Plucinska](https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Jul 6, 2015 4:41 AM UTC Burt Shavitz, who founded the Burt’s Bees beauty brand, has passed away at the age of 80 in Bangor, Maine. According to _USA Today_, he died of respiratory complications, surrounded by friends and family. Shavitz gained recognition as his personal-care products, decorated with a likeness of his face, spread around the world. And you can see in the video below — a clip filmed in Taiwan from _Burt’s Buzz_, a documentary about Shavitz’s business and unconventional life — he even had a certain global [rock-star](http://time.com/125471/burts-buzz-burts-bees-founder-taiwan/) quality to him. But before his face was plastered on his namesake all-natural products, Shavitz was a small-scale honey salesman, peddling his goods on a roadside in Maine. That’s where he serendipitously met Roxanne Quimby — a hitchhiking single mother who eventually became his business partner, _USA Today_ says. The two started Burt’s Bees in 1984 after Quimby began fashioning Shavitz’s unused beeswax into candles. In the first year, the pair made around $20,000 from their products. Eventually, the company expanded into making lotions, lip balms, soaps and a range of bath products. Now, Burt’s Bees is owned by Clorox and sells products in over 40 countries. The [Burt’s Bees](http://www.burtsbees.com/) website says Shavitz will be remembered as “a bearded, free-spirited Maine man, a beekeeper, a wisecracker, a lover of golden retrievers and his land.” \[[_USA Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/07/05/burts-bees-founder-dies/29751663/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3946136/burt-shavitz-burts-bees-died/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3946136/burt-shavitz-burts-bees-died/"},"headline":"Beekeeper Burt Shavitz of Burt's Bees Fame Passes Away at 80","datePublished":"2015-07-06T04:41:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:45:15.913Z","description":"The Burt's Bees website says Shavitz will be remembered as a \"free-spirited Maine man, a beekeeper, a wisecracker, a lover of golden retrievers and his land\"","url":"https://time.com/3946136/burt-shavitz-burts-bees-died/","keywords":["Living","remembrance","Maine","obituary"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt824babbf924faf85/698859a30a4a220c3b9c503b/ap_123691095508.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joanna Plucinska","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt824babbf924faf85/698859a30a4a220c3b9c503b/ap_123691095508.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Burt Shavitz","caption":"Burt Shavitz","creditText":"Robert F. 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