James Ransone, known for playing Ziggy Sobotka on the series The Wirehas died at the age of 46. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, the actor died by suicide on Friday in Los Angeles.
Official records indicate that the cause of death was hanging and that the death occurred in a shed. The coroner’s documents state that the artist’s body is ready to be released to his family.
It’s worth noting that James Ransone was the father of two children and was married to Jamie McPhee. After the news broke, McPhee shared a link on her social media to a fundraiser for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), an organization dedicated to the care and prevention of mental health conditions.
The actor achieved international recognition for his role in the second season of The Wirewhere he played Ziggy Sobotka, the son of dockworkers’ union leader Frank Sobotka, portrayed by Chris Bauer.
Ransone appeared in 12 episodes that aired in 2003. The series, considered one of the most influential productions in contemporary television, ran between 2002 and 2008 and featured a cast led by Dominic West, Michael Kenneth Williams, Idris Elba, Lance Reddick, and Wendell Pierce.
In addition to The Wirethe actor maintained a steady television career. He appeared in other HBO productions such as Generation Kill and Tremeand later joined the cast of bosch. His last television appearance was in an episode of Poker Face’s second seasonwhich aired in June of this year.
In film, his career spanned various genres. I have appeared in Prom Night (2008), Sinister (2012), and sinister 2 (2015), as well as Tangerine (2015) and Mr. Right (2015). He also had roles in It Chapter Two (2019) and The Black Phone (2021), and was awaiting the release of Black Phone 2scheduled for 2025.
Also in 2021, James Ransone publicly revealed that he was a survivor of sexual abuse. The actor accused his former guardian, Timothy Rualo, of sexually abusing him on several occasions over six months in 1992, when he was 12 years old, at his home in Phoenix, Maryland. Ransone shared his testimony through a lengthy letter posted on Instagram, addressed to his alleged abuser.
“My most vivid memory of the abuse was washing the blood and faeces off my sheets after you left. I remember doing it when I was 12 because I was ashamed to tell anyone,” he wrote.
In that text, the actor described childhood memories associated with the abuse and noted that the experiences had lasting consequences on his personal life. I have stated that these events contributed to the development of addiction problems, including alcoholism and heroin use. According to various interviews, he achieved sobriety starting in 2006.
Ransone formally reported the allegations to the Baltimore County Sheriff’s Office in March 2020. However, according to an email he received in September of that year, a detective informed him that prosecutors had no interest in pursuing the case.
Ultimately, the Baltimore County Prosecutor’s Office did not file charges after the investigation, The Baltimore Sun reported.
In an interview published by Interview Magazine In 2016, the actor spoke openly about his rehabilitation process and noted that he quit heroin at age 27, before working on Generation Kill.
In the United States, there is the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline; you can call 1-888-628-9454 or 1-800-273-8255 to speak with someone who will provide free and confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The CDC also recommends its own prevention policies, programs, and practices.
