Actor James Ransone, best known for his role as Ziggy Sobotka in HBO’s “The Wire,” died by suicide on Friday, December 19. He was 46.
Following his memorable role in The Wire, Ransone went on to play in multiple horror films over the past decade.
A Ziggy Sobotka fan page on X announced his death on Sunday.
No major media outlet has reported on this so here’s the steps I took before posting. 3 people that know him reported it on social media. DM’d with two people that know him and have been frantically trying to reach him since yesterday with no response. Did a case search of the LA… pic.twitter.com/HNVQzW7XEb
— Ziggy_Sobotka (@Ziggys_Duck) December 21, 2025
Ransone was born on June 2, 1979, in Baltimore, Maryland, and studied at the George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson, Maryland, and the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.
In 2003, Ransone landed his breakthrough role as Ziggy in The Wire.
In 2006, he played bank robber, Steve-O, in Spike Lee’s 2006 bank heist movie Inside Man.
Ransone also played Eddie Kaspbrak in the horror movie, “It: Chapter Two.”
His other movie roles include “Sinister”, “Tangerine,” “Mr. Right” and the “Black Phone”.
Ransone is survived by his wife, Jamie McPhee, and their two children.
