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James Ransone, who played Ziggy Sobotka in HBO’s hit TV series The Wire, has died at the age of 46.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office said in online records that Ransone died by suicide on Friday.
Ransone was best known for playing Sobotka, a dock worker and low-level member of an organized crime ring, on The Wire. He also appeared in TV shows such as the cop drama Bosch and Poker Face, as well as in Generation Kill, a miniseries about a Rolling Stone reporter following American troops in Baghdad in 2003.
Ransone’s film credits include a number of horror films, including It: Chapter Two, The Black Phone and Black Phone 2, and two movies from the Sinister series.
In 2016, Ransone told Interview magazine about his choppy career path, dropping out of film school at 19 and taking photography jobs here and there before landing more acting roles. Ransone said it was his part in Generation Kill that finally made him feel like an actor — and also understand his family better, as his dad was a veteran of the Vietnam War.
“It didn’t do so much for my career but it shaped me and the way that I think about my life,” Ransone told Interview.
He also spoke about his struggles with addiction, which he overcame shortly before shooting Generation Kill.
Ransone’s friends and family, including his wife, posted to social media following the actor’s death.
“I told you I have loved you 1000 times before and I know I will love you again,” Ransone’s wife, Jamie McPhee, wrote on Instagram in the caption of a photo of herself and her husband. “Thank you for giving me the greatest gifts — you, Jack and Violet. We are forever.”
“Sorry I couldn’t be there for you , brother,” wrote U.S. actor Wendell Pierce on X.
A GoFundMe in support of Ransone’s wife and two children has been set up following the news.
The Associated Press left messages seeking comment from representatives of Ransone on Sunday.
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