James Ransone, who played Eddie Kaspbrak in “It: Chapter Two” and Ziggy Sobotka in “The Wire,” passed away by hanging on Friday. He was forty-six.
Ransone was raised in Baltimore. From 1993 to 1997, he studied at the Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson, Maryland. Collaborating in the 2002 teen drama “Ken Park” gave him his big break. A year later, he was cast in “The Wire.”
In twelve episodes of “The Wire” Season 2, Ransone played Chester “Ziggy” Sabotka, a dock worker who later became a small-time criminal. Throughout his career, Ziggy was frequently shoved by his colleagues, cargo checkers, and other amateur crooks.
Ziggy loses it and kills his partner in a fit of wrath after receiving one too many humiliations. Terrified by what he has done, he waits for the police to show up before confessing to the murders. In the Season 2 finale, he makes his last appearance on the show, serving out his time in prison.
After a span of five years, Ransone co-starred in “Generation Kill” with Alexander Skarsgård. In all seven episodes of the HBO miniseries, which featured a Rolling Stone journalist integrated with the 1st Recon Marines, he portrayed real-life Marine Cpl. Josh Ray Person.
Ransone portrayed Eddie Kaspbrak, the timid limo driver who was born in Derry, in the 2019 film “It: Chapter Two.” “Black Phone 2,” “V/H/S/85,” “Small Engine Repair,” and “What We Found.”
