James Finley Ransone III (born June 2, 1979) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as

Ziggy Sobotka Chester Karol "Ziggy" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor James Ransone. Though his father Frank Sobotka was a well-respected stevedore union leader, Ziggy's thoughtless and immature behavior gained h ...

in the second season of the drama series ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...

'', United States Marine Corps Cpl. Josh Ray Person in the war drama miniseries ''

Generation Kill ''Generation Kill'' is a 2004 book written by ''Rolling Stone'' journalist Evan Wright chronicling his experience as an embedded reporter with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ...

'' (2008), The Deputy in the supernatural horror films ''

Sinister Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction " left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see ...

'' (2012) and ''

Sinister 2 ''Sinister 2'' (stylized in marketing as ''Sinister II'') is a 2015 supernatural horror film directed by Ciarán Foy and written by Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, serving as a sequel to the 2012 film '' Sinister'', and stars James ...

'' (2015), Chester in ''

Tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...

'' (2015), the adult

Eddie Kaspbrak Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle *Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Linu ...

in ''

It Chapter Two ''It Chapter Two'' is a 2019 American supernatural horror film directed by Andy Muschietti, with a screenplay by Gary Dauberman. A follow-up to '' It'' (2017), it is the second of a two-part adaptation of the 1986 novel '' It'' by Stephen King ...

'' (2019), and Max in ''

The Black Phone ''The Black Phone'' is a 2021 American coming-of-age supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, who both produced with Jason Blum. It is an adaptation of the 2004 short story of the ...

'' (2021).

Life

Ransone was born and raised in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, the son of Joyce (née Peterson) and James Finley Ransone II, a Vietnam War veteran. He was educated at the

George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, also known just as the Carver Center is a Baltimore County-wide public magnet high school originally established in 1992 as one of three geographically spread technology high schools, (othe ...

in Baltimore and attended the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

in Manhattan for one year. In May 2021, on his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account, Ransone wrote that he was sexually abused by his math tutor Timothy Rualo in 1992. He reported his allegations to the Baltimore County police in March 2020, but they declined to pursue the charges after an investigation. An investigation by the Baltimore school system has not yet been resolved. By the age of 27, Ransone had developed a heroin addiction and a debt of $30,000, but became sober in 2007. He is married to Jamie McPhee, with whom he has a son.

Career

In 2002, Ransone co-starred in the

Harmony Korine Harmony Korine (born January 4, 1973, some sources report September 1, 1974)
" Retrieved on 2009-10-26. is an Ame ...

drama film ''

Ken Park ''Ken Park'' is a 2002 erotic drama which revolves around the abusive and dysfunctional lives of several teenagers, set in the city of Visalia, California. It was written by Harmony Korine, who based it on Larry Clark's journals and stories. Th ...

'' as Tate. He starred in the 2008 miniseries ''

'' as Cpl. Josh Ray Person. In 2010, he was cast in a recurring role in the HBO comedy series ''

How to Make It in America ''How to Make It in America'' is an American comedy-drama television series that ran on HBO from February 14, 2010, to November 20, 2011. The series follows the lives of Ben Epstein (Bryan Greenberg) and his friend Cam Calderon (Victor Rasuk) as t ...

'', and the following year, appeared in a recurring role in the HBO drama series '' Treme''. In 2012, he starred in the drama film ''

Starlet Starlet may refer to: Entertainment * ''Starlet'' (film), a 2012 independent dramatic film directed by Sean Baker * ''The Starlet'', reality TV show * The Starlets, a girl group Transport * Toyota Starlet, a car produced between 1973 and 1 ...

''. The following year, he starred in the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

drama series '' Low Winter Sun'' as Damon Callis. Ransone then starred in the 2012 horror film ''

'' in the supporting role of Deputy So-and-So. In June 2014, Ransone joined the cast of the Western film ''

In a Valley of Violence ''In a Valley of Violence'' is a 2016 American black comedy Western thriller film written and directed by Ti West. Jason Blum serves as producer through his production company Blumhouse Productions. The film stars Ethan Hawke, Taissa Farmiga, ...

''. Also in 2014, Ransone starred in ''

Small Engine Repair A small engine is the general term for a wide range of small-displacement, low-powered internal combustion engines used to power lawn mowers, generators, concrete mixers and many other machines that require independent power sources. These eng ...

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

. In 2015, he had a co-starring role in the comedy-drama film ''

''. Following the success of ''Sinister'', Ransone appeared in the 2015 sequel ''

'', reprising his role from the first film but now as the main character. In 2016, Ransone appeared in Season 2 of the drama series '' Bosch'' as Eddie Arceneaux. In 2019, Ransone played

(sharing the role with

Jack Dylan Grazer Jack Dylan Grazer (born September 3, 2003) is an American actor. He began his acting career by playing guest roles in film and on television and had his breakthrough playing the role of Eddie Kaspbrak in the 2017 and 2019 film adaptations of ...

) in the horror film ''

'', for which he received critical praise.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ransone, James 1979 births 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Living people Male actors from Baltimore Independent Spirit Award winners