American comedian (1972?2017)
Ralphie May
|
---|
May on August 2, 2009
|
Born
| Ralph Duren May
(
1972-02-17
)
February 17, 1972
|
---|
Died
| October 6, 2017
(2017-10-06)
(aged 45)
|
---|
Burial place
| Oakland Memorial Cemetery
Clarksville, Arkansas
|
---|
Spouse
|
|
---|
Children
| 2
|
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Comedy career
|
Medium
| |
---|
Years active
| 1989?2017
|
---|
Genres
| Observational comedy
|
---|
Subject(s)
| |
---|
Website
| ralphiemay
.com
|
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|
Ralph Duren May
[1]
(February 17, 1972 ? October 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his extensive touring and comedy specials on multiple media platforms.
Early life
[
edit
]
May was born in
Chattanooga, Tennessee
,
[2]
and raised in
Clarksville, Arkansas
.
[3]
He was the youngest of four children.
[
citation needed
]
At age 17 he won a contest to open for
Sam Kinison
, whom he considered his idol.
[4]
May explained, "The joke that he liked the best was talking about the drummer (
Rick Allen
) from
Def Leppard
. 'After he lost his arm, I felt bad about listening to him. Not that I'm prejudiced against handicapped people, it's just the fact that if I applauded, it was insulting to him, like "Ha! Ha! Look at my use of two hands!"'
[5]
Kinison suggested that May move to
Houston
to further develop his comedy routine.
[6]
May graduated from the
High School for the Performing and Visual Arts
.
[
citation needed
]
Career
[
edit
]
In 2003, May was chosen to participate in the first season of
Last Comic Standing
. He finished in second place in the competition, with
Dat Phan
winning first place. Afterwards, May appeared in comedy shows, such as
The Wayne Brady Show
and
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
. In 2005, he was the only white comedian on
The Big Black Comedy Show
, which also featured
Mo'Nique
, Rodman, and Vince Morris.
[7]
In 2005, May released his first comedy album
Just Correct
. He later recorded four
Comedy Central
specials titled
Girth of a Nation
(2006),
Prime Cut
(2007),
[8]
Austin-tatious
(2008), and
Too Big To Ignore
(2012),
[9]
as well as two
Netflix
specials titled
Imperfectly Yours
(2013) and
Unruly
(2015).
[10]
He appeared in
For Da Love of Money
.
[11]
May also performed at the "Gathering of the
Juggalos
2012".
[12]
Personal life
[
edit
]
On July 3, 2005, May married comedian
Lahna Turner
. The couple had two children: a daughter born in September 2007
[13]
[14]
and a son born in June 2009.
[15]
[14]
The couple filed for divorce in October 2015 and sought joint custody of their children, but their separation could never be finalized.
[16]
May struggled with
obesity
throughout his life. He participated on VH1's
Celebrity Fit Club
and had
gastric bypass surgery
in 2004, which lowered his weight to 350 pounds (160 kg).
[4]
[17]
After a bout with
viral pneumonia
on a cruise in October 2011, May lost 40 pounds.
[17]
The following month, he suffered a nearly-fatal
pulmonary embolism
, where a
blood clot
from his leg became lodged in an
artery
.
[18]
In many interviews May discussed his grandmother, whom he credited with helping to care for him and his siblings when they were children. Speaking to the
Arkansas Times
in 2012, May said, "Thank goodness for my grandmother, she was a hell of a woman. She was really beneficial, she kept us in a stature way above our means and made sure we were taken care of as far as clean clothes and shoes." His
Facebook
bio also references his grandmother. "When I was a kid, my grandmother taught me how to crochet and how to quilt, and that's kind of how I do an act. I have
one-liners
, I have dirty jokes, but I also have long stories that are 10 or 20 minutes long and the laughs come every eight seconds. It's a different set. And it's a different life than most people have led."
[19]
In an interview with the
Arkansas Times
in 2012, he discussed growing up in Clarksville, shedding light on some of the hardships he faced. He shared, "It was a hard life growing up. It was a similar story to a lot of people in Arkansas. My mom was a florist. I'm the youngest of four. My father and mother hated each other, and they took it out on us. She'd sue him for not paying child support, then he didn't pay, and that ended up costing us a lot."
[20]
In 2013, May and his wife Turner started a podcast together called
Perfect 10
.
[21]
His memoir,
This Might Get a Little Heavy
, was published posthumously in December 2017.
[22]
[23]
Death
[
edit
]
On October 6, 2017, May went into cardiac arrest and died. May had been battling
pneumonia
for several weeks and as a result, had canceled shows over the previous month. He was 45 years old.
[24]
[25]
It was later published that, hours before his death, May was scheduled to do a meet-and-greet after his final performance at Harrah's in Las Vegas around midnight, but he had already shown signs of his deteriorating condition.
[26]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Discography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Genzlinger, Neil (October 6, 2017).
"Ralphie May, 45, Comedian 'Who Happens to Be Fat,' Dies"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
September 9,
2020
.
- ^
Genzlinger, Neil (October 6, 2017).
"Ralphie May, 45, Comedian 'Who Happens to Be Fat,' Dies"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
October 6,
2017
.
- ^
"Comedian and Clarksville Native, Ralphie May Dead at 45"
. Arkansas Matters. October 6, 2017
. Retrieved
October 6,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Rusnak, Jeff (May 7, 2004).
"Ralphie May Succeeds On Stage, But Not By Throwing His Weight Around"
.
Sun-Sentinel
. Archived from
the original
on October 12, 2018
. Retrieved
October 6,
2017
.
- ^
"Sam Kinison's Wild Ride - Las Vegas Weekly"
. April 12, 2007.
- ^
"Ralphie May Dead--Dies 45"
.
Huffington Post
. October 6, 2017.
- ^
"Ralphie May"
.
Comedy Central
. Retrieved
February 27,
2015
.
- ^
Ralphie May: Prime Cut (2007)
. The New York Times
- ^
"Comedian Ralphie May Dies at 45"
.
Variety Magazine
. October 6, 2017.
- ^
Hautman, Nicholas (October 6, 2017).
"Ralphie May Dead: Kevin Hart, Gabriel Iglesias, Bob Saget and More Pay Tribute to Comedian"
.
US Magazine
.
- ^
"Film in Review: For Da Love of Money"
.
New York Times
. April 26, 2002.
- ^
"Insane Clown Posse Fire Up the 2012 Gathering of the Juggalos"
.
Rolling Stone Magazine
. August 14, 2012. Archived from
the original
on October 9, 2017
. Retrieved
December 20,
2017
.
- ^
"Comedians Ralphie May and Lahna Turner are new parents"
.
People
. September 17, 2007
. Retrieved
September 30,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"Lahna Turner, Ralphie May's Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know"
.
heavy.com
. October 6, 2017.
- ^
"Ralphie May Welcomes Son August James May"
.
People
. June 26, 2009
. Retrieved
September 30,
2019
.
- ^
Ralphie May's wife Lahna Turner files divorce
tmz.com
- ^
a
b
Cridlin, Jay (December 5, 2011).
"For comic Ralphie May, health scare in Tampa was life-changing experience"
.
Tampa Bay Times
. Archived from
the original
on October 7, 2017
. Retrieved
October 6,
2017
.
- ^
Ho, Rodney (October 6, 2017).
"Ralphie May almost died in November 2011 of a pulmonary embolism"
.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
.
Archived
from the original on April 19, 2022
. Retrieved
April 18,
2022
.
- ^
"Comedian Ralphie May to perform at Egyptian theater"
.
Daily Chronicle
. February 1, 2016
. Retrieved
January 17,
2019
.
- ^
Bell, Robert (August 31, 2012).
"Ralphie May talks growing up in Clarksville"
.
Arkansas Times
. Retrieved
January 17,
2019
.
- ^
"Comedians Ralphie May and Lahna Turner to divorce"
. Daniel Jensen Law Office
. Retrieved
January 17,
2019
.
- ^
Shanley, Patrick (April 16, 2015).
"Comedian Ralphie May to Pen Humorous Memoir"
.
Hollywood Reporter
. Retrieved
December 21,
2017
.
- ^
May, Ralphie (2017).
This Might Get a Little Heavy: A Memoir
. Parker, Nils (1 ed.). New York.
ISBN
9781250085740
.
OCLC
1010697817
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
"Comedian Ralphie May Dead at 33 of Cardiac Arrest"
.
tmz.com
.
- ^
Nemetz, Dave (October 5, 2017).
"Ralphie May, Stand-Up Comic and 'Last Comic Standing' Finalist, Dead at 45"
.
Yahoo News
. Retrieved
October 7,
2017
.
- ^
"RALPHIE MAY FRAIL AND PALE At Final Meet-and-Greet"
.
tmz.com
. October 11, 2017
. Retrieved
October 11,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
"Ralphie May"
. IMDB.
- ^
"Ralphie May - Album discography"
.
AllMusic
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Seasons
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Winners
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Other contestants
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International
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National
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Artists
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