Ralphie May

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title: "Ralphie May" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1972-births", "2017-deaths", "20th-century-american-comedians", "21st-century-american-comedians", "american-male-film-actors", "american-male-television-actors", "american-stand-up-comedians", "deaths-from-pneumonia-in-nevada", "high-school-for-the-performing-and-visual-arts-alumni", "male-actors-from-arkansas", "male-actors-from-tennessee", "participants-in-american-reality-television-series", "people-from-chattanooga,-tennessee", "people-from-clarksville,-arkansas", "comedians-from-tennessee", "comedians-from-arkansas"] description: "American comedian (1972–2017)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralphie_May" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American comedian (1972–2017) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Ralphie May
image	Ralphie_may.jpeg
caption	May on August 2, 2009
birth_name	Ralph Duren May
birth_date
birth_place	Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
burial_place	Oakland Memorial Cemetery
Clarksville, Arkansas
spouse
children	2
module	{{Infobox comedian
medium	{{flatlist
active	1989–2017
genre	Observational comedy
subject	{{flatlist
website
::

| name = Ralphie May | image = Ralphie_may.jpeg | caption = May on August 2, 2009 | birth_name = Ralph Duren May | birth_date = | birth_place = Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | burial_place = Oakland Memorial Cemetery Clarksville, Arkansas | spouse = | children = 2 | module = {{Infobox comedian|embed=yes | medium = {{flatlist|

• Stand-up
• television
• radio | active = 1989–2017 | genre = Observational comedy | subject = {{flatlist|
• Wit
• word play
• satire
• sexuality
• race
• religion
• family life
• obesity
• politics
• medicine | website = Ralph Duren May (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

Ralphie May was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and raised in Clarksville, Arkansas. He was the youngest of five children.

At age 17, he won a contest to open for Sam Kinison, whom he considered his idol. 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!"' Kinison suggested that May move to Houston to further develop his comedy routine. May graduated from the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

Career

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.

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), Austin-tatious (2008), and Too Big To Ignore (2012), as well as two Netflix specials titled Imperfectly Yours (2013) and Unruly (2015). He appeared in For Da Love of Money. May also performed at the "Gathering of the Juggalos 2012".

Personal life

On July 3, 2005, May married comedian Lahna Turner. The couple had two children: a daughter born in September 2007 and a son born in June 2009. The couple filed for divorce in October 2015 and sought joint custody of their children, but their separation could never be finalized.

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 lb. After a bout with viral pneumonia on a cruise in October 2011, May lost 40 lb. The following month, he suffered a near-fatal pulmonary embolism, when a blood clot from his leg became lodged in an artery.

In many interviews, May discussed his grandmother, whom he credited with helping to care for his siblings and him 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 biography also referred to 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."

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 said, "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."

In 2013, May and his wife Turner started a podcast together called Perfect 10.

May helped a choking child at Spokane Airport, Washington, in 2016, performing the Heimlich maneuver, news outlets and the airport's social media reported that he had saved the child's life.

His memoir, This Might Get a Little Heavy, was published posthumously in December 2017.

Death

May died on October 6, 2017, aged 45, after going into cardiac arrest. He had been battling pneumonia for several weeks and as a result, had cancelled shows over the previous month. As later published, 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.

A 2019 documentary titled What’s Eating Ralphie May? explored the final year of May’s life. The film received critical attention at festivals and was praised for its emotional depth and archival footage.

Filmography

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	For Da Love of Money	Otis
2003	Just Correct	Himself
Whoopi	Sammy	Episode: "The Fat and the Frivolous"
2005	Big Black Comedy: Vol. 2	Himself
Big Black Comedy: Vol. 4	Himself
2006	Girth of a Nation	Himself
2007	Prime Cut	Himself
Bangin' With Ralphie May	Himself
2008	The Best of Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen	Himself
Austin-Tatious	Himself
2012	Too Big to Ignore	Himself
2013	Imperfectly Yours	Himself
Squidbillies	P-NUT	Episode: "Thou Shale Not Drill"
2015	Unruly	Himself
2016	Inside Amy Schumer	Ralphie
2016	Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle	Himself	2 episodes - eliminated
2017	Penn & Teller: Fool Us	Himself
2018	Ralphie May Presents	Himself
2019	What's Eating Ralphie May?	Himself
::

Discography

• 2005 Just Correct
• 2006 Girth of a Nation
• 2007 Prime Cut
• 2008 Austin-Tatious
• 2012 Too Big to Ignore
• 2013 Imperfectly Yours
• 2015 Unruly

References

References

1. Genzlinger, Neil. (2017-10-06). "Ralphie May, 45, Comedian 'Who Happens to Be Fat,' Dies". [[The New York Times]].
2. Genzlinger, Neil. (6 October 2017). "Ralphie May, 45, Comedian 'Who Happens to Be Fat,' Dies". New York Times.
3. (October 6, 2017). "Comedian and Clarksville Native, Ralphie May Dead at 45". Arkansas Matters.
4. Rusnak, Jeff. (May 7, 2004). "Ralphie May Succeeds On Stage, But Not By Throwing His Weight Around". [[Sun-Sentinel]].
5. (April 12, 2007). "Sam Kinison's Wild Ride - Las Vegas Weekly".
6. (October 6, 2017). "Ralphie May Dead--Dies 45". Huffington Post.
7. "Ralphie May". [[Comedy Central]].
8. [https://web.archive.org/web/20141030015136/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/420981/Ralphie-May-Prime-Cut/overview Ralphie May: Prime Cut (2007)]. The New York Times
9. (October 6, 2017). "Comedian Ralphie May Dies at 45".
10. Hautman, Nicholas. (October 6, 2017). "Ralphie May Dead: Kevin Hart, Gabriel Iglesias, Bob Saget and More Pay Tribute to Comedian".
11. (April 26, 2002). "Film in Review: For Da Love of Money". New York Times.
12. (August 14, 2012). "Insane Clown Posse Fire Up the 2012 Gathering of the Juggalos". Rolling Stone Magazine.
13. (September 17, 2007). "Comedians Ralphie May and Lahna Turner are new parents".
14. (October 6, 2017). "Lahna Turner, Ralphie May's Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know".
15. (June 26, 2009). "Ralphie May Welcomes Son August James May".
16. [http://www.tmz.com/2015/10/16/ralphie-may-divorce/ Ralphie May's wife Lahna Turner files divorce] tmz.com
17. Cridlin, Jay. (December 5, 2011). "For comic Ralphie May, health scare in Tampa was life-changing experience". [[Tampa Bay Times]].
18. Ho, Rodney. (October 6, 2017). "Ralphie May almost died in November 2011 of a pulmonary embolism". [[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]].
19. (2016-02-01). "Comedian Ralphie May to perform at Egyptian theater". Daily Chronicle.
20. Bell, Robert. (2012-08-31). "Ralphie May talks growing up in Clarksville". Arkansas Times.
21. "Comedians Ralphie May and Lahna Turner to divorce". Daniel Jensen Law Office.
22. (2016-07-01). "Comedian Ralphie May Saved A Choking Baby".
23. (2016-06-30). "Ralphie May -- To The Rescue ... Saves Choking Baby (PHOTO)".
24. (April 16, 2015). "Comedian Ralphie May to Pen Humorous Memoir".
25. May, Ralphie. (2017). "This Might Get a Little Heavy: A Memoir".
26. (October 5, 2017). "Ralphie May, Stand-Up Comic and 'Last Comic Standing' Finalist, Dead at 45".
27. (October 11, 2017). "RALPHIE MAY FRAIL AND PALE At Final Meet-and-Greet".
28. https://theplaylist.net/whats-eating-ralphie-may-review-20191011/

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