Profile Text
Ransone in 2010, photo by PrPhotos
Birth Name: James Finley Ransone III
Date of Birth: June 2, 1979
Place of Birth: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Date of Death: December 19, 2025
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: English, German, Irish, one eighth Italian, distant Swedish and Scottish
James Ransone was an American actor and musician. Among his best known performances were the Sinister franchise, It Chapter Two , and The Black Phone . His roles also included the films The American Astronaut , Ken Park , Inside Man (2006), Prom Night (2008), The Next Three Days , The Son of No One , Red Hook Summer , Red Hook Summer , Broken City , Empire State , Oldboy (2013), Cymbeline , Kristy (2014), Tangerine , The Timber , Bloomin Mud Shuffle , Mr. Right (2015), In a Valley of Violence , Gemini (2017), Write When You Get Work , Family Blood , Captive State , What We Found , Small Engine Repair , and V/H/S/85 ; and the series The Wire , Generation Kill , How to Make It in America , Treme , Low Winter Sun , Bosch , Mosaic , The First , 50 States of Fright , and SEAL Team .
James was the son of Joyce and James Ransone II. He was married to Jamie McPhee, with whom he had two children.
James’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced to Peter Ransone, who was born, c. 1615, in England.
James’s paternal grandfather was James Finley/Finlay Ransone (the son of John Edward Bromwell Ransone and Mary Letisha/Latisha/Letita Price). James was born in Baltimore, Maryland. John was the son of Alexander Lawson Ransone, who had deep roots in the U.S.; and of Mary Wolferman, whose parents were from Hesse, Germany. James’s great-grandmother Mary was the daughter of Finley Fleetwood Price and Margaret Ellen “Maggie” Porter, and also had deep American roots.
James’s paternal grandmother was Mary Patricia Daniels (the daughter of Edward Patrick Daniels and Lillian Louise Born). Mary was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Edward was the son of Irish parents, William Daniels and Mary Elizabeth Malady. Lillian was the daughter of German parents, August Born and Caroline Amelia Heinzerling.
James’s maternal grandfather was Walter Preston/Kenneth “Jack” Peterson (the son of Walter Eli Peterson and Estella Kinzer). James’s grandfather Walter was born in Radford, Virginia, and had deep roots in the U.S. James’s great-grandfather Walter was the son of Doctor Radford Peterson and Annie Ellen Fisher. Estella was the daughter of Jasper Nicholas Kinzer and Emma/Emeline Virginia Hicks.
James’s maternal grandmother was Evelyn Vitocolonna/Vitocolona (the daughter of Armando Vitocolonna/Vitocolona and Emma Amelia Thune). Evelyn was born in Maryland. Armando was born in Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy, the son of Camillo Vitocolonna and Anna Silvani. Emma was born in Maryland, the daughter of German parents, Henry Thune and Minnie Koeszek, who may have had Slavic ancestry.
Sources: Genealogy of James Ransone – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of James’s maternal grandfather, Walter Preston/Kenneth “Jack” Peterson – http://articles.baltimoresun.com
James’s maternal great-grandparents, Armando Vitocolonna/Vitocolona and Emma A. Thune, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
James’s maternal great-grandmother, Emma Amelia Thune, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org