Comedian Ralphie May dies at age 45

Comedian Ralphie May, a runner-up on Last Comic Standing, died on Friday at 45.

“We are heartbroken to announce the untimely death of our friend, Ralphie May,” representatives for May confirmed in a statement. “Ralphie had been battling pneumonia and had canceled a handful of dates over the last month in an effort to recover. Earlier this morning at a private residence in Las Vegas his body was discovered, cause of death is cardiac arrest. Two days ago, he won the Casino Comedian of the Year at the Global Gaming Expo and had performances throughout the remainder of 2017 as part of his residency at Harrah’s Las Vegas.”

May is survived by his wife, Lahna Turner, and children, April June May and August James May.

The comedian’s career took off back in 2003 after he finished in second place on the competitive reality show that seeks to make the career of the undiscovered talented comedians. His success on the NBC show led to appearances on The Wayne Brady Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

May later went on record four special for Comedy Central including Girth of a Nation (2006), Prime Cut (2007), Austin-tatious (2008), and Too Big To Ignore (2012). In 2015, he also made two comedy specials, Unruly (2015) and Imperfectly Yours (2015) for Netflix and had toured the country performing standup consistently over the years.

Online, numerous comedians paid tribute to May in the aftermath of his death.