# Ralphie May dies at age 45 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralphie-may-dies-at-age-45/798148 "2017-10-06T23:27:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralphie-may-dies-at-age-45/798148/21 "2017-10-08T16:36:42Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I seem to recall reading that in his youth and young adulthood he was actually normal sized and the he had a terrible life-changing car wreck that almost killed him. I’m not sure psychologically speaking why that would happen. I read he had a car accident at age 16 and ballooned to 800 lbs. I am not sure if that is accurate, but that is more than I think he weighed when I saw him on Fool Us. I put him at 450-500 lbs on there, but it’s a guess. > [@Loach](#): > > John Pinnette had a severe opioid addiction (is there a minor one?). Apparently he had gotten clean recently but years of drug abuse as well as the weight took a toll on his body. I’d forgotten that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralphie-may-dies-at-age-45/798148/22 "2017-10-09T02:39:46Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I read he had a car accident at age 16 and ballooned to 800 lbs. I am not sure if that is accurate, but that is more than I think he weighed when I saw him on Fool Us. I put him at 450-500 lbs on there, but it’s a guess. > > I’d forgotten that. Thanks. I have no idea if he was thin before his car wreck, but yeah supposedly he ballooned up to 800 lbs after the accident. He got bariatric surgery and got down to 350, but then got back up to about 500 lbs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ralphie-may-dies-at-age-45/798148.md?page=1)