Drugs, Rehab, Suicide Threats: Tragic Ralphie May Revealed Breakdown In New Memoir
Fans were shocked to learn of Ralphie May’s sudden death in October at just 45, but in the beloved comedian’s posthumous memoir, he told all about his mental and physical breakdown in his sad final years.
In his new book, This Might Get A Little Heavy, May said after he barely survived pneumonia and a pulmonary embolism in 2011, he began using prescription drugs in addition to his regular marijuana habit — which led him to exhibit “erratic” and “hostile” behavior.
“They made me crazy. I would regularly lose track of time. I was constantly awake, usually for days on end,” he wrote in the memoir, out this week, adding that he began lashing out at baristas.
After taking too much Xanax on a flight, May’s then-wife, Lahna Turner, did an “intervention” on him.
“She wanted me to go to rehab. Today,” he added.
In rehab, he discovered he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his parents’ divorce, a near fatal car accident and bullying from other comics.
After doing well in body and mind for a few years, May said he slid back into self-destruction when his beloved dog Pimp died in 2014.
In what doctors called an “insomnia-induced dementia event,” he made more than one hundred calls to his wife, assistant and other loved ones.
“When the phone wasn’t good enough, I fought with Lahna on Facetime and showed her a gun. I threatened to use it to kill myself,” May revealed.
The overweight comic was rushed to the hospital, where he remained for days.
Turner soon filed for divorce, which turned into a nasty, dragged-out battle that was still ongoing at his death.
Earlier this week, Nevada's Clark County Coroner's Office announced the 400-pound May died of natural causes stemming from hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
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