Rube John Sofer

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Rube John Sofer
First appearance	Pilot (episode 1.00)
Statistics
Gender	Male
Age	40s
Year of Death	~1926 or 1927
Portrayed by	Mandy Patinkin
Created by	Bryan Fuller

Rube John Sofer is a fictional character played by Mandy Patinkin in the American comedy-drama television series Dead Like Me, which premiered in 2003 on the Showtime cable network. B. ~1876 d. ~1926. Manner of death is yet unknown. The date of his death is surmised by the fact that he was present in 1926 for the death of Betty Rhomer, however in the second season episode, "Always", a character guesses that he died in 1927, which would contradict some earlier information, such as the fact he was there to welcome Betty to the afterlife the year before. He is afraid of heights.

Rube is the "foreman" of the group of grim reapers at the center of the series. He gets the list of who is to die, when and where, from an unnamed shadowy individual and then transfers the first initial and last name of the person, where they are to die, and their estimated time of death (ETD) to a Post-it note and assigns them to the reapers. He enjoys eating and cooking. He has been a reaper since before 1926, is originally from New York, and is of Jewish heritage. He refuses to reap children. Although he comes off as gruff and aloof, he actually cares for his team like a father, and is particularly fond of George Lass, the newest "recruit" to his small team of reapers. He calls her "Peanut", and in the episode "Always", it was revealed that was the nickname he had for his daughter, Rosie. He claims to have reaped Amelia Earhart. Rube gets irritated at fellow reaper Mason's antics and frequently calls him a "fuck-up." However, he suspects that Mason is smarter than he seems. A skilled shell game operator, Rube once taught Mason techniques from the game, which he used to sell a line of kitchen appliances.

One of the more mysterious of the reapers featured on Dead Like Me, his full name wasn't revealed until midway through the second season. His date of death was never made explicit, but implied to be the earliest of the known reapers. Mason jokes in "Rites of Passage", "Rube's so fucking old, he reaped Jesus." In "Ghost Story" George thinks Rube probably reaped Houdini.

The disappearance of Betty Rhomer, a reaper with whom he worked since her own death in 1926, disturbed him greatly. He hates computers and avoids using them whenever possible. In a major character arc during the second season, he was greatly upset when he discovered that a package of money that he had sent after his death to his daughter and wife in 1927 was never delivered, and embarked upon a quest to find out why. While he searched public record archives, during which he found the death certificate for his wife, he discovered a wanted poster that indicated he was apparently wanted for a bank robbery.

His daughter Rosie lived at a nursing home until her death. Fellow reaper Penny (who died on the Titanic, referred to as a "boating accident") led Rube to Rosie, so Rube could be with her when she died, when Rube sat with her in the garden of the nursing home, Rosie recognized Rube as her father.

Dead Like Me
Episode List | Official Website
Main Characters	George Lass | Rube Sofer | Mason | Daisy Adair | Roxy Harvey | Betty
Other	Reggie Lass | Joy Lass | Clancy Lass | Delores Herbig | Crystal
General	Characters | Episodes | References | Quotes