Rube John Sofer

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Rube John Sofer
First appearance	Pilot (episode 1.00)
Created by	Bryan Fuller
Portrayed by	Mandy Patinkin
Information
Gender	Male
Age	approx. late 40's - early 50's
Date of death	unknown, (1926 or eariler)

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. He is afraid of heights.

[edit] Fictional character history

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 or before 1926, is originally from Englewood^[1]New Jersey, 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. 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.

One of the more mysterious of the reapers featured on Dead Like Me, his full name wasn't revealed until the episode Death Defying^[1]. 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.

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's birth certificate describes his wife of being of Czechoslovakian origin and 24 years old at the time of his daughter's birth, maiden name being Lucy Sonia Debrowski. Rube's full name is revealed here, as well as his stated occupation of salesman and that he was 49 years old at her birth. His daughter's full name is Rose Anne Sofer. Their address was 243 Georgian Lane.^[1] Lucy's death certificate was discovered but not shown, but her gravestone shows that her year of birth was 1901 and her date of death was 1941^[2], consistent with the age given on her daughter's birth certificate.

His daughter Rosie was born on 19 March 1925^[1], according to her birth certificate in "Death Defying" (but in 1922^[3] according to her gravestone in Haunted) and lived at a nursing home until her death in 2004. 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.

As for Rube's possible year of birth, it was stated that Rube was 49 years old at the time of his daughter’s birth. She is said to have been born in 1925 in “Death Defying”, and 1922 in ”Haunted”, which means that, depending on the episode, Rube was born in ether 1876 (”Death Defying”) or 1873 (”Haunted”).

[edit] References

v • d • e Dead Like Me Episodes · Film Characters George Lass · Rube Sofer · Mason · Daisy Adair · Roxy Harvey · Betty Rohmer · Reggie Lass · Joy Lass · Clancy Lass · Delores Herbig · Crystal