Teletubbies actor Simon Shelton Barnes - the actor who played purple character Tinky-Winky - has passed away at the age of 52.
The father of three played the handbag-carrying Tellytubby in the popular BBC children's series, and passed away just four days after his 52nd birthday.
As well starring as Tinky-Winky, Shelton Barnes also trained as a ballet dancer and choreographer.
Originally screened on BBC TV from 1997-2001 and revived in 2015, Teletubbies Tinky-Winky Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po became hugely popular as the show's colourful, psychedelic setting was designed specifically to appeal to the attention spans of infants.
Acting runs in the family as Shelton Barnes was the brother-in-law of Poldark actor Robbert Daws and the uncle of Inbetweeners actress Emily Atack.
The actor once said that being in the Teletubbies was "a bit like the Beatles or Take That of television".
He added: "We used to receive a lot of fan mail from children and parents."
Tinky Winky actor Simon Shelton Barnes has died https://t.co/sVgfCAuF9M pic.twitter.com/MdvzcuN8j8
— The Sun (@TheSun) January 23, 2018
