The Actor Who Played Tinky Winky On The 'Teletubbies' Has Died

Chances are, you can still remember the happy and excited feeling you had watching the giggling baby in the sun rise above Teletubby Land when you were growing up.

The children's show was in truth a weird concept, but one that eventually found its way into our hearts. With the four colorful creatures who played games and ate 'Tubby-custard', to the mini-TV's that showed us children who were fans of the shows, we learned many life lessons from this show like sharing and how to be positive.

However, the show could not go on forever and in 2001, after four years on the air, the Teletubbies were no more.

Now, it seems that we have lost one of the original four. Simon Shelton Barnes played the purple character, Tinky Winky, who always carried around his favorite red purse. It wasn't apparent what caused the sudden death of Barnes, however his family alerted the world to his passing with words of love and remembrance.

The former cast of Teletubbies also reached out to pay their respects to their old friend and co-star.

The four members of the show became quite close over the four years that they had been working together, and the news that Barnes had died came as quite the shock to them all.

John Summit, who played Dipsy, the green character, tweeted out his condolences when he heard about the passing of his co-star.

"What a week! RIP Simon Shelton aka Tinky Winky: remembering the many good times. Rest easy," he said.

The Teletubbies played a huge role in children's lives as they were learnin about the world, and even Barnes realized that it had brought him widespread fame saying it was "a bit like the Beatles or Take That of television."

Rest in peace Simon, and bye-bye, Tinky Winky, bye-bye.

Share with someone who would remember growing up with Tinky Winky!