Rest Easy, Tinky Winky

Rest Easy, Tinky Winky

Amanda Mourelatos, Co-Editor of Cougart and Community Builder

The beloved actor of Tinky Winky, Simon Shelton, from the Teletubbies passed away at the age of 52. Also known as Simon Barnes, he embodied the purple costume of a character from our childhoods and his passing came very suddenly. After collapsing in the streets of Liverpool, he unfortunately died of hypothermia, according to locals. Merseyside Police (England, UK) confirmed the discovery of his body at around 7:30am on January 17th.

The Teletubbies were colorful, bubbly characters who had screens in their chests, hence the name of the show. Their energetic personalities entertained babies and toddlers ever since 1997 and Barnes took over the role of Tinky Winky from 1998 to 2001 when Dave Thompson was fired. Barnes described being in the Teletubbies as “a bit like the Beatles or Take That of television”. A fellow Teletubby, John Simmit as Dipsy, made a post about him over social media. “What a week! RIP Simon Shelton aka Tinky Winky: remembering the many good times. Rest easy,” he said, “lots of messaging between cast and crew as we became a tight bunch over six years on location. We’ll give him an appropriate send off in a couple of weeks.” Family friend Judith Tynan, who lived with Barnes, wrote on social media: “Simon, I miss your company more than words can say x.” Simon Barnes has left his mark on our childhoods and his legacy will remain in our hearts.

Sources: HuffPost, Yahoo! News, The Sun