(Image via GIPHY)

Simon Shelton Barnes, a dancer and actor who climbed into the purple Tinky Winky Teletubby suit in the '90s, has died at 52.

Barnes's niece, actress Emily Atack, wrote that her uncle had died suddenly in a heartbreaking Instagram post.

There is no word what caused his death January 17.

In 1999, Tinky Winky was at the center of a culture wars battle when Rev. Jerry Falwell (1933-2007) in 1999 claimed that Tinky Winky was “modeling the gay lifestyle.” The series was watched by up to a billion children.

Along with niece, he is survived by three children.