Tributes have been paid to actor Simon Shelton, best known for playing purple Teletubby Tinky Winky, following his death at the age of 52.
[...] The original Teletubbies ran on the BBC from 1997 to 2001 and spawned a number one single, called Teletubbies say 'Eh-oh!', in December 1997.
Speaking in 2008, Shelton said he had little inkling Teletubbies would be the success it was when he was cast as Tinky Winky.
"I didn't know it would be as big as it was, but I did know as soon as I started working on it that it had something special," he said.
The original Teletubbies series was watched by around one billion children in more than 120 countries in 45 languages.
Shelton, a father of three, lived in Ampthill in Bedfordshire.
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-42788001
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @04:02PM (3 children)
Yes, Tinky Winky was supposedly the "gay" Telletubbie because:
1. He was purple, the gay pride color.
2. He had a triangle on his antenna, the gay pride symbol.
3. He carried a magic bad that looked like a purse.
4. He was named "Tinky Winky"... come on!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletubbies#Tinky_Winky_controversy [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @04:08PM
That supposed to be "magic bag", not "magic bad".
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Friday January 26 2018, @01:06AM
In New York, in NYC, the gays always have a Rainbow banner. Beautiful! The others do purple? OK, also a very pretty color. My favorite color is whatever I'm wearing. But my second favorite color and favorite thing is GOLD!
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Friday January 26 2018, @05:57AM
5. Po (the red one, played by Pui Fan Lee) had catchphrases "faaidik faaidik, maan maan maan" (Cantonese for "fast" and "slow"). When conservative parents misheard a Po doll [cbsnews.com] as saying "faggot faggot, bite my butt" (listen [youtube.com]), this led to replacing that recorded phrase in the next batch of dolls.
Or was she talking smack about Tinky Winky all the time?