Nathan Barksdale, the inspiration behind characters from The Wire, dies in prison

The notorious Baltimore gangster, nicknamed Bodie, was described as a "magnet for violence"

Avon Barksdale actor Wood Harris interviews the character's real-life influence Nathan Barksdale (YouTube)

Nathan Barksdale, the former Baltimore gangster who inspired David Simon to create several characters in The Wire, has died in federal prison, The Baltimore Sun reports.

A criminal nicknamed "Bodie," Barksdale rose to notoriety in the Eighties when he ran a heroin-dealing operation in a public housing complex - a ring that authorities claimed controlled the majority of the city's drug trafficking at that time. In 1985, he was convicted of torturing three people in the same housing complex.

Barksdale inspired two characters in acclaimed HBO series The Wire: kingpin Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris, who interviews him in the below video) and Preston "Bodie" Broadus (JD Williams).

Series creator David Simon revealed that, while an inspiration, no characters were based precisely on Barksdale: "There are some anecdotal connections between his story and a multitude of characters.

"We mangled street and given names throughout The Wire so that it was a general shout-out to the Westside players."

Barksdale since reformed, working alongside the city's Health Department on their Safe Streets program. However, in 2014, he pleaded guilty to his part in a heroin scam after falling victim to a DEA wiretap investigation. He revealed soon after he had lapsed back into a heroin addiction.

In his lifetime, Barksdale was shot over 20 times and had his right leg amputated below the knee.

Barksdale died in a North Carolina federal medical prison on Saturday (13 February). The cause of death has been undisclosed. He was 54.