(CNN) Nathan "Bodie" Barksdale, the inspiration behind the show "The Wire," has died in a federal prison. He was 54. 
 
 Barksdale passed away from natural causes after being sick for a period of time, a spokesperson for the Baltimore City Health Department, Sean Naron, told CNN. 
 
 Former U.S. Rep. Mike Oxley -- co-author of a landmark anti-corporate-fraud law that bears his name -- died on January 1. He was 71. 
 
 Producer Robert Stigwood , the creative force behind "Saturday Night Fever," "Grease" and other cultural blockbusters of the 1970s, died on January 4. He was 81. 
 
 French fashion designer Andre Courreges, famous for his "space age" designs of the 1960s and 1970s, died on January 7, his family told CNN affiliate France 3. He was 92. 
 
 French fashion designer Andre Courreges, famous for his "space age" designs of the 1960s and 1970s, died on January 7, his family told CNN affiliate France 3. He was 92. 
 
 Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Monte Irvin died January 11 at the age of 96. Irvin was regarded as one of the best hitters and all-around players in the Negro League, making five All-Star teams. He became one of the first African-Americans to play in the majors, and he played a vital role in the New York Giants' World Series runs in 1951 and 1954. 
 
 At left is Bob Elliott , half of the TV and radio comedy duo Bob and Ray. He died February 2 at the age of 92. For several decades, Elliott and Ray Goulding's program parodies and deadpan routines were staples of radio and television. Elliott was the father of comedian and actor Chris Elliott and the grandfather of "Saturday Night Live" cast member Abby Elliott. 
 
 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia , the leading conservative voice on the high court, died at the age of 79, a government source and a family friend told CNN on February 13. 
 
 Singer Sonny James , who ruled the country music charts for nearly 20 years, died February 22 at the age of 87. 
 
 Former first lady Nancy Reagan , who joined her husband on a storybook journey from Hollywood to the White House, died of heart failure on March 6. She was known as a fierce protector of her husband, President Ronald Reagan, as well as a spokeswoman of the "just say no" anti-drug campaign. She was 94. 
 
 Actor Larry Drake , best known for his role as Benny on "L.A. Law," died at his home in Los Angeles on March 17, according to his manager Steven Siebert. Drake was 66. 
 
 Malik Taylor, better known to fans as Phife Dawg of the rap group A Tribe Called Quest, died March 23 at the age of 45. He's seen here at center during a performance in 1996. Taylor had long suffered from health issues associated with having Type 1 diabetes. In 2008, he underwent a kidney transplant. 
 
 Author and poet Jim Harrison died March 26 at his winter home in Arizona. He was 78. His many books include "Legends of the Fall," which was made into a 1994 movie starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. 
 
 Actor James Noble , who played Gov. Eugene X. Gatling in the television series "Benson," died from a stroke on March 28. He was 94. 
 
 Actress Patty Duke , star of "The Patty Duke Show," died March 29, at the age of 69. Duke won an Academy Award at age 16 for playing Helen Keller in 1962's "The Miracle Worker." 
 
 Architect Zaha Hadid , whose designs include the London Olympic Aquatic Centre, died March 31, a spokesperson from Zaha Hadid Design told CNN. She was 65. Hadid died of a heart attack in a Miami hospital where she was being treated for bronchitis, according to her firm's press office. 
 
 Country music legend Merle Haggard died on April 6 -- his 79th birthday -- of complications from pneumonia, his agent Lance Roberts told CNN. 
 
 Actress Doris Roberts , best known for her role as Marie Barone on the sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," died April 17. She was 90. 
 
 The musician Prince died at his home in Minnesota on April 21 at age 57. The medical examiner later determined he died of an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl. 
 
 Grammy-winning songwriter Guy Clark died May 17 at the age of 74. The Texas native died after a long illness, according to a statement from his publicist. 
 
 CBS News legend Morley Safer , whose work on "60 Minutes" embodied the show's 50 years on air, died at the age of 84, according to CBS on May 19. 
 
 Actor Alan Young , known for his role as Wilbur Post in the television show "Mr. Ed," died on May 19. He was 96. 
 
 Drummer Nick Menza , who played on many of Megadeth's most successful albums, died after collapsing on stage during a show with his current band, Ohm, on May 21. He was 51. 
 
 Mixed martial arts fighter Kimbo Slice died June 6 at the age of 42. Slice, whose real name was Kevin Ferguson, initially gained fame from online videos that showed him engaging in backyard bare-knuckle fights. He then became a professional fighter with a natural charisma that endeared him to fans. 
 
 Hockey legend Gordie Howe , left, scored 801 goals in his NHL career and won four Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings. Howe, also known as "Mr. Hockey," died June 10 at the age of 88, his son Marty said. 
 
 Singer Christina Grimmie died June 11 from gunshot wounds. The 22-year-old singer, who finished third on season 6 of "The Voice" on NBC, was shot while signing autographs after a concert in Orlando. 
 
 Singer Attrell Cordes , known as Prince Be of the music duo P.M. Dawn, died June 17 after suffering from diabetes and renal kidney disease, according to a statement from the group. He was 46. 
 
 Actor Ron Lester , who portrayed Billy Bob in the 1999 football movie "Varsity Blues," died June 17 at the age of 45, according to his representative Dave Bradley. Bradley said Lester died of organ failure -- specifically his liver and his kidneys. Lester had openly talked about his struggle with his illness on Twitter. 
 
 Bluegrass music pioneer Ralph Stanley died June 23 at the age of 89, publicist Kirt Webster announced on Stanley's official website. Stanley was already famous in bluegrass and roots music circles when the 2000 hit movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" thrust him into the mainstream. He provided a haunting a cappella version of the dirge "O Death" and ended up winning a Grammy. 
 
 Scotty Moore, a legendary guitarist credited with helping to launch Elvis Presley's career, died at the age of 84 on June 28. Moore is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and he was ranked No. 29 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists. 
 
 Scotty Moore, a legendary guitarist credited with helping to launch Elvis Presley's career, died at the age of 84 on June 28. Moore is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and he was ranked No. 29 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists. 
 
 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel died at the age of 87 on July 2. Wiesel's book "La Nuit" is the story of the Wiesel family being sent to Nazi concentration camps. 
 
 Director Michael Cimino , whose searing 1978 Vietnam War drama "The Deer Hunter" won five Oscars, including best picture, died July 2. He was 77. 
 
 Actress Noel Neill , who played Lois Lane in the 1950s TV version of "Superman," died July 3 at the age of 95. 
 
 Actor David Huddleston , perhaps best known for his role in the 1998 film "The Big Lebowski," died August 2 at the age of 85. 
 
 Famous New Orleans jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain died August 6 of heart failure. He was 86. 
 
 British actor Kenny Bake r, best known for playing R2-D2 in the "Star Wars" films, died on August 13, Baker's niece, Abigail Shield, told CNN. He was 81. 
 
 Actor Steven Hill , best known for playing District Attorney Adam Schiff on NBC's "Law & Order," died August 23, his son confirmed to CNN. He was 94. 
 
 Mexican music icon Juan Gabriel, who wooed audiences with soulful pop ballads that made him a Latin American music legend, died August 28 at the age of 66. 
 
 Actor Gene Wilder , who brought a wild-eyed desperation to a series of memorable and iconic comedy roles in the 1970s and 1980s, died August 29 at the age of 83. Some of his most famous films include "Young Frankenstein," "Blazing Saddles" and "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." 
 
 Character actor Jon Polito, who appeared in films such as "American Gangster" and "The Big Lebowski," died September 2, his manager confirmed. He was 65. 
 
 Character actor Jon Polito, who appeared in films such as "American Gangster" and "The Big Lebowski," died September 2, his manager confirmed. He was 65. 
 
 Actor Hugh O'Brian , best known for his portrayal of the title role in the 1950's TV Western "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp," died on September 5. He was 91. 
 
 Legendary playwright Edward Albee -- whose works included "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" -- died at the age of 88 after a short illness, according to his personal assistant Jakob Holder. Albee died September 16 at his home in Montauk, New York. 
 
 "L.A. Confidential" director and writer Curtis Hanson , 71, died of natural causes on September 20, Los Angeles police said. He won an Oscar with Brian Helgeland for the screenplay on "L.A. Confidential," and he also directed "8 Mile" and "Wonder Boys." 
 
 Grammy and Emmy Award winner Stanley Dural Jr., also known as Buckwheat Zydeco, died September 24 in Lafayette, Louisiana. He was 68. 
 
 Veteran actor Bill Nunn, best known for playing Radio Raheem in "Do the Right Thing" and Robbie Robertson in the "Spider-Man" trilogy, died September 24 at age 63. 
 
 Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez , one of baseball's brightest stars, was killed in a boating accident September 25, Florida authorities said. He was 24. 
 
 Golfing legend Arnold Palmer , who helped turn the sport from a country club pursuit to one that became accessible to the masses, died September 25 at the age of 87, according to the U.S. Golf Association. 
 
 Award-winning author Gloria Naylor , whose explorations of the lives of black women in the 1980s and 1990s earned her wide acclaim, died on September 28. She was 66. 
 
 Actor Tommy Ford , best known for his role as Tommy in the 1990s hit sitcom "Martin," died in Atlanta, a spokeswoman for his family announced on October 12. Ford was 52. 
 
 Actor and comedian Kevin Meaney , who had been a regular on late-night TV and was famous for delivering the line, "That's not right," died, his agent said October 21. Meaney's age and the cause of death weren't immediately known. 
 
 Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen died at the age of 82, according to a post on his official Facebook page on November 10. A highly respected artist known for his poetic and lyrical music, Cohen wrote a number of popular songs, including the often-covered "Hallelujah." 
 
 Actor Ron Glass , known for his role on the police sitcom "Barney Miller," died November 25, his agent said. Glass also starred in "Firefly" and its film sequel "Serenity." 
 
 Actor Alan Thicke , known for his role as the father in the sitcom "Growing Pains," died on December 13, according to his agent, Tracy Mapes. He was 69. Thicke's career spanned five decades -- one in which he played various roles on and off screen, from actor to writer to composer to author. 
 
 English novelist Richard Adams , author of the famous children's book "Watership Down," died at the age of 96 on December 24. 
 
 Singer George Michael , who shot to fame with the '80s band Wham!, died on Christmas Day, according to Britain's Press Association. He was 53 years old. 
 
 Actor and comedian Ricky Harris , who was a regular on the TV sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris" and first gained attention on HBO's "Def Comedy Jam," died December 26, according to his publicist. He was 54. 
 
 Actress Carrie Fisher , best known for her role as Princess Leia in the "Star Wars" franchises, died December 27, according to her daughter's publicist. Fisher had suffered a cardiac event on December 23. She was 60 years old. 
 
 Barksdale was a notorious criminal in Baltimore in the 1980s. According to the Baltimore Sun , he ran a violent heroin-dealing operation in the Murphy Homes public housing complex. 
 
 Barksdale is also said to be the inspiration for a number of key characters in "The Wire," the critically acclaimed HBO series that chronicled life in the Baltimore projects. He's specifically thought to be the true story behind the ruthless drug king pin character "Avon Barksdale." 
 
 'This is real' 
 
 In 2010, Barksdale released a DVD that dramatized his own life, entitled " The Avon Barksdale Story: Legends of the Unwired ." 
 
 Actor Wood Harris, who portrayed "Avon Barksdale" in "The Wire". 
 
 In the low budget documentary he is interviewed by Wood Harris, who played Avon in the hit series. 
 
 "In real life," the narrator claims, "he was one of the most notorious gangster drug kingpins Baltimore has ever seen. He was a magnet for violence." 
 
 In a series of on-camera interviews, Barksdale talks about his early days as a pickpocket in the projects and his progression into more violent crime. He was reportedly shot over 20 times and had to have his right leg amputated below the knee. 
 
 "I've been paralyzed, I was temporarily blind," he tells Harris. "It's horrible being shot." 
 
 But series creator David Simon told The Baltimore Sun that the two men were not one and the same. 
 
 Characters from the HBO series, "The Wire". 
 
 "There are some anecdotal connections between his story and a multitude of characters," Simon said to the paper in 2013 
 
 "We mangled street and given names throughout 'The Wire' so that it was a general shout-out to the west-side players. But there is nothing that corresponds to a specific character." The series did also feature a low-level dealer in the fictional Barksdale organization called "Bodie." 
 
 While never matching the audiences of other big HBO series, the authenticity of "The Wire" inspired a passionate following. It's portrayal of a morally gray universe, set against an equally gray Baltimore backdrop, regularly has it being cited by critics as one of the most accomplished television series ever made. 
 
 "I said to the man, just don't make me a snitch," Barksdale said of being fictionalized by Simon in the show. "Ain't nothing I can do to stop it, just don't do that, and I won't kill your ass." ||||| Nathan Barksdale, the former Baltimore gangster who inspired characters in "The Wire," died in a federal medical prison in North Carolina on Saturday. He was 54. 
 
 Barksdale, who went by the nickname "Bodie," was a notorious Baltimore criminal in the 1980s, running a violent heroin-dealing operation in the Murphy Homes public housing complex. He was shot more than 20 times and had to have his right leg amputated below the knee. 
 
 He later worked with the anti-violence Safe Streets program. But he was arrested in 2014 and pleaded guilty to taking part in a heroin conspiracy with members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang. 
 
 Key characters on "The Wire," the gritty HBO drama set in Baltimore, included the drug kingpin Avon Barksdale and a dealer named "Bodie" Broadus. 
 
 Nathan Barksdale embraced the connection. He released a DVD that chronicled his life, in which he was interviewed by the actor Wood Harris, who played the Avon Barksdale character. 
 
 "In real life he was one of the most notorious and resilient gangster drug kingpins Baltimore has ever seen," the narrator says. "He was a magnet for violence." 
 
 Have you ever found yourself wondering, "Where's Wallace?" Turns out, he was starring in a little movie called "Black Panther." In honor of the 10th anniversary of the finale of "The Wire," see what the series' stars have been up to for the past decade. 
 
 A spokesman for the city Health Department, for which Barksdale worked in the Safe Streets program, and an official at the Butner, N.C., medical prison where he died confirmed his death from an undisclosed illness. Attempts to reach his family were unsuccessful. 
 
 Barksdale said he left a life of crime. But he was ensnared in a Drug Enforcement Administration wiretap investigation in 2014, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison. 
 
 "I got busted," Barksdale said at his plea hearing. 
 
 Still, he said, he thought he had more work to do in the community. 
 
 Akio Evans, a local video director, this week recalled watching Barksdale counsel young people on how to avoid his mistakes. 
 
 "I did some good," Barksdale said at sentencing. "I'd like to think I saved some lives." 
 
 U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III responded: "You paid back, but you took a lot. So you still owe." 
 
 Barksdale said he had lapsed back into heroin addiction and had been running a scam to feed his habit. He said he would try to get samples of heroin, promising to pass them on to big-time dealers, but would use the drugs himself. 
 
 Barksdale presided over a lucrative heroin ring in the mid-1980s that authorities said controlled much of the drug traffic in now-demolished public housing such as the Lexington Terrace apartments and the George B. Murphy Homes. 
 
 Barksdale was acquitted in August 1982 in the killing of Frank Harper, a drug trafficker who had been Barksdale's mentor in the trade. 
 
 He was convicted in early 1985 of torturing three people in an 11th-floor apartment in Murphy Homes. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. 
 
 David Simon, who created "The Wire," said in 2014 that Barksdale did inspire aspects of certain characters, but was not specifically the basis for the Avon Barksdale character. 
 
 "There are some anecdotal connections between his story and a multitude of characters," Simon said. "We mangled street and given names throughout 'The Wire' so that it was a general shout-out to the Westside players. But there is nothing that corresponds to a specific character." 
 
 justin.fenton@baltsun.com
– Nathan "Bodie" Barksdale, the former Baltimore gangster who inspired characters in the HBO series The Wire, has died in a federal medical prison in North Carolina. He was 54. He was shot more than 20 times in his life and had to have his right leg amputated below the knee while running a heroin-dealing operation in Baltimore in the 1980s, but he died of natural causes on Saturday after a period of illness, a rep for the Baltimore City Health Department tells CNN. In a 2010 documentary on Barksdale's life, a narrator calls the ex-gangster "a magnet for violence" and "one of the most notorious and resilient gangster drug kingpins Baltimore has ever seen," per the Baltimore Sun. In 1985, he was convicted of torturing three people and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He later assisted an anti-violence program in Baltimore but was arrested again in 2014. He told a judge he was addicted to heroin and running a scam to get access to the drug. He was sentenced to four more years behind bars. "There are some anecdotal connections between his story and a multitude of characters," The Wire creator David Simon said in 2014. "We mangled street and given names throughout The Wire so that it was a general shoutout to the Westside players. But there is nothing that corresponds to a specific character." Characters on the show included drug kingpin Avon Barksdale and dealer "Bodie" Broadus.