*Former Baltimore gangster Nathan “Bodie” Barksdale, who claimed to be the inspiration for the character Avon Barksdale in “The Wire,” died in a federal medical prison in North Carolina on Saturday. He was 54. An official at the prison confirmed his death from an undisclosed illness.
Barksdale operated a violent heroin-dealing operation in the 80’s. His hustler lifestyle cost him half a leg after he was shot more than 20 times and had to have his right leg amputated below the knee. He worked briefly with the anti-violence Safe Streets program before he was arrested in 2014 and “pleaded guilty to taking part in a heroin conspiracy with members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang,” per Baltimore Sun.
“I did some good,” Barksdale said at sentencing. “I’d like to think I saved some lives.”
,Judge George L. Russell III responded: “You paid back, but you took a lot. So you still owe.”
The hit HBO drama was set in Baltimore and featured a drug kingpin named Avon Barksdale and a dealer named “Bodie” Broadus. Barksdale is said to have loved being acknowledgment on the show, and he even released a DVD that chronicled his life. In it, he’s interviewed by 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.”
Back in 2014, “The Wire” creator David Simons discussed Barksdale’s inspiration behind certain characters.
“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.”
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