Charlie Wilson, the former US congressman from Texas whose funding of Afghanistan's resistance to the Soviet Union was chronicled in the movie Charlie Wilson's War, has died at the age of 76.
Mr Wilson died today at Memorial Medical Center-Lufkin after he started having difficulty breathing while attending a meeting in the eastern Texas town where he lived.
He was pronounced dead on arrival, and the preliminary cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest.
Mr Wilson represented the 2nd district in east Texas in the US House from 1973 to 1996 and was known as 'Good Time Charlie' when he was in Washington.
Actor Tom Hanks portrayed Mr Wilson in the 2007 movie about his efforts to arm Afghani mujahedeen during their war against the Soviet Union.
Mr Wilson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, helped secure money for weapons.
AP