'Tales of the City' Star Marcus D'Amico Dead at 55

Marcus D'Amico, the actor who originally played Mouse in the 1993 miniseries "Tales of the City" (seen above with co-star Chloe Webb), died of pneumonia December 16 in Oxfordshire, England. He was 55.

His death was confirmed by the LGBTQ site Queerty. D'Amico's sister, talent agent Melissa D'Amico, posted, “Not only have I lost my beautiful brother but the world has lost an incredibly talented actor and director. Words cannot express how much I miss him.”

According to his sister, D'Amico is survived by two children, his mom, two sisters, a half-brother.

D'Amico was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and was raised in the UK. He was a child actor, making his West End debut in a 1977 production of "Oliver!"

Though he had early parts in the films "Superman II" (1980) and "Full Metal Jacket" (1987), he was primarily a stage and TV performer.

In 1992, he appeared in the world premiere of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning, Tony-winning play "Angels in America" in its original London production. He was nominated for an Olivier Award for his work.

When D'Amico acted in the six-episode miniseries "Tales of the City," a PBS adaptation of writer Armistead Maupin's popular, San Francisco-based stories, it was at the time one of the most controversial productions ever aired on American TV. Such was the outcry over its positive and explicit portrayal of gay life and romance that Congress threatened to yank funding for PBS — which bowed out of involvement with any of the sequels.

D'Amico, too, left the project when its first sequel, "More Tales of the City" (1998), was being prepared.

In recent years, D'Amico acted on the stage, including in the London production of "Mamma Mia!" He made his final TV appearance on an episode of "The Alienist" in 2018.