Congressman Charlie Wilson dies in Texas

Washington : Charlie Wilson, the hard-partying congressman whose exploits on behalf of the mujahideen resistance fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan formed the basis of the book and movie Charlie Wilson's War, has died. He was 76.

He died on Wednesday at a hospital in Lufkin, Texas, of cardiopulmonary arrest, according to statement from Memorial Health System of East Texas. He received a heart transplant in 2007.

A Democrat representing an impoverished area in rural Texas, Wilson held his House seat from 1973 to 1996.

He was "one of the most distinctive figures in the House," the Almanac of American Politics put it in the 1990s — "tall ... flamboyant, pleasure-loving, always ready with a wisecrack or quip, yet also serious-minded when he wants to be and even idealistic."

He homed in on what would become his signature cause in 1982, on a fact-finding trip to the Mideast. After visits to Israel and Lebanon, he tacked on a stop in Pakistan at the behest of a wealthy political backer, Joanne Herring.

Tom Hanks portrayed Wilson, and Julia Roberts played Herring, in the film version of Charlie Wilson's War (2007). The movie showed how Wilson's 1982 visit to Pakistan would become Herring's great triumph.

Probed

A criminal probe into drug use on Capitol Hill led by Rudolph Giuliani — at the time a little-known Justice Department attorney — ensnared Wilson for a time. Wilson held a "Beat the Rap Party" in 1983 when Giuliani's team gave up its efforts to charge him.