David Mills, left, and David Simon are seen accepting Emmy Awards in 2000 for The Corner. Mills died suddenly Tuesday on the set of Treme in New Orleans. (Kevin Winter/ImageDirect/Getty Images)

David Mills, an award-winning TV writer and producer whose credits included celebrated series such as The Wire, Homicide: Life on the Street and ER, has died suddenly at the age of 48.

Mills died Tuesday night in New Orleans, where he had been living while working as co-writer and co-executive producer for the forthcoming HBO series Treme, according to a network spokesman.

No cause of death was released and an autopsy is pending, but the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Mills had suffered a brain aneurysm.

"He was very quiet and introverted, but spoke volumes when he wrote," New Orleans actor Wendell Pierce, who starred in The Wire and will also appear in Treme, said of Mills.

"He challenged us as actors and he challenged Americans when it came to matters of race. He was one of the more talented people working in TV. He made it much more than just empty entertainment."

Collapsed at work

Pierce said Mills collapsed suddenly on set Tuesday during a conversation with colleagues. The cast and crew held a memorial for Mills on the set Wednesday morning, he added.

"HBO is deeply saddened by the sudden loss of our dear friend and colleague David Mills," the network said in a statement.

"He was a gracious and humble man, and will be sorely missed by those who knew and loved him, as well as those who were aware of his immense talent. David has left us too soon but his brilliant work will live on."

Formerly a noted journalist, whose writing appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times, Mills carved out a successful path as a writer for television, largely with longtime friend David Simon, with whom he made his TV debut writing for Homicide: Life on the Streets.

Fruitful partnership

Their collaborations continued with The Corner, the lauded miniseries about drugs and poverty in Baltimore, and on The Wire, Simon's acclaimed crime drama also set in Baltimore.

His other TV credits included work on ER, Conviction, NYPD Blue and creating the short-lived Mexican drug cartel series Kingpin.

Mills earned a host of honours for his TV writing, including several Writers Guild of America Awards, two Emmys (for The Corner), a Humanitas Prize for NYPD Blue and an Edgar Allan Poe Award for The Wire.

His death comes about a week after the death of another member of the Treme family: actor and longtime New Orleans drummer Bernard (Bunchy) Johnson, who suffered a heart attack March 21.

Treme, set in New Orleans and named after a musically rich Creole neighbourhood in the city, is slated to debut on HBO April 11.

"I'm so sorry he won't be able to see the launch of the show he cared so much about," Pierce said.

With files from The Associated Press