Kingpin Passes On
Prolific character actor Michael Clarke Duncan, passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 54. He was being treated for a heart attack that he suffered in July and had been hospitalized since. The hulking 6-foot-4 300 pound Duncan, a former bodyguard turned actor, “suffered a myocardial infarction on July 13 and never fully recovered,” said his publicist Joy Fehily in a released statement.
His career spanned three decades and included roles in television and movies that included The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Married with Children, The Jamie Foxx Show, Living Single, Kung Fu Panda, Daredevil, Armageddon, The Whole Nine Yards and Sin City. And in 2000 Duncan was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his role as prisoner John Coffey in The Green Mile. The role also brought him a best supporting actor trophy from the Black Reel Awards and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards.
Duncan was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side by a single mother. He attended Alcorn State University, but dropped out of school and worked as a ditch digger and bouncer to support his mother when she became ill. He would eventually quit his job and move to Hollywood in his 30s to launch his acting career.
Michael Clarke Duncan had a huge personality to go along with his hulk like build. And a smile that was as wide as he was. He was a person to be enjoyed whenever he appeared on screen, and he is too memorable to be forgotten.
