Michael Clarke Duncan (December 10, 1957 – September 3, 2012) was an American actor, best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and various similar honors. He also appeared in motion pictures such as Armageddon (1998), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), The Scorpion King (2002), Daredevil (2003) and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006). His voice can be heard in films such as Brother Bear (2003), Kung Fu Panda (2008) and Green Lantern (2011).
Duncan grew up on Chicago’s South Side. His father left the family when he was 6; his mother raised him and his sister, Judith, to stay clear of gangs, drugs and alcohol. Growing up, he wanted to become an actor. “Of course, people told me, ‘Mikey, you will never be an actor. You don’t have the look. You’re ugly,'” he recalled in a 2003 Chicago Sun-Times interview. What helped him, he said, was that his mother “always told me to think ‘YCDA.’ That stands for ‘You Can Do Anything.'”
After high school, Duncan attended Alcorn State University in Mississippi but left before graduating to help support his ailing mother. Back in Chicago, he began working for the gas company as a ditch-digger. On the job, he talked so much about his dream of going to Hollywood and becoming an actor that his co-workers dubbed him “Hollywood Mike.”
He finally quit his job and became a security guard for a traveling show. Once the show reached Los Angeles, he decided to stay. Working first as a bodyguard for Martin Lawrence, Will Smith and other stars, he began landing small parts in films and television. In 1998, he played bouncers in “Bulworth” and “A Night at the Roxbury” and a bodyguard in “The Players Club.” While making “Armageddon,” Duncan became friends with Willis, who was instrumental in getting him the role in Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s serial novel “The Green Mile.” Michael Clarke Duncan, the tall and massively built actor with the shaved head and deep voice who received an Academy Award nomination for his moving portrayal of a gentle death row inmate in the 1999 prison drama “The Green Mile,” died on September 3rd 2012; he was 54.
At the time of his death, Duncan was engaged to reality television personality Omarosa Manigault.
In 2013, Manigault appeared in the cast of The All-Star Celebrity Apprentice and played in Duncan’s honor for his favorite charity and one he had benefited from himself, the Sue Duncan Children’s Center. In episode 2 of the season, Manigault won $40,000 for the charity.
On July 13, 2012, Duncan was taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center after suffering a heart attack. Media reports suggested that his girlfriend, Omarosa Manigault, had tried to save his life by performing CPR. Duncan’s publicist, Joy Fehily, issued a statement on August 6 that read he was moved from the intensive-care unit but remained hospitalized following his heart attack. On September 3, Duncan died in Los Angeles. Celebrations of Duncan’s life were scheduled for a later date.
Written by Dianne Washington