Michael Clarke Duncan (1957-2012) would have been 56 today. With his huge frame and deep voice, he was a reliable heavy in films from his initial burst of fame in the late 90’s until his death. He was another one of those people who started off doing other things and found his way to acting – in his case, naturally, he was a bouncer and bodyguard both in his hometown of Chicago and in Hollywood for people like Will Smith and Jamie Foxx.
He had plenty of bit parts as bouncers and bodyguards on various TV shows throughout the mid-to-late 90’s – in 1998, for example, he appeared in Bulworth as Bouncer, The Player’s Club as Bodyguard and A Night At The Roxbury as Roxbury Bouncer (credited in all the films as “Big Mike”). That same year, he had his first prominent role as Bear in one of Michael Bay’s supreme idiotic delights, Armageddon, and his friendship with Bruce Willis on that film helped him establish connections needed to get his most famous role, that of condemned Death Row inmate/Christ figure John Coffey in the film adaptation of The Green Mile. He received an Oscar nomination for that performance and was on his way. Notable roles included one of the apes in Planet of the Apes, Kingpin in Daredevil, Manute in Sin City and Mr. Phipps in D.E.B.S.
He teamed with Will Ferrell twice – once in the bouncer scenes in Roxbury and again in 2006 in Talladega Nights as Lucius Washington, a member of Ricky Bobby’s crew. He also did voiceover work for numerous television shows and moves that needed a deep bass voice, including the “wrong voice” Fozzie Bear on Family Guy. Duncan died of complications from a heart attack on September 3, 2012, and was fondly remembered and eulogized for weeks by everyone who worked with him, including Tom Hanks, who had some humorous anecdotes about his experiences with Duncan on The Green Mile at his funeral. Duncan’s final film appearance was in A Resurrection, released earlier this year. His presence in films is greatly missed.
Also born today:
Raven-Symone (28)
Greg Giraldo (1965-2010)
Kenneth Branagh (53)
Susan Dey (61)
Fionnula Flanagan (72)
