Actor Michael Clarke Duncan dies at 54

This year has been filled with sad goodbyes, but this is a particularly sad one. Michael Clarke Duncan, the former bouncer who made good and became an Academy Award nominee for his work in Frank Darabont's The Green Mile, passed away yesterday after suffering complications from a July heart attack. His family says that he "never fully recovered" and had been in the hospital ever since. So, why is this celebrity death sadder than most? Because this guy... he just seemed like one of those super famous people who would gladly and easily talk to you in a bar for an hour. You never heard anything weird or bad about Michael Clarke Duncan, and he seemed like one of the nicest people in show business. And when he showed up in the variety of projects that he did -- Armageddon, Talladega Nights, The Scorpion King, Sin City, voiceover work in Cats and Dogs, Kung Fu Panda and Spider-Man: The New Animated Series -- you were always happy to see (or hear) him! "Oh, Michael Clarke Duncan is in this! I love that guy!" Even in Daredevil, despite it being Daredevil. Even in a bad movie, the presence of Michael Clarke Duncan was usually its saving grace. For me, at least.

To say nothing of how 54 is way too young to say goodbye. Duncan was set to marry Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth (who, yes, is that "Omarosa" from The Apprentice) in January, according to TMZ, and had co-starred on Fox's Bones spinoff The Finder, which was canceled in May. Before his death, he'd completed work on two projects, Into the Hive and The Challenger. Everything about Michael Clarke Duncan's life looked like the beginning of an exciting second act, and it's a shame that the curtain came down before it should have.

Because seriously, this man could really wear a hat.

Michael Clarke Duncan, Academy Award nominee for 'Green Mile,' dead at 54 [CNN]

• [Scott Slemmons]

  The man had a fantastic voice. I’ve got a pretty deep voice, and I’ve wished for years I could sound more like him…

• [skestes]

  He recently became a vegetarian and I found myself wondering if his health suffered as a result. Being a man of great stature it had to be a shock to his system.

  • [RedShirt77]

    While I imagine the source of his problem was really about is sheer size including both weight and height, I too would wonder is a sharp drop in protein consumption could be a factor.

    • [Rickenbacker4001]

      Yet, he commented that he had increased strength and endurance from his vegetarian diet. Hard to say what the true reasons are.

  • [nvlady]

    As someone who has been vegan for a years, there is ZERO factual evidence to support your statement. ‘Shock to his system’, plah-eze.

    His health suffered because of a heart attack. His diet change sadly was too late to aid in his long term health.

    I echo the sentiments of the article. It always pleased me to see him in a film. He was cool in whatever he did and you could see he was having a great time.

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    “A shock to his system”? How 18th Century. He died of complications of a myocardial infarction. Myocardial infarctions are due to reduced blood flow, generally from cholesterol plaque. Becoming a vegetarian as cause for an MI is unlikely.

    • [skestes]

       I never said it was the cause. I wondered if his health suffered for the worse because of his diet which led to or exasperated the complications.

      There are right ways and wrong ways to eat, be it omnivore, herbivore, or vegan.

      None of it was meant to be an attack on anyone, be it the deceased or any other like-minded person.

    • [RedShirt77]

       It’s much more 21st century to assume the veganism can miracle away ailments and cure cancer.

• [Preston Sturges]

  “Always leave them wanting more”. 
  -P.T. Barnum/Walt Disney

• [Danielle Fuchs]

  Please.  He didn’t become a vegetarian *soon enough* to heal his heart.

  • [awjt]

    Exactly… when you’re having fun, it’s easy to take that to an excess and eat great/terrible food.  Do that for years, and you’ve done yourself a disservice.  But we can’t judge this man.  We have NO IDEA what happened with his heart.  It could have been a lifelong problem, not just something easily dismissable as, “oh bad diet.”  Who knows.

• [Janet Kramer]

  The very first time I watched the Green Mile I was mesmmerized by him, his power and tenderness will always warm my heart. God has a very special place for this man, Prayers to everyone affected, especially those closest.

• [jessie]

  I still think he had the perfect physique for the role of ‘The Kingpin’. Great casting, terrible movie.

  • [Dlo Burns]

    The director’s cut greatly improves it.

• [RedShirt77]

  He will be missed.  He was one of those supporting actors that was always like a special effect in and of himself.

• [Preston Sturges]

  There’s just a large number of men that drop dead of heart attack in their early 50s.  Usually the heart attack is so massive they literally die on the spot. 

• [John Maple]

  I too will never, ever forget his role in “The Green Mile”.  
  His work there was very moving and heart wrenching.

• [Bliss]

  “Come get Papa Bear!” :’(, Good bye, and thanks for all the laughts.

• [Will Bueche]

  He was great in D.E.B.S.. Without him, a sequel wouldn’t be the same. But I still want one.