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Michael Clarke Duncan was an American actor best known for his roles in “The Green Mile,” “Armageddon,” “The Scorpion King” and “Daredevil.” Here are some interesting facts about the gentle giant.
- Born as Michael Clarke Duncan on December 10, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois.
- He spent his childhood with his sister Judy and mother Jean Duncan, who worked as a house cleaner. His father left them when he was very young.
- He attended Alcom state University but dropped out to support his family as his mother fell ill.
- His frame of 6 feet 5 in helped him landing job as a digger for “People’s Gas Company.”
- He had played basketball at the Kankakee Community College.
- During mid 1980’s he tried for Chicago Bears as a linebreaker. Coaches were keen to find out how he performed at tight ends.
- He participated in the Disco Demolition Night scheduled during the play between Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers at Comiskey Park.
- He was among the first 100 people to run onto the field and tried to steal a baseball from bat from third base. In the process he lost his silver belt buckle.
- He also worked as a bouncer in various night clubs on the south side of Chicago.
- During that time he met a stage show producer of “Beauty Shop, Part 2” who hired him as a personal security.
- He also worked as bodyguard for film personalities such as Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Jamie Foxx, L L Cool J and the rapper The Notorious B.I.G.
- He quit his job as a bodyguard when the Notorious B.I.G was shot dead. At that time he had let his friend take over his job for the night.
- He played bit part as a bouncer in films such as “Bulworth” and “A Night at the Roxbury.”
- He got his breakthrough in 1988 when he was cast as Bear in the movie “Armageddon.”
- Unfortunately his name does not appear in the opening credits of the movie despite playing an important character.
- He got his nickname Bear from his line in the movie that he improvised, “Come and get Papa Bear.”
- He was cast as John Coffey, a gentle giant in the movie “The Green Mile” alongside Tom Hanks.
- He earned nominations for Best Actor in a supporting role at Academy Awards and Best performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture at the Golden Globe Awards.
- He got the role of John Coffey by the influence of Bruce Willis. They had become friends during the filming of “Armageddon.”
- In the movie Duncan is towering over the prison guards, however in originality he is of the same height as fellow co-star David Morse and few inches shorter than James Cromwell. Special effects and camera angles were used to show him taller.
- Rodney Barnes was Duncan’s stand-in for the movie. Barns had sneaked in to the sets of the movie in hope to meet his favourite author Stephen King.
- Post the success of “The Green Mile” he was offered roles regularly. He was cast in action comedy “The Whole Nine Yard” alongside Bruce Willis and in “Planet of the Apes” alongside Mark Walberg.
- During the shoot of “Planet of the Apes” he sprained his ankle and was rushed to the hospital in his full gorilla makeup.
- He first heard about the casting call for the movie while filming “The Green Mile.” When they contacted him for a role he had assumed it correctly that it was not for a human character.
- He was then cast in the 2002 movie “The Scorpion King” co-starring with his friend Dwayne Johnson.
- During a fight scene in the movie, Duncan is hit in the jaw accidentally by Johnson’s elbow knocking him to the ground.
- He played the villainous character Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin in the 2003 action movie “Daredevil” with co-star Ben Affleck.
- Duncan was asked for to gain more weight for the role of Kingpin. He was already weighing 290 pounds.
- The Kingpin character in the comics is a white man, whereas in the movie Duncan, African-American plays the role. Several white wrestlers were tested for the role but they fared poorly.
- Duncan was often made to stand on boxes during the shoot to make him tower over Ben Affleck who is 6 feet 4 inches.
- He had shown interest in reprising the role of Kingpin but declined to gain weight that he lot post the film.
- He appeared in PETA ad Campaign promoting the health benefits of a vegetarian diet and his increased strength due to that.
- Duncan played the role of Jamal Starkweather in the action movie “The Island” in 2005.
- Critic writer Roger Albert praised Duncan’s performance in “The Island” stating “he has only three or four scenes but they are of central importance and he brings true horror to them.”
- He played as manute a powerful mobster in the movie “sin city alongside Bruce Willis.
- This marks the fourth film between Duncan and Willis. They had acted together in “Armegaddon”, “Breakfast of Champions” and “The Whole Nine Yard” prior to this movie.
- Duncan had lent his voice to various animation movies such as “Brother Bear,” “Brother Bear 2” and “Kung Fu Panda.”
- He also provided his voice for the character Kilowog in the movie “Green Lantern” in 2011.
- He appeared in an episode of “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” and “CSI: NY.”
- He was one of the most frequent guests in the late night talk show "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” in 2012.
- Duncan died on July 13, 2012 due to a heart attack. He was hospitalized for almost two months.
- He was engaged to Omarosa Manigault, a reality television personality from February 2012, until his death.
- In his honor, manigault collected $40,000 and donated to his favourite charity “Sue Duncan Children’s Centre” in 2013.
- He used to give $5 to anyone who could recognize him on the street and know his full name.
- During an interview in 1988 he revealed that he wanted to become a police officer in LAPD.
