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Big Mike Duncan dies at 54
Source: Agencies |
September 5, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MICHAEL Clarke Duncan was one big, irresistible jumble of contradictions.
His presence was formidable, even intimidating: The former bodyguard had a muscular, 1.95-meter frame, but it was topped by the brightest of megawatt smiles.
His gravelly baritone was well-suited to everything from animated films to action spectacles, but no matter the role, a warmth and a sweetness was always evident underneath.
The prolific character actor, whose dozens of movies included an Oscar-nominated performance as a death row inmate in "The Green Mile" and box office hits including "Armageddon," ''Planet of the Apes" and "Kung Fu Panda," died on Monday at age 54.
Duncan died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for a heart attack.
Although he only turned to acting in his 30s, it's clear from the outpouring of prayers and remembrances he received across the Hollywood and sports worlds that his gentle-giant persona made him much-loved during that relatively brief time.
Tom Hanks, star of 1999's "The Green Mile," which earned Duncan a supporting-actor nomination at the Academy Awards, said he was "terribly saddened at the loss of Big Mike. He was the treasure we all discovered on the set of 'The Green Mile.'"
His presence was formidable, even intimidating: The former bodyguard had a muscular, 1.95-meter frame, but it was topped by the brightest of megawatt smiles.
His gravelly baritone was well-suited to everything from animated films to action spectacles, but no matter the role, a warmth and a sweetness was always evident underneath.
The prolific character actor, whose dozens of movies included an Oscar-nominated performance as a death row inmate in "The Green Mile" and box office hits including "Armageddon," ''Planet of the Apes" and "Kung Fu Panda," died on Monday at age 54.
Duncan died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for a heart attack.
Although he only turned to acting in his 30s, it's clear from the outpouring of prayers and remembrances he received across the Hollywood and sports worlds that his gentle-giant persona made him much-loved during that relatively brief time.
Tom Hanks, star of 1999's "The Green Mile," which earned Duncan a supporting-actor nomination at the Academy Awards, said he was "terribly saddened at the loss of Big Mike. He was the treasure we all discovered on the set of 'The Green Mile.'"
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