Actor Michael Clarke Duncan was born in December of 1957 on the Southside of Chicago. Growing up, Duncan dreamed of becoming an actor, but he had to focus on supporting his family after his mother became ill. He also spent time playing basketball at Kankakee Community College and Alcorn State.

After moving to Los Angeles Duncan worked as a bouncer in various nightclubs and as a bodyguard for celebrities like Will Smith, Martin Lawrence and Notorious B.I.G. During this time, he decided to pursue acting and was able to land several small film roles, but his breakout role came in the film Armageddon. His most noteworthy role was as John Coffey, a death row inmate with a supernatural gift, in the film The Green Mile. This performance earned him an Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor. He eventually branched out to play small roles in different television series and made use of his uniquely deep voice to provide vocals for numerous video game characters.

Duncan played more than 75 different roles during his 17-year career. He passed away in September of 2012 following a heart attack.

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Michael Clarke Duncan IMDB bio