Michael Clarke Duncan Biography

Actor. Born December 10, 1957, in Chicago, Illinois. Raised on Chicago’s South Side by his mother, Jean, Duncan studied communications at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. He dropped out and returned to Chicago, working as a ditch digger for a gas company and moonlighting as a bouncer in various South Side nightclubs. He eventually landed a security position with a touring stage company production of Beauty Shop, Part 2. After touring 56 cities with the company, Duncan settled in Los Angeles in 1995, where he again supported himself by working security jobs for clients including actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Encouraged by his mother to pursue acting, Duncan obtained an agent and made his acting debut, as a drill sergeant on a beer commercial. After a number of regional and national TV spots, Duncan made his big-screen debut in a walk-on role in the comedy hit Friday (1995).

As a 6-foot-5-inch African-American man weighing over 300 pounds, Duncan found himself typecast in the role of bouncer or "tough guy" in television appearances-The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, The Jamie Foxx Show, Married: with Children, and The Bold and the Beautiful-and in films, including Warren Beatty's Bulworth and A Night at the Roxbury (both 1998). He gained notice in 1998 for his performance as Bear, a member of the motley crew of astronauts led by Bruce Willis in the action blockbuster Armageddon.

It was reportedly Willis who recommended him to director Frank Darabont, who cast Duncan in his film adaptation of Stephen King’s serial novel, The Green Mile (1999), starring Tom Hanks. As death-row inmate John Coffey, a massive but supremely gentle man imbued with supernatural healing powers, Duncan earned widespread critical acclaim, including an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He reunited with Willis in the little-seen Breakfast of Champions (1999) as well as in the comedy hit The Whole Nine Yards (2000).

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