There are certain people in Hollywood, well in the entertainment industry in general, that over the years you find yourself taking a special kind of interest in. At least I do. And I seriously doubt that I am the only one who does that. Now by a "special kind of interest" I certainly don't mean anything strange or stalker-ish. I just mean sometimes in our lives there is an actor, actress, athlete, musician, etc., that strikes a personal chord with you. It could be because they come from the same home town you do, or maybe they remind you of yourself. Maybe you identify with that person in one way or another, or maybe you just thought they were cool. And when you take that kind of an interest in someone in the public spotlight like that, and they are taken from our lives suddenly, it can be as shocking as losing someone you know. That's the way that I felt recently when I heard about the death of Michael Clarke Duncan.

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"Big Mike" passed away from a heart attack on September 3, 2012 at the age of 54. Apparently due to complications from a previous heart attack that he had suffered back in July. I had no idea that he had gone through anything bad over the past few months. Not that I knew him at all. Just as a fan. But you figure with the way the media and social networks are nowadays, I would have heard something. Unfortunately, I was as in the dark as any other fan that is on the outside looking in, and the news of his death really affected me. The first time I had ever seen this "gentle giant" (as he was described by friends) was back in 1998 in the Bruce Willis action flick, Armageddon. Great movie in my opinion. And if you look at the cast list on that one, Bruce Willis, Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thorton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, etc., it is pretty much loaded from top to bottom. But even amidst all of that seasoned talent, it was Duncan's character of Bear that caught my attention.



From there he would go on to play many more memorable film characters: Frankie Figs in The Whole Nine Yards (again alongside Bruce Willis), the Kingpin in Daredevil (as a comic book geek it didn't even bother me that he looked NOTHING like the character in the comics), and Balthazar in the Scorpion King (thought the fight scene with the Rock was cool). Of course the role he will probably be most remembered for is his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of John Coffey in The Green Mile. I truly don't know anyone that doesn't absolutely love that movie. Shortly after Duncan's death, author Steven King (who wrote the book that the movie is based on) said in a letter, "No one has ever done a character I wrote more justice." There's plenty more performances and compliments where those came from too. But for me personally, I think what I will always remember about Michael Clarke Duncan most is that as big as he was, he always seemed like a real, down to Earth, genuinely nice guy.

I read once that after movies like Armagedon and The Green Mile came out and he started getting recognized more, he would give five dollars to anyone that came up to him on the street and knew his full name. How cool is that? And if you really want to laugh, go on youtube and check out any appearance that Duncan made on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. The two developed a friendship over the years and any time they were on screen together is sure to make you smile. Duncan even went out of his way to join Ferguson when he took his late night talk show to Scotland for a week back in May of 2012. It is truly a shame to see someone that you like pass away. Luckily for us, Michael Clarke Duncan will always live on not only on screen, but in the hearts and minds of his family, his friends and his fans. At his funeral, Jay Leno quoted John Greenleaf Whittier when he said, "For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, what might have been."

Rest in Peace Big Mike, you will not be forgotten.​