Michael Clarke Duncan -- best known for his Oscar-nominated role as a death row inmate who possessed magical healing <br /><br />powers in the 1999 film "The Green Mile" -- died on Monday at the age of 54, according to his fiancee Omarosa <br /><br />Manigault-Stallworth.<br /><br />Duncan had been in a Los Angeles hospital since July 13 following a heart attack and died on Monday morning after <br /><br />close to two months of treatment.<br /><br />At 6-feet, 5-inches tall and approximately 300 pounds, Duncan was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe <br /><br />for his role as gentle giant prisoner John Coffey in "The Green Mile," also starring Tom Hanks. Duncan won the role, <br /><br />in part, due to a recommendation by Bruce Willis, who he worked with on 1998's "Armageddon." Duncan went on to appear <br /><br />with Willis in three more films -- "Breakfast of Champions," "The Whole Nine Yards" and "Sin City."<br /><br />Before he broke into acting, Duncan worked as a bodyguard for stars including Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Jamie <br /><br />Foxx, LL Cool J, and The Notorious B.I.G. -- whose 1997 death prompted him to quit that line of work.<br /><br />Duncan's career spanned three decades and included roles in other television and film titles including "The Fresh <br /><br />Prince of Bel-Air," "Married with Children," "The Jamie Foxx Show," "Living Single," "Bulworth," "Arli$$," "A Night <br /><br />at the Roxbury," "Sister, Sister," "Planet of the Apes," "CSI: NY," "Talladega Nights," "Two and a Half Men," <br /><br />"Bones," and most recently "The Challenger," which is yet to be released.<br /><br />Duncan was a prolific voice-over actor as well, lending his rumbling baritone to animated characters in "Kung Fu <br /><br />Panda," "King of the Hill," "Family Guy," "Green Lantern," and many others. The African American actor also played <br /><br />The Kingpin in 2003's "Daredevil," starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner -- a notable achievement seeing as the <br /><br />character in the original comics, on which the film is based, was always depicted as being white.
