The gentle giant, Michael Clarke Duncan left us 14 years ago today at just 54 years old 🥺
Michael Clarke Duncan had the kind of screen presence that made you notice him immediately, but it was the warmth behind that presence that made audiences remember him.
At 6'5" with an unmistakable voice, Duncan could easily play intimidating figures, yet his breakthrough as John Coffey in The Green Mile revealed something much deeper. The performance earned him an Academy Award nomination and remains the role most closely tied to his legacy: powerful, heartbreaking, and remarkably gentle.
Some of his most popular roles include:
John Coffey (The Green Mile)
Wilson Fisk / Kingpin (Daredevil)
Bear (Armageddon)
Manute (Sin City)
Attar (Planet of the Apes)
Balthazar (The Scorpion King)
Benjamin King (Saints Row)
Commander Vachir (Kung Fu Panda)
Kilowog (Green Lantern)
Leo Knox (The Finder)
What made Duncan special was the contrast he brought to the screen. He could look imposing without losing vulnerability, deliver comedy without forcing it, and make even larger-than-life characters feel human.
Michael Clarke Duncan was physically larger than life, but the humanity he brought to his characters is what made his legacy even bigger. 🕊️❤️
We just lost another legend today 😔
Anime just lost a veteran behind Akira, Death Note, Naruto and today’s biggest isekai titles.
Director and animator Yūji Yanase has passed away at 59. His death was announced today by the production committees behind The Insipid Prince’s Furtive Grab for the Throne and The World’s Strongest Rearguard, two currently airing anime he directed. Their staffs expressed deep gratitude for his work and sorrow over his sudden passing.
Yanase spent decades working across nearly every level of anime production. His extensive credits included:
• Akira — In-Between Animation
• Death Note — Key Animation
• Hellsing — Animation Director
• Chobits — Animation Director
• Naruto: Shippuden — Episode Direction
• Pokémon XY — Episode Direction
• Macross 7 — Key Animation
• Aria the Animation — Animation Director
• Symphogear — Animation Director
• Saint Seiya Omega — Animation Director
He later became especially known as a series director, leading anime including In Another World With My Smartphone, If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord, By the Grace of the Gods, In the Land of Leadale, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1, I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History, and Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra. His directing career began with Himegoto in 2014.
His final chapter is especially bittersweet, with two series under his direction still airing when news of his passing was announced.
Rest in peace, Yūji Yanase. From animator to director, his work quietly became part of decades of anime history. 🕊️
We lost the voice of Amoeba Boys, The Thing, and Duckworth, eight years ago at the age of 83. Today would’ve been his 92nd birthday. 🎂🕊️
Chuck McCann was the kind of performer whose work could turn up almost anywhere, children’s television, live-action films, superhero cartoons, Disney animation, commercials, and video games.
Long before many viewers knew his name, they already knew his voices, especially the unmistakably excitable Sonny the Cuckoo Bird from the Cocoa Puffs commercials.
His versatility also gave animation fans Ben Grimm/The Thing in Fantastic Four, Duckworth in DuckTales, Leatherneck in G.I. Joe, and all three Amoeba Boys in The Powerpuff Girls. Away from the recording booth, he showed a very different side of his talent in films such as The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and The Projectionist.
Among Chuck McCann’s memorable roles:
Ben Grimm / The Thing (Fantastic Four)
Duckworth (DuckTales)
Sonny the Cuckoo Bird (Cocoa Puffs)
Leatherneck (G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero)
The Amoeba Boys (The Powerpuff Girls)
Blinky / Pinky (Pac-Man)
Moe (Adventure Time)
Spiros Antonapoulos (The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter)
Barney (Far Out Space Nuts)
Blizzard (Iron Man)
Heff Heffalump (The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh)
Jollo (King’s Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow)
The Projectionist / Captain Flash (The Projectionist)
Fred Loostgarten (Herbie Rides Again)
Mayor Grafton (The Garfield Show)
Whether he was voicing a rocky Marvel hero, a perfectly proper Disney butler, three inept amoeba villains, or one cereal-obsessed cuckoo bird, McCann brought a playful energy that made even supporting characters hard to forget.
Remembering Chuck McCann on what would have been his 92nd birthday, and the wonderfully varied body of work he left behind. 🕊️
Monsters Inc. VA and veteran actor James Coburn 24 years ago today at 74 years old, today would've been his 98th birthday 🕊️🎂
Remembering James Coburn, the Hollywood veteran whose career stretched from classic Westerns and war films to an unexpected role that introduced him to an entirely new generation: Henry J. Waternoose III in Pixar’s Monsters, Inc.
Long before audiences heard him running Monsters, Incorporated, Coburn had already become a familiar presence through films like The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape. He later won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.
Britt (The Magnificent Seven)
Louis Sedgwick “The Manufacturer” (The Great Escape)
Henry J. Waternoose III (Monsters, Inc.)
Derek Flint (Our Man Flint / In Like Flint)
Pat Garrett (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid)
Tex Panthollow (Charade)
Glen Whitehouse (Affliction)
John H. Mallory (Duck, You Sucker! / A Fistful of Dynamite)
Sgt. Rolf Steiner (Cross of Iron)
For younger audiences, however, Mr. Waternoose may be the role that made Coburn instantly familiar. His performance gave Monsters, Inc. one of its most important characters, connecting a veteran of classic Hollywood with one of Pixar’s most beloved early films.
Coburn passed away in 2002 at the age of 74, but his career continues to reach completely different generations, whether through the dusty landscapes of The Magnificent Seven or the doors of Monsters, Incorporated.
Remembering James Coburn on what would have been his 98th birthday. 🕊️