Michael Clarke Duncan was laid to rest in Los Angeles on Monday as family, loved ones and famous Hollywood friends gathered to pay their respects.
Bones and The Finder mastermind Hart Hanson spoke at the funeral service -- held at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park & Mortuaries -- of Duncan’s fans asking for hugs, not autographs from the towering 6 ft., 5-in., Oscar-nominated actor.
But late night host Jay Leno was the first to get a knot in his throat as he spoke of the late Duncan.
"In this cynical world of Hollywood, here was a guy who was happy for every job he got," Leno said. "Just to see such a pure heart and pure kindness ... and to see him taken so early, there really are no sadder words than what might have been."
And in between the crying, Duncan’s fiancée Omarosa Manigault lifted the mood at the service as she shared the pick-up Duncan used on her when he met the reality star at a grocery store.
" 'Aren't you that mean girl from The Apprentice?' " she said. "And then he worked every single day of our relationship to change that perception of me. The man you knew as an actor was my best friend."
The couple – who were secretly engaged at the time of his passing – were beginning to plan their upcoming wedding in December.
Duncan died on Sept. 3, two months after being hospitalized and receiving treatment for his heart attack. (Omarosa was able to resuscitate him, and was seeking help from the best doctors to help him recuperate.)
He was 54.
In his breakout and Oscar-nominated role as John Coffey in the 1999 film The Green Mile, author of the novel-turned-movie shared his kind words for Duncan.
"No one has ever done a character I wrote more justice,” author Stephen King said.
Duncan’s The Green Mile costar and friend Tom Hanks also spoke in dedication to “Big Mike” and his mum, Jean Duncan, who sat at the front to take in the service.
Other celebrities in attendance were The Green Mile director Frank Darabont, Bones costars David Boreanas and Emily Deschanel, Holly Robinson Peete, The Finder costars Geoff Stults, Angie Stone, Shanice, Kenny Lattimore and Stevie Wonder who paid his condolences with a video message.
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