NEW YORK—American rapper and actor Earl Simmons, known by the stage name DMX or Dark Man X, died on Friday, People magazine said, after suffering a heart attack during what media reports said was a drug overdose. He was 50 years old. “We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved one, DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, passed away at 50 years old at White Plains Hospital with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days,” his family wrote in a statement quoted by the magazine. DMX collapsed at home, his family had said, and was taken to a New York hospital where his former manager said he had been placed on life support with no brain activity. Celebrity publications TMZ and Billboard said he overdosed on drugs triggering a heart attack. Growing up in Yonkers, New York, DMX took …