Bernie Mac dies at age 50 He died in Chicago of complications due to pneumonia, publicist says

BREAKING NEWS
The Associated Press
updated 10:04 a.m. ET, Sat., Aug. 9, 2008

CHICAGO - Bernie Mac, the Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actor and comedian who worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago’s South Side, died Saturday at age 50.

“Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital,” his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles.

She said no other details were available and asked that his family’s privacy be respected.

The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body’s organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.

Recently, Mac’s brand of comedy caught him flack when he was heckled during a surprise appearance at a July fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama.

Toward the end of a 10-minute standup routine, Mac joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language. The performance earned him a rebuke from Obama’s campaign.



Always a performer
But despite controversy or difficulties, in his words, Mac was always a performer.

“Wherever I am, I have to play,” he said in 2002. “I have to put on a good show.”

Mac started his comedy career at age 8, with a standup performance at a church dinner. In 1977, at age 20, he took that act to comedy clubs in Chicago.

His film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans movie “Mo’ Money” in 1992. Mac went on to star in the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise with Brad Pitt and George Clooney and his turn with Ashton Kutcher in 2005’s “Guess Who?” — a remake of the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn 1967 classic “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” — topped the box office.

Mac also had starring roles in “Bad Santa,” “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and “Transformers.”

The comedian drew critical and popular acclaim with his Fox television series “The Bernie Mac Show,” which aired more than 100 episodes from 2001 to 2006.

The series about a man’s adventures raising his sister’s three children won a Peabody Award in 2002. At the time, judges wrote they chose the sitcom for transcending “race and class while lifting viewers with laughter, compassion — and cool.”

The show garnered Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for Mac. He also was nominated for a Grammy award for best comedy album in 2001 along with his “The Original Kings of Comedy” co-stars, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric The Entertainer.


Planned to retire soon
In 2007, Mac told David Letterman on CBS’s “Late Show” that he planned to retire soon.

“I’m going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit,” Mac told Letterman. “I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977.”

Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He grew up on the city’s South Side, living with his mother and grandparents. His grandfather was the deacon of a Baptist church.


In his 2004 memoir, “Maybe You Never Cry Again,” Mac wrote about having a poor childhood — eating bologna for dinner — and a strict, no-nonsense upbringing.

Mac’s mother died of cancer when he was 16. In his book, Mac said she was a support for him and told him he would surprise everyone when he grew up.

“Woman believed in me,” he wrote. “She believed in me long before I believed.”


© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26108167/?GT1=43001

I just can not believe this oh.....he was one of my fav comedian. DAMN!!
I remember seeing him for the first time....this was WAY back in the days on HBOs Def Comedy Jam. He was just so rude with his jokes and I loved it, but of course my parents banned us from watching the show...so we had to sneek and watch it

This is a such a great lost, even with his acting...he just give the movies he was in something extra.

My fav movie with him had to be LIFE.....Jangle Leg...Jangle Leg...

"I da pappy"....man the entire movie theater was dieing laughing when he said that. I've seen this movie a million and one times and it never gets old....I find my self laughing through out the movie as if I was watching it for the 1st time.


oh and The Original Kings of Comedy....Bernie Mac was the shit.... , this one hurts oh.

I was hoping this was not true since the news organs were going back and fourth since the fourth saying it was only a rumour.

man this is sad. I shouted "shit" in my office and my colleague came running... It really is a great loss, first to his family then both the movie and comedian world. RIP Bernie..

My sisters Kids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC4ul_FYnlQ

Bernie Mac Def Comedy Jam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RviYo3WsqjU&feature=related

Bernie mac Second time on Def comedy jam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PENqTm6haPA&feature=related

Bernie Mac - King of Comedy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGATCtDLDBY&feature=related

I froze when I saw it on yahoo this morning; I couldn't
believe that had happen. He was really a cool comedian and a funny actor. My
mind first ran to the play he had in Life with Martin Lawrence and Eddie
Murphy. This is really sad, may his should rest perfect peace.

Awwwwww. That's terrible. He was one of favorite comedians also. Mehnnnn. In the blink of an eye a world can change. What a big loss.

Prayers for his family....Eh Yah.

this is a shock.. i lOVEd his acting and comic

Friends and fans remember Bernie Mac

• Story Highlights
  
• Crowd of 6,000 gathered at Chicago church to remember Bernie Mac
  
• Comedian, actor died August 9 at age 50
  
• Samuel L. Jackson, "Original Kings of Comedy" speak at service
  
• Barack Obama among those sending letters of condolence
  

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- As Cedric the Entertainer scanned the crowd of more than 6,000 gathered on Chicago's South Side to remember Bernie Mac on Saturday, he cracked that the comedy king was "still the hottest ticket in town."
Fans, friends and fellow celebrities descended on the House of Hope megachurch to bid their farewells to a man who never forgot his humble Chicago roots. Hundreds of mourners had never even met Mac or had met him only long enough to shake his hand, get an autograph or thank him for representing his neighborhood.

Mayor Richard Daley recalled that Mac was in his office recently, asking how he could help fight violent crime in the city.
"He wanted to help get children away from a life of crime and violence," Daley said during the service. "That's why he's the king of comedy. He never lost his soul in Chicago."

Mac died August 9 at age 50 of what his publicist said were complications from pneumonia. He had been at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital since the middle of July.

Samuel L. Jackson, who co-stars with Mac in the upcoming movie "Soul Men," spoke at the church, saying he knew that Mac "was having some health issues, but he always said to me every morning that he was always good."
Isaac Hayes, who died Sunday, also stars in the movie, and Hayes' music was played during the service.

Jackson observed that Mac didn't mind the loss of privacy that comes with fame.
"He never turned that kid down for an autograph," Jackson said. "He always had time to shake a hand. He was always that kid from Chicago who wanted to make everybody happy and everybody laugh."

The service included the reading of condolence letters from children; from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, an Illinois senator; and from Mac's beloved White Sox baseball team. Mac's comedy routines were played on large video screens, with off-color words bleeped out.

Outside, traffic was tied up for blocks, vendors sold memorial T-shirts for $10, and Chicago waiter Timothy Strickland manned a makeshift shrine featuring photos, including Mac's 1971 eighth-grade basketball team picture. A sign read, "Thank you, Bernie, for showing that good people do come from Englewood."
Mac grew up on the South Side in the Woodlawn and Englewood neighborhoods.
His co-stars from the documentary "The Original Kings of Comedy" -- Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric the Entertainer -- took the stage together at the church.

Hughley recalled that he and the others eagerly awaited Mac's stage attire each night. He said, "Bernie would wear colors that crayons hadn't even thought of yet."

He said that he met Mac in Detroit, Michigan, but that Mac always wanted to talk about Chicago.

"All he talked about was his family and this city," Hughley said. "He loved this city."