Bernie Mac is Dead

[Japher]

RIP



I liked his stand-up but not his sitcom so much. Still, it's a shame that he died so young.

[onodera]

I've thought Bernie Mac was another of your companies with goofy names that deal on the secondary mortgage market.

[Zanarkand]

If we're talking about Bernie Mac, the actor and stand-up comic, he's not dead. He is currently recovering in the hospital.

[SlowwHand]

Uh, no. He's dead.

Comedian and actor Bernie Mac dies at 50
Sat Aug 9, 2008 11:21am EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Comedian and actor Bernie Mac, who starred in one of U.S. TV's few black sitcoms and appeared in the "Ocean's 11" movies, died in Chicago on Saturday after a bout with pneumonia. He was 50.

Publicist Danica Smith confirmed the death in a statement but gave no further details. "We ask that his family's privacy continues to be respected," she said.

His hospitalization was announced on August 1. At the time, his publicist said his illness was unrelated to a chronic tissue inflammation called sarcoidosis, which had been in remission since 2005.

[chequita guevara]

What?

[Theben]

Damn, that's out of the blue.

RIP.

[Nikolai]

Never heard of him I think. What things was he known for?

[Guynemer]

What?!

No way a 50-year-old guy dies of just pneumonia. The sarcoidosis had to be a factor.

Too bad. He was a funny guy.

[SlowwHand]

Early life

Mac was born in Chicago, Illinois, and was raised by a single mother, Mary, who died of cancer when Mac was sixteen.[1] Mac attended Chicago Vocational Career Academy. Mac started his career during high school, when he would put on shows for neighborhood kids in Chicago's South Side until moving to Tampa. During his 20s he worked in a variety of jobs: he was a furniture mover, UPS agent, and a bread delivery sales rep. Mac claimed he was whipped with a belt, by both his mother and grandmother, during his childhood. [2]

Career

Mac started as a stand-up comedian in Chicago's Cotton Pickin' Club. He won the Miller Lite Comedy Search at the age of 32, at which point his popularity as a comedian began to grow. A performance on HBO's Def Comedy Jam thrust him into the spotlight. He opened for Dionne Warwick, Redd Foxx and Natalie Cole. He also had a short-lived talk show on HBO titled Midnight Mac. Later, Mac also began acting in minor roles, and received his big break as Pastor Clever in Ice Cube's 1995 film Friday. Following that role, Mac would also work in many other movies, and some television appearances, including Booty Call, How to Be a Player, Life and What's the Worst That Could Happen?. Mac was one of the few African American comedic actors to be able to break out of the traditional "black comedy" genre, having roles in the 2001 remake of Ocean's Eleven and becoming the new Bosley for the Charlie's Angels sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. In 2003, he also turned in an impressive performance in a small but important role as Gin "The Store Dick" in Bad Santa. He also starred in Guess Who?, a comedic remake of the film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. He also made an appearance in the 2007 movie Transformers as the car salesman Bobby Bolivia.

In 2000, Mac returned to his stand-up comedy roots, touring the country as one of The Original Kings of Comedy, along with Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley. The comedy act was filmed by Spike Lee and was included later in the movie The Original Kings of Comedy.

In 2001, Fox gave Mac his own sitcom called The Bernie Mac Show, somewhat based on his own life. In the show, he suddenly becomes custodian over his sister's three children after she enters rehab. It was a success, in part because it allows Mac to stay true to his stand-up comedy roots, breaking the fourth wall to communicate his thoughts to the audience. The show contained many parodies of events in Bernie's actual life. However, the show was not renewed after the 2006 season. Viewers were left without a conclusion for the series, and no ending to the storyline where Bernie and Wanda were trying to have a baby. His character on The Bernie Mac Show was ranked #47 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [June 20, 2004 issue].

In 2004, Mac had his first starring role as a retired baseball player in the movie Mr. 3000. In the 2003 NLCS, Mac sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" at Wrigley Field with the Cubs leading the Florida Marlins in the series 3-2 and up in Game Six 3-0. Instead of saying "root, root, root for the Cubbies" Mac said, "root, root, root for the champions!" The Cubs would go on to lose the game and the series, with some fans claiming that Mac helped to jinx the Cubs. Mac later admitted that he has hated the Cubs his whole life, is a die-hard White Sox fan, and was seen during the 2005 World Series at US Cellular Field.

Mac was number 72 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time. On March 19, 2007 Mac told David Letterman on CBS Late Show that he would retire from his 30-year career after he finished shooting the comedy film The Whole Truth, Nothing but the Truth, So Help Me Mac. "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".[3]

Personal life

Mac married Rhonda McCullough in 1977. They had one daughter, Je'Niece (born 1978), who attended Xavier University of Louisiana, where she received both her bachelor's degree in Psychology and master's degree in Mental Health Counseling. She has been married for three years and has one daughter, Jasmine, making Bernie Mac a grandfather.

Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, a tissue inflammation disease, since 1983. He said it had no effect on his daily life.

Illness and death

Wikinews has related news:
American actor and comedian Bernie Mac dies at age 50

Bernie Mac was hospitalized with pneumonia on August 1, 2008, and the following day, a source close to the family said Mac was in "very, very critical" condition.[4] He was recovering from pneumonia, most likely brought on by his sarcoidosis, in a Chicago hospital. His publicist, Danica Smith, said he was expected to make a full recovery, and he was responding well to treatment.[5]

On August 9, 2008 the Chicago Sun-Times reported Bernie Mac had died,[6][7] with confirmation by the Associated Press about the cause of his death.[8][9] The 2008 Bud Billiken Parade in Chicago, on the day he died, was dedicated to his memory.

[Darius871]

Am I the only one who read the title as Freddie Mac?

[Grandpa Troll]

I really enjoyed him, loved when he was in his sitcom, asked if he wasnt with his woman, who he would want as his partner, he said wwell, Halle Berry.

He got home and his woman stared him down, coldly said "like Halle Berry would want your @r$e"



Anyhoo, R.I.P.

[Elok]

Originally posted by Nikolai
Never heard of him I think. What things was he known for?

Just off the top of my head, did you ever see the 2007 Transformers movie? He was the used car salesman. Also the black guy in Oceans Eleven, one of the Original Kings of Comedy, the extortionist dude in Bad Santa, and star of a (IMO) cruddy and short-lived sitcom that really didn't use his abilities well, since it was subject to FCC regs.

[SlowwHand]

Bernie's role as a black guy in Oceans Eleven was very well-done. I'll never know how he pulled that one off.

[Lord Avalon]

RIP.

[Elok]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Bernie's role as a black guy in Oceans Eleven was very well-done. I'll never know how he pulled that one off.

Hey, I haven't seen the bloody movie in years. All I remembered was that he was the only black...no, wait, one of two black guys. I forgot about the bomber with the British accent.