Bernie Mac is Dead at 50

There have been rumors around the Internet for days reporting the Bernie Mac has been in critical condition from pneumonia. The comedian has also had several respiratory problems for years which more than likely lead to his pneumonia. The illness finally overcame Bernie Mac Saturday morning and now Bernie Mac has actually passed away.

Bernie Mac will be missed by millions. Bernie Mac’s death is really a shock to me. He was only 50 years old and should have had additional time to make us laugh.

Bernie Mac’s Life:

Bernard Jeffrey "Bernie Mac" McCullough (October 5, 1957 – August 9, 2008) was a two time Emmy Award-nominated American actor and comedian.

Biography

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. The start of Mac’s career was 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 had claimed that he was whipped with a belt by both his mother and grandmother during his childhood.

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 continued with his stand-up comedy roots, touring the country as one of "The 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" [20 June 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".

Personal life
Mac was married to Rhonda McCullough in 1977. They had one daughter, Je’Niece (born 1978), who attended Xavier University of Louisiana where she received both her bachelors degree in Psychology and Masters Degree in Mental Health Counseling. She has been married for three years and has one daughter, Jasmine, making Bernie Mac a grandfather.

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

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

On August 9, 2008 it was reported by the Chicago Sun-Times that Bernie Mac had died due to complications from his condition: "Comedian Bernie Mac died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital early Saturday morning, according to Sun-Times Columnist, Stella Foster. He was 50. Though the cause of death has not been confirmed, Mac had been hospitalized recently for pneumonia. Foster said that she received calls early Saturday morning from a close friend of the Mac family, confirming the reports of Mac’s death."

Filmography:

• Old Dogs (2009)
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) - Zuba (voice)
• Soul Men (2008)
• Transformers (2007)
• Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)
• Pride (2007)
• Guess Who (2005)
• Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
• Mr. 3000 (2004)
• Bad Santa (2003)
• Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
• Head of State (2003)
• Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
• What’s the Worst That Could Happen? (2001)
• Life (1999)
• The Players Club (1998)
• How to Be a Player (1997)
• B*A*P*S (1997)
• Get on the Bus (1996)
• Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)
• Friday (1995)
• House Party 3 (1994)
• Above the Rim (1994)
• Who’s the Man? (1993)

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