Comedian Bernie Mac dies from pneumonia complications
Last Updated: Sunday, August 10, 2008 | 10:17 AM ET
CBC News
American comedian Bernie Mac died early Saturday morning in a Chicago hospital, according to his publicist, Danica Smith.
"Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia," Smith said in a statement from Los Angeles.
The Chicago-born performer, nominated for two Emmys, had been treated for pneumonia and was admitted to hospital in late July.
Bernie Mac, shown in this March 6, 2004, file photo, entered hospital on Aug. 1. (Associated Press) "In real life, he was very much like his character on [The Bernie Mac Show]," his daughter, Je'niece Childress, told the Associated Press on Saturday. The series ran on Fox from 2001 to 2006.
"He was the king of his household," Childress said in Chicago, describing Mac as "a loving grandfather" to her daughter, his only grandchild.
The 50-year-old actor passed away at the Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Smith had said Thursday that Mac's condition was "stable."
Mac had suffered from the immune disorder sarcoidosis, which can affect the organs, cause fatigue, skin lesions and a dry cough. The comedian said the disease went into remission in 2005.
Reports on Sunday say Mac was short of breath and had back pains when he entered the hospital.
Sarcoidosis had weakened the performer's immune system, Mary Ann Grossett, sister of Mac's wife Rhonda, told People.com.
Grossett says the star was put on a ventilator and sedated after being diagnosed with pneumonia. He then contracted a second strain of pneumonia while in the hospital.
Grosset says Mac was resuscitated twice before he died and described his last moments with Rhonda: "She smiled at him and told him, 'Don't leave me … 'I'm waiting for you to come back.'
"He shrugged his shoulders, and she said that's when she knew he was tired. He signaled to her that his body was tired."
Grosset says her sister is "devastated" but says "her faith is what is sustaining her."
Gave them their money's worth
"The majority of his core fan base will remember that when they paid their money to see Bernie Mac ... he gave them their money's worth," fellow comedian Steve Harvey, one of Mac's co-stars on the Original Kings of Comedy tour, told CNN on Saturday.
In 2001, he was nominated — along with Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric The Entertainer — for a best comedy album Grammy for The Original Kings of Comedy. The tour by the four comedians also become a popular Spike Lee documentary.
The Kings of Comedy, a quartet of black comedians seen here in 2000, are from left, D. L Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey and Bernie Mac. (Gino Domenico)
Mac starred in the critically acclaimed TV series The Bernie Mac Show from 2001 to 2006 and was a regular on the Ocean's Eleven franchise.
He also appeared in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Transformers.
Mac's last film is believed to be Soul Men, with Samuel L. Jackson, slated to be released later this year.
Won comedy search in 1992
Born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, Mac grew up in the city's south side with his mother and grandparents. In his 2004 memoir, Maybe You Never Cry Again, the performer wrote about his poor childhood, eating bologna for dinner.
"I came from a place where there wasn't a lot of joy," Mac said in 2001. "I decided to try to make other people laugh when there wasn't a lot of things to laugh about."
Both of Mac's parents died while he was in his teens. He was raised by his grandmother.
In 1977, Mac started honing his standup comic skills at clubs in Chicago.
Chicago music producer Carolyn Albritton, who said she was Mac's first manager, said she knew he would do well in his chosen career.
"From very early on I thought he was destined for success," Albritton said. "He never lost track of where he came from, and he'd often use real life experiences, his family, his friends, in his routine. After he made it, he stayed a very humble man."
'Wherever I am, I have to play. I have to put on a good show.'—Bernie Mac
Having worked a variety of jobs, from furniture mover to delivering bread, Mac hit it big when he won the Miller Lite comedy search in 1992, which led to regular appearances on HBO's Def Comedy Jam.
He has often credited his time in the trenches, performing before tough audiences, as great training.
"Wherever I am, I have to play," he said in a 2002 interview. "I have to put on a good show."
His first major movie role was as Pastor Clever in Ice Cube's 1995 film Friday. After that, Mac would appear in a series of TV shows and other movies including Booty Call, How to Be a Player and What's the Worst That Could Happen?
Started to scale back work in 2007
In 2001, Fox decided to take a chance on Mac, creating a show based on the comedian's life.
In The Bernie Mac Show, he became the custodian of his sister's three children after she entered rehab. Mac's unusual show allowed him to directly communicate his thoughts to the audience.
The show captured a prestigious Peabody Award in 2002 and was hailed for transcending "race and class while lifting viewers with laughter, compassion — and cool."
The show would also garner Mac Golden Globe and Emmy nods.
Last year, Mac revealed he was hanging up his standup mic and wanted to scale back his work schedule.
"I want to enjoy my life a little bit," he said on David Letterman's Late Show in 2007. "I missed of a lot of things, you know."
Mac is survived by his wife, Rhonda McCullough, their daughter and a granddaughter.
