Comic actor Bernie Mac dies

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- 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.


Bernie Mac, 50, was nominated for a Grammy for "The Original Kings of Comedy."

"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, California.

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. Watch how Steve Harvey remembers Bernie Mac »

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.

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. In 1996, he appeared in the Spike Lee drama "Get on the Bus."

Mac went on to star in the "Ocean's Eleven" franchise with Brad Pitt and George Clooney. 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."

In the late 1990s, he had a recurring role in "Moesha," the UPN network comedy starring pop star Brandy.

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." iReport.com: Share your appreciation for Bernie Mac

The show garnered Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for Mac.

"But television handcuffs you, man," he said in a 2001 Associated Press interview. "Now everyone telling me what I CAN'T do, what I CAN say, what I SHOULD do, and asking, 'Are blacks gonna be mad at you? Are whites gonna accept you?"'

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.

In 2007, Mac told David Letterman on CBS' "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 October 5, 1957, in Chicago. He grew up on the city's South Side, living with his mother and grandparents. His grandfather was a deacon in 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."


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I wasn't a huge fan, but I liked the guy in the Ocean's movies. Thought he was funny.

Man, he was way young. Poor guy.

WAYYYY too young. Like Whidden, not really a fan (he's too loud for my tastes), but he had some good parts in movies.

His cause of death is really unusual - people still die from pneumonia, even if they don't have AIDS??

It's generally if they're weak from another disease then pneumenia kills them.
My nan died from it but she had a stroke, two heart attacks and a brain tumour which was removed and then her skull got infected, but it the pneumonis that finally killed her
My mum died from it, but she weighed 32 kgs from complications from Huntingdons Disease.
So I'd guess there was something else at play, if not the lung disease he had previously, then something else.

Oh okay, that makes sense. I guess I remember hearing about people getting it if their immune system is weak from other diseases. I didn't know your mum died because of it, Schmigs, I always thought it was the Huntingdons (I guess it was, really...).

Very sad.
He had Sarcoidosis, which according to which source you go by, is what made his pneumenia fatal.

Grant, pneumonia can kill you even if you don't have an immune disorder. The medications needed to open up your compromised lungs raises the heart rate. Your heart has to be able to cope with beating very fast for quite a long time. Most of the time they will put you on a ventilator, but there are problems with that. Going on the vent is really a last resort type of thing. They do it because your heart can't take the meds, and the machine takes over your breathing.

Damon, when he had pneumonia, was as close to going on a ventilator. Thank the Lord he turned around before they were going to start.