From The Chicago Sun-Times…
Comedian, South Sider Bernie Mac dies at 50
By Sun-Times Staff
Comedian Bernie Mac died at Northwestern Memorial hospital early Saturday morning, according to his publicist, Danica Smith. He was 50.
“Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital,” Smith said in a statement. “No other details are available at this time. We ask that his family’s privacy continues to be respected.”
Sun-Times columnist Stella Foster said that she received calls early Saturday morning from a close friend of the Mac family, confirming the reports of Mac’s death.
The columnist also said she was deeply saddened to receive such a phone call just an hour after Mac was pronounced dead.
“It brought tears to my eyes because Bernie Mac has always been my all-time favorite entertainer and comedian. It pains me to have to report that,” Foster said during a phone interview on Saturday morning.
On Friday, a spokeswoman for the actor, whose real name is, Bernard McCullough, said that he had been responding well to treatment for the illness.
Smith said Thursday in a statement that Mac’s condition is “stable.” Smith first announced Aug. 1 that Mac was hospitalized in Chicago.
Smith said Mac’s pneumonia wasn’t related to an inflammatory lung disease Mac also had. That condition was in remission since 2005.
Foster noted that last weekend several web sites reported wrongly that the comedian died.
Mac made waves last month with off-color jokes during a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
The comedian starred in the critically acclaimed Fox television series “The Bernie Mac Show.” His film credits include roles in the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise.
Foster says she remembers Bernie’s comedic beginnings through his show, “Midnight Mac,” which aired for four shows on HBO and was taped in Chicago in 1995.
“It was a variety entertainment show,” she said, “He even had dancers called Macaroni’s. That was my first exposure to how talented Bernie Mac was. And after that show, that’s when Hollywood started beating down his door.”
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.
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 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.”
The actor’s upcoming movies include “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” starring Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and David Schwimmer; and “Soul Men” with Samuel L. Jackson and Isaac Hayes.
There is no word on whether public services will be held.
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