Comedian Bernie Mac dies
Comedian Bernie Mac dies
Comedian Bernie Mac died suddenly Saturday of complications from pneumonia. Mac, 50, had hospitalized in a Chicago area hospital for about a week and reportedly been responding to treatment.
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. His publicist, Danica Smith said the pneumonia was not related to the disease.
"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. "No other details are available at this time. We ask that his family's privacy continues to be respected."
Bernie Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on October 5, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois. He began his career a stand-up comedian before he began acting. His break came as Pastor Clever in the 1995 film Friday. This led to many more movie roles including Ocean's Eleven and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.
In 1997 Bernie 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 would later be filmed by Spike Lee for the movie The Original Kings of Comedy.
In 2001, he began his own sitcom called The Bernie Mac Show. The show is based on his own life, in which he suddenly becomes custodian over his sister's three children.
