Bernie Mac Dies at Age 50

Bernie Mac was born October 5, 1957 as Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in Chicago, Illinois. He passed away August 9, 2008 in the same town as his birth. He died from complication of pneumonia. He is survived by his wife, Rhonda and daughter, Je'Niece. Bernie had a successful career both on the big screen as well as the small screen. He starred in his own TV show for 5 years which was loosely based on his real life. Bernie Mac also starred in many films. His style of humor was loved by many. He would say something funny without even having a smile on his face, making you wonder if he was serious or not. Bernie Mac started his comedy career in the late 70's as a stand up comedian in small clubs. He was very poor at the time. He refused to conform to Hollywood's mold of a black actor and stood his ground to stay true to his roots. Much of his material for his comedy act came from being a black man in society that grew up in a rough and tough Chicago neighborhood. He came from a large family that lived in a small house.

Bernie Mac was one of the Original Kings of Comedy, along with his friends Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D.J. Hughley. He has starred in many movies and is probably best know for his role in all 3 Ocean's movies: Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and Ocean's Thirteen. Other notable movies Bernie Mac appeared in was Mo' Money, Friday, Booty Call, Bad Santa, Mr. 3000, Guess Who, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Transformers, Soul Men, and Old Dogs, which is to be released next year.

Along with his own TV show, The Bernie Mac Show, he also had roles in several other TV shows. This included a reoccurring role on Moesha. He was also in one episode of The Chris Rock Show.

In addition, Bernie Mac was nominated for several awards during his fulfilling career. Amongst them, he had 2 Emmy Award nominations, 2 Golden Globe nominations, 3 NAACP nominations, and 4 NAACP awards won.

Oddly enough, just over a week ago on the internet, rumors had begun to fly that Bernie Mac was dead. Indeed, at that point he had been hospitalized with being very sick with pneumonia., but expected to make a full recovery and be home in a few weeks, When I heard he had actually died, I thought perhaps the rumor was just flaring up again as a way to promote new material or something to that effect.