Bernie Mac's Family Expected Recovery

Actor And Comedian Died At 50 From Complications Due To Pneumonia

(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, has died at age 50.

"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."

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.

The comedian's daughter says her family had expected him to fully recover from the bout of pneumonia that put him in a hospital three weeks ago.

However, Je'niece Childress says that as time passed she and her mother braced for the possibility that he could die.

Childress said Mac entered Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago in the middle of July.

Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He grew up on the city's South Side in the Woodlawn, and later, Englewood neighborhoods. He lived 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 her son he would surprise everyone when he grew up.

"Woman believed in me," he wrote. "She believed in me long before I believed."

Mac started his comedy career at age 8, with a stand-up 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 starred 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" costars, 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."

Recently, Mac's brand of comedy caught him flack in July 2008 when he was heckled during a surprise appearance at a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama.

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."

Childress says funeral arrangements are pending. Publicist Danica Smith has said a public memorial would be held next weekend in Chicago.

[cgirl56]

BERNIE MAC WILL BE TRULY MISSED. BERNIE MAC KEPT IT REAL AND NEVER FORGOT WHERE HE CAME FROM. HE IS AT PEACE NOW, SAFE FROM ANY SARCOISIS OR ANY OTHER RARE AND STRANGE THING FORM THIS EARTH. OUR CREATOR HAS HIM SAFE, SOUND AND PROTECTED NOW. MAY OUR CREATOR BLESS, PROTECT AND EXTEND HIS MERCIFUL PEACE TO ALL HIS FAMILY AND LOVED ONES. I LOVE YOU BERNIE MAC!!

[fnell48p1959]

Bernie, is a hometown boy and he will truly be missed He is now in heaven making the Lord Jesus Christ laugh without the cursing. Nell

[robync01]

Sarcoids are now being diagnosed correctly. It has been in the past commonly missed diagnosed. My father had it, we were blessed to have the resources to get the best medical help that allowed us to get an accurate diagnoses. My father suffered from it for several years it would go into remission and form scar tissue on the lungs which is damaging and difficult to recover if there is an on sight of pneumonia. **My fathers sarcoids stayed in remission, however, he later developed parkinsons and later past. My twin brothers suffered from sarcodosis in their thirties they both past from complications from the disease. Sarcoids attacked both of their lungs on opposite sides. They basically sufficated. **I pray that through Bernie Mac that this disease gets the attention and a focus for a cure** My father always beleived that this diseased created from the enviroment.
My prayers go out to Bernie Macs family and friends.

[pcarter135]

Sarcoid is common because it affects thousands of people every day. Over 250,000 thousand a year are diagnois with "sarcoid" and/or die from it. What''s uncommon it the lack of knowledge, while people like my brother who died last December at age 49 and myself suffing from a lung dissorder. I''m praying that someone will now take a stand and do more about learning about this disease before more of us die. I''m sadden that it took a celeb to get the message across about this disease. Thank you Mr. Mac.

[sjw1253]

I am very glad that the Early Show (Harry Smith) took the time to discuss the fact that Bernie Mac had Sarcoidosis and that he had never heard of it.

I would truly like to see them address more very rare diseases. People who have rare diseases do not get the same attention that those with common diseases.

As with sarcoidosis and many other rare diseases - they can kill very quickly - but others may linger for many years and try to lead a normal life despite the fact that they have such a rare disease.

These diseases need attention too and when someone suffers from such a rarity - it is as though they travel the world alone having to defend the fact that they are not a hypochondriac to those who are not medically aware.

Many doctors have not heard of the disease - but if the person has the right medical team (army) - the doctors just feel helpless and as one of mine states "impotent" when it comes to treating someone who has a disease that has little to no research addressing it.

Mine is Lymphangiomatosis (just say LYMF to make it easier)... I come from a medical background and do understand the issues with sarcoidosis - and the truth is that the person with sarcoid will likely die from complications from the disease (such as Bernie did) - and the sense that treating symptoms does not work in many.

[concorde5]

Bernie will be truely missed. Rest in peace Bernie. May God always keep and protect you.

[nwilliams79]

I want to begin by saying RIP Bernie Mac, you will always be a comedic legend.

I also need to voice my frustrations regarding the Early Show''s coverage of this loss. For those of you that don''t know, Bernie Mac beat most odds. He grew up in a very rough area with a very large family and wasn''t handed his career as some others are. His biography describes him best by stating "Bernie Mac is a comedian that refused to change his image for Hollywood and says that his life in Chicago is who he is and there is nothing that will change that. While success was a long time coming, he is now a household name. He is a mature comedian who is very intelligent, very engaging in his TV, movie and stand-up appearances."

He has done so much and was such a success, yet Julie Chen spent approximately two minutes interviewing Kellita Smith. One of the few questions that she asked was "what was your reaction to hearing the news". Are you kidding me?? What kind of question is that? Is that investigative reporting? What made it worse is that then CBS spent about five times longer discussing the imperative topic of "why men cheat"! Why did he not receive the time that he deserves??

[tibu987]

I recently, June 1, almost died from pneumonia. I waited too long to go to the ER and they said
I was within a day of dying.
The moral, don''t wait too long if you are feeling ill with the flu, see your doctor or go to the ER.

[ajaxrose1]

My sister has sarcoid. They just about never diagnosed it because it''s not real common and it has the same symptons as a lot of other things. The damage was probably already done to Mac''s lungs, making it harder for his body to fight the infection. I know my sister''s health isn''t great because of it. Because of the sarcoid, she has asthma and other breathing problems. Hers has been fairly quiet lately, but she still has the problems. I''m really sorry this happened to Mac, especially at such a young age. My sympathies to his family and friends.

[dedad1]

ISAAC HAYES MURDERED HIM :) oops

Posted by walshsmith1 at 08:36 PM : Aug 10, 2008

Another idiot with too much time on his hands.

[dedad1]

I heard he had ties to the MOB and faked his death and is now in the whiteness protection program.
Posted by m04364 at 08:57 PM : Aug 09, 2008
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What a moronic statement.

Posted by deacon20081 at 12:52 AM : Aug 10, 2008

Another failed attempt to be funny. You and newster should take your act on the road. Maybe to the south side of Chicago???

[swolff5]

The publicist said the pneumonia was unrelated to the sarcoid but that is misleading. My husband has sarcoidosis so I think we have a little bit of insider knowledge with it. The disease attacks the immune system as well as the lungs (and various other body systems). Every sarcoid suffer is at a very high risk of getting pneumonia. The most common treatment for sarcoid is prednisone, which also has very nasty side effects and lowers the body''s'' defenses even further. It is also much more difficult to recover because of the disease. When everyone in the home would get a simple cold, my husband would get pneumonia. All sarcoid sufferer''s need the pneumonia vaccine!

Bernie Mac believed he was in remission from sarcoid but the damage was already done to his body. As we know personally, remission can go away at any time as the disease flairs up again without any warning.

I hope they do not continue to downplay the role sarcoid played in this tragic death. His fame could help publicize a little heard about disease that many people suffer with for years before any diagnosis.

[ladyephesus1]

Newster,

You always have some stupid sh*t to say!!

[brenda lincoln]

rip bernie mac and isaac hayes yall are the best people that i can say i enjoyed and laugh with and sing with you never know anything until it happens to you.life is getting very scarry too much to bere but im keeping my head up because i know yall are not suffering. i''ll keep sing down here for yall.god bless the families of both of them im praying for yall always.brilliant121

[no2zeebas]

Don''t know how that happened (my post below)...He wasn''t on my list of favs but he will be missed...

[truthspeake2]

...and today, Isaac Hayes.

RIP Bernie and Issac, your families have my condolences.

[bb19631]

RIP. He was one of the funniest men. I loved his sitcom.

[thewarning2]

RIP MacMan!! I felt like crying when I heard the news and I still do!! He made me laugh so many times! He''s probably up there right now, making God and the angels laugh!

[prayerman3]

To many actors or actress have died to young. I will miss his funny way he talked and looked. Another comedy going but will not be forgotten. GOD will bless those who mourn. May God bless everyone and pertect you where ever you may go.

[foxmulder33]

BAD SANTA is still one of my favorite comedies of all time. Bernie''s scene with the late John Ritter (in the uncut version) is one of the funniest bits ever caught on film. Here''s to great comedy and big women!