US actor Bernie Mac dies
Actor Bernie Mac died of complications from pneumonia on Saturday morning in Chicago. In the past, Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body’s organs.
Actor Bernie Mac died of complications from pneumonia on Saturday morning in Chicago. In the past, Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body’s organs.
But he had said the condition went into remission in 2005. Mac, who died at age 50, was recently hospitalised and treated for pneumonia, which, his publicist said, was not related to the disease.
Mac worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago’s South Side. He began doing standup comedy as a child, telling jokes for spare change on subways, and his film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans comedy “Mo’ Money†in 1992. In 1996, he appeared in the Spike Lee drama “Get on the Bus.â€
He was one of “The Original Kings of Comedy†in the 2000 documentary of that title that brought a new generation of black standup comedy stars to a wider audience.
Though his comedy drew on tough experiences as a black man, he had mainstream appeal.
Mac blended style, authority and a touch of self-aware bluster to make audiences laugh as well as connect with him. For him it was a winning mix, delivering him from a poor childhood to stardom as a standup comedian in films including the casino heist caper Ocean’s Eleven, playing a gaming-table dealer who was in on the heist, and his acclaimed sitcom The Bernie Mac Show.
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.â€
“The majority of his core fan base will remember that when they paid their money to see Bernie Mac, he gave them their money’s worth,†Steve Harvey, one of his co-stars in Original Kings, told CNN on Saturday.
But he had said the condition went into remission in 2005. Mac, who died at age 50, was recently hospitalised and treated for pneumonia, which, his publicist said, was not related to the disease.
Mac worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago’s South Side. He began doing standup comedy as a child, telling jokes for spare change on subways, and his film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans comedy “Mo’ Money†in 1992. In 1996, he appeared in the Spike Lee drama “Get on the Bus.â€
He was one of “The Original Kings of Comedy†in the 2000 documentary of that title that brought a new generation of black standup comedy stars to a wider audience.
Though his comedy drew on tough experiences as a black man, he had mainstream appeal.
Mac blended style, authority and a touch of self-aware bluster to make audiences laugh as well as connect with him. For him it was a winning mix, delivering him from a poor childhood to stardom as a standup comedian in films including the casino heist caper Ocean’s Eleven, playing a gaming-table dealer who was in on the heist, and his acclaimed sitcom The Bernie Mac Show.
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.â€
“The majority of his core fan base will remember that when they paid their money to see Bernie Mac, he gave them their money’s worth,†Steve Harvey, one of his co-stars in Original Kings, told CNN on Saturday.