Bernard Jeffrey McCullough (October 5, 1957 – August 9, 2008), better known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Bernie Mac, was an American stand up comedian, actor and film producer. He joined fellow comedians

Steve Harvey Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. Also aired August 16, 2015. (born January 17, 1957) is an American comedian, television host, actor, writer, and producer. He hosts ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'', ''Family Feud'', ''Celebrity Family Feud'', '' ...

Cedric the Entertainer Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), better known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American stand-up comedian, actor and television host. He hosted BET's '' ComicView'' during the 1993–1994 season and '' Def Comedy Jam'' ...

, and D. L. Hughley in the film '' The Original Kings of Comedy''. After briefly hosting the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

show ''Midnight Mac'', Mac appeared in several films in smaller roles. His most noted film roles were as Frank Catton in the ''Ocean's'' film series from 2001 through 2007 and as the title character of '' Mr. 3000''. He was the star of ''

The Bernie Mac Show ''The Bernie Mac Show'' (often shortened to ''Bernie Mac'' in syndication) is an American sitcom television series created by Larry Wilmore, that aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001, to April 14, 2006. The series featured Ber ...

'', which ran from 2001 through 2006, earning him two

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Mac's other films included starring roles in '' The Players Club'', ''

Head of State A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

'', ''

Bad Santa ''Bad Santa'' is a 2003 American Christmas black comedy crime film directed by Terry Zwigoff, written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and starring Billy Bob Thornton in the title role, with a supporting cast of Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Bre ...

'', '' Guess Who'', ''

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

'', and '' Soul Men''. Bernie Mac died at 50 years old on August 9th, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois of complications from pneumonia.

Early life and education

Bernard Jeffrey McCullough was born on October 5, 1957 in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Mac was the second child of Mary McCullough and Jeffrey Harrison. Mac was raised by his single mother and his grandparents on the city's south side. Mac began his high school career at Chicago Vocational High School. During 1973, Mac moved to

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, to attend Jesuit High School following the death of his mother during his sophomore year.Savoy Magazine May 2002 Shortly afterward, Mac's older brother and his estranged father both died. Mac later returned to Chicago and graduated from Chicago Vocational in 1975. During his 20s and through his early 30s, Mac worked in a variety of jobs, including janitor, coach, professional mover, cook, bus driver, Wonder Bread delivery man, furniture mover, and UPS agent, while doing comedy on the weekends at clubs and parties.

Career

Mac's influences were from

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

and listening to stand-up comedians

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Known for reaching a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, he is widely regarded ...

and

Redd Foxx John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Foxx gained success with his raunchy nightclub act before and during the civil rights movemen ...

. Mac started as a stand-up comedian in Chicago's Cotton Club. After he won the

Miller Lite Comedy Search The Miller Lite Comedy Search Contest was a nationally known contest which identified up-and-coming comedians in the Chicago metropolitan area as well as nationwide. Even though the contest was not limited to African-American contestants, the v ...

at the age of 32, his popularity as a comedian began to grow. In 1992, a performance on the 3rd episode of

's '' Def Comedy Jam'' thrust him into the spotlight; after

Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on '' Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor and comedian. Lawrence began his career doing comedy shows, including in '' The Improv''. After his first acting role in t ...

was unable to calm an increasingly hostile crowd, Mac went onstage and told the audience "I ain't scared o' you mothafuckas" and that he "didn't come here for no foolishness."

The Bernie Mac Show

In 2001, the Fox network gave Mac his own television sitcom called ''

'' portraying a fictional version of himself. In the show, he suddenly becomes custodian of his sister's three children after she enters rehab. Mac broke the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

to tell his thoughts to the audience. The show contained many parodies of events in Bernie's actual life. Mac, who grew up on Chicago's South Side, was a fan of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, and would often sneak a reference to his favorite team in episodes, including enlisting then-White Sox pitcher Jon Garland to make a guest cameo appearance. In the 2005 season he wore a White Sox jacket and cap, and congratulated his hometown

and their staff members on their recent World Series championship. The show was not renewed after the 2005–2006 season. The series finale aired on April 14, 2006. Among other awards, the show won an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

for "Outstanding Writing", the

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

for excellence in broadcasting, and the

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an American award for film and television writing, presented to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful manner. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of ...

for television writing that promotes human dignity. His character on ''The Bernie Mac Show'' was ranked No. 47 in ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time". During his run on the show, Mac had co-starring roles in the ''Ocean's'' trilogy (2001–2007), ''

'' (2003) and ''

'' (2003), as well as starring roles in the baseball-themed film '' Mr. 3000'' (2004) and '' Guess Who?'' (2005), a remake of the 1967 film ''

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy drama film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, and written by William Rose. It stars Spencer Tracy (in his final role), Sidney Poitier, and Katharine Hepburn, and feat ...

''.

Later years

On March 19, 2007, Mac told

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

on the CBS '' Late Show'' that he would retire from his 30-year career after he finished shooting the comedy film, ''The Whole Truth, Nothing but the Truth, So Help Me Mac''. "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 and was on the road 47 weeks out of the year." During this time, Mac was having success as a popular film actor, starting with an appearance in the 2007 film ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'' as the car salesman "Bobby Bolivia", and serving as the voice of Zuba, Alex the Lion's long-lost father in '' Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa''. He co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson in the 2008 musical comedy '' Soul Men''. These last two movies were released months after his death. His final film role was as Jimmy Lunchbox in the 2009 film '' Old Dogs'' which was released a year after his death.

Personal life

Mac married his high school sweetheart Rhonda Gore on September 17, 1977, and together they had a daughter in 1978.

Health and death

In the last 20 years of his life, Mac publicly disclosed that he had severe

sarcoidosis Sarcoidosis (; also known as Besnier–Boeck–Schaumann disease) is a disease involving abnormal collections of White blood cell, inflammatory cells that form lumps known as granulomata. The disease usually begins in the lungs, skin, or lymph n ...

, a disease of unknown origin that causes inflammation in tissue. On July 19, 2008, Mac was admitted to the

Northwestern Memorial Hospital Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) is a nationally ranked academic medical center located on Northwestern University's Campus of Northwestern University, Chicago campus in Streeterville, Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship campus for Nort ...

in his hometown of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. After being treated in the ICU for three weeks, Mac went into cardiac arrest and subsequently died during the early morning hours on August 9, at the age of 50. However, the complications were not attributed to his sarcoidosis, according to his publicist. ''Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'' and ''Soul Men'' were released posthumously and dedicated to his memory.

Legacy and tributes

Mac's public memorial was held a week after his death at the House of Hope Church, with nearly 7,000 people in attendance. Notable mourners at Mac's funeral were Chris Rock, Chicago Mayor

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...

, Samuel L. Jackson, Ashton Kutcher,

Don Cheadle Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (, ; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his roles in film and television, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Don Cheadle, multiple accolades including two Golden Globe Award ...

, the cast members from ''The Bernie Mac Show'', and his ''Kings of Comedy'' fellows D. L. Hughley,

, and

. The first two of Mac's posthumous films, '' Soul Men'' and '' Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'', were released three months after his death and were dedicated to him. Mac's third posthumously released and final film, '' Old Dogs'', was released a year after his death; it too was dedicated in part to Mac. The 2008 Bud Billiken Parade, which was held in Chicago on the day of Mac's death, was also dedicated to his memory. On the day of Mac's funeral, his hometown's local television station WCIU-TV aired an exclusive television special, ''A Tribute to Bernie Mac'', and had interviews with his former colleagues including Camille Winbush, Chris Rock, Joe Torry,

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. Prolific in both comedy and drama, Cameron Diaz filmography, her films have grossed over $3 billion in the U.S. box-office. Her output of romantic comedies in the late 1990s a ...

, and some of his family members & close friends. During Steve Harvey's television show which aired November 14, 2016, Harvey read a proclamation from Chicago's Mayor

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...

proclaiming November 14 as "Bernie Mac Day". Steve Harvey's guests included Bernie's wife Rhonda, their daughter Je'Niece, granddaughter Jasmine, and Bernie's ''The Original Kings of Comedy'' co-stars D. L. Hughley,

, and Guy Torry (who was the original host at the beginning of the tour). Mike Epps, appearing via satellite, along with the principal of Bernie and Rhonda's alma mater Chicago Vocational High School (CVS), revealed and unveiled the renaming of CVS Auditorium to the "Bernie Mac Auditorium". On February 14, 2017, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' named Bernie Mac #41 of the 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
Bernie Mac Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac, Bernie 1957 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American comedians 20th-century African-American male actors 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American comedians 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American musicians African-American male comedians African-American stand-up comedians African-American television producers American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American Protestants American stand-up comedians American street performers Chicago Vocational High School alumni Comedians from Chicago Film producers from Illinois Deaths from pneumonia in Illinois Deaths from sarcoidosis Male actors from Chicago Television producers from Illinois 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians