Bernie Mac

Bernard Jeffrey McCullough (October 5, 1957 – August 9, 2008), better known by the stage name Bernie Mac, was an American actor and comedian. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley as The Original Kings of Comedy.
After briefly hosting the HBO show Midnight Mac, Mac appeared in several movies in smaller roles. His most notable movie role was as Frank Catton in the remake of Ocean's Eleven and its two sequels. Mac also starred in several movies, including Mr. 3000. He was the star of The Bernie Mac Show, which ran from 2001-2006, earning two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

Early life
Mac was born in Chicago, Illinois, and was raised by a single mother, Mary. She died of cancer when he was 16 years old.[2] Mac attended Chicago Vocational Career Academy and started his comedy career during high school. He put on shows for neighborhood kids on Chicago's South Side, until moving to Tampa, Florida. During his 20s he worked in a variety of jobs, including furniture mover, UPS agent and bread delivery sales rep.[3]

Career
Mac started as a stand-up comedian in Chicago's Cotton Pickin' Club. He won the Miller Lite Comedy Search at the age of 32, at which point his popularity as a comedian began to grow. A performance on HBO's Def Comedy Jam thrust him into the spotlight. He opened for Dionne Warwick, Redd Foxx and Natalie Cole. He also had a short-lived talk show on HBO titled Midnight Mac. Later, Mac also began acting in minor roles and received his big break as "Pastor Clever" in Ice Cube's 1995 film Friday. Following that role, Mac also worked in many other movies and had some television appearances in titles including, Booty Call, How to Be a Player, Life and What's the Worst That Could Happen?. Mac was one of the few African American comedic actors to be able to break out of the traditional "black comedy" genre, having roles in the 2001 remake of Ocean's Eleven and becoming the new Bosley for the Charlie's Angels sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.

In 2003, he also turned in an impressive performance in a small but important role as "Gin, The Store Dick" in, Bad Santa. He also starred in, Guess Who?, a comedic remake of the film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. He also made an appearance in the 2007 movie, Transformers, as the car salesman, "Bobby Bolivia."

In 2000, Mac returned to his stand-up comedy roots, touring the country as one of The Original Kings of Comedy, along with Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley. The comedy act was filmed by Spike Lee and was included later in the movie, The Original Kings of Comedy.

In 2001, Fox gave Mac his own sitcom called, The Bernie Mac Show, somewhat based on his own life. In the show, he suddenly becomes custodian over his sister's three children after she enters rehab. It was a success, in part because it allows Mac to stay true to his stand-up comedy roots, breaking the fourth wall to communicate his thoughts to the audience. The show contained many parodies of events in Bernie's actual life. However, the show was not renewed after the 2006 season. Viewers were left without a conclusion for the series, and no ending to the storyline where Bernie and Wanda were trying to have a baby. The show won an Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Writing’, the Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting, the Humanitas Prize for television writing that promotes human dignity, and several other prestigious accolades. [4] His character on The Bernie Mac Show was ranked #47 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time."[5]

In 2004, Mac had his first starring role as a retired baseball player in the movie Mr. 3000. In the 2003 National League Championship Series, Mac sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" at Wrigley Field with the Chicago Cubs leading the Florida Marlins in the series 3-2 and in Game 6 by a 3-0 score. Instead of saying "root, root, root for the Cubbies" Mac said, "root, root, root for the champions!" The Cubs went on to lose the game and the series, with some fans claiming that Mac helped to jinx the Cubs. Mac later admitted that he had hated the North Side's Cubs his whole life, being a die-hard fan of the South Side's White Sox, and was seen during the White Sox' 2005 World Series victory at U.S. Cellular Field.

Mac was number 72 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time. On March 19, 2007, Mac told David Letterman 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."[6]

Personal life
Mac married Rhonda McCullough in 1977. They had one daughter, Je'Niece (born 1978), who attended Xavier University of Louisiana, where she received both her bachelor's degree in Psychology and Master's degree in Mental Health Counseling. She is married with one daughter, Jasmine.

Death
Mac 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.
On July 24, 2008, Mac was hospitalized with an infection, that later turned out to be pneumonia. The news of his hospitalization would not be announced for over a week, when his publicist claimed that Mac had pneumonia. The next day, responding to rumors that the actor was in "very, very critical condition," his publicist said that he was responding well to treatment, and should be released soon. On August 9, his publicist announced that Mac had died from complications of pneumonia unrelated to sarcoidosis.

The 2008 Bud Billiken Parade in Chicago, on the day he died, was dedicated to his memory. At the time of his death, Bernie Mac was working on the movie Soul Men with Isaac Hayes who, coincidentally, died the day after him.

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1992 Mo' Money Club doorman
1993 Who's the Man? G-George
1994 Above the Rim Flip
House Party 3 Uncle Vester
1995 Friday Pastor Clever
1996 Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood Officer Self Hatred
Get on the Bus Jay
1997 B*A*P*S Mr. Johnson
Booty Call Judge Peabody
How to Be a Player Buster
1998 The Players Club Dollar Bill
1999 Life Jangle Leg
2000 The Original Kings of Comedy
2001 Head of State Mitch Gilliam
Ocean's Eleven Frank Catton
What's the Worst That Could Happen? Uncle Jack
2003 Bad Santa Gin
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Jimmy Bosley
2004 Mr. 3000 Stan Ross
Ocean's Twelve Frank Catton
2005 Guess Who Percy Jones
2007 Ocean's Thirteen Frank Catton
Pride Elston
Transformers Bobby Bolivia
2008 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Zuba
Soul Men Floyd
2009 Old Dogs Jimmy Lunchbox


Awards and nominations
Emmy Awards

Year Category Show Result
2003 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series The Bernie Mac Show Nominated
2002 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series The Bernie Mac Show Nominated
Golden Globe Awards

Year Category Show Result
2004 Outstanding Actor in a Comedy/Musical Series The Bernie Mac Show Nominated
2003 Outstanding Actor in a Comedy/Musical Series The Bernie Mac Show Nominated
NAACP Image Awards

Year Category Show Result
2007 Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series The Bernie Mac Show Nominated
2006 Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series The Bernie Mac Show Winner
2005 Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series The Bernie Mac Show Winner
2004 Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series The Bernie Mac Show Winner
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Head of State Nominated
2002 Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series The Bernie Mac Show Winner
2001 Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series The Bernie Mac Show Nominated