THE BORE
General => The Superdeep Borehole => Topic started by: ParticleReality on August 09, 2008, 10:19:49 AM
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CHICAGO -- 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.
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."
Who you with, Bernie? You're with God now :'(
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:( I know, I just made the same thread, I'll lock mine.
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Wow
Well, that sucks, i love his work.
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I only ever knew him from the Ocean's movies, which sucked.
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Damn, this sucks.
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I just read this. Crazy. I kinda liked him.
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This sucks :(
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How fucking random. RIP
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Holy crap. The year of random celeb deaths continues. RIP.
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Jesus wtf
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Wow. That's a bit unexpected
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I gotta ask, whats with this fucking year?! Everyones dyin!
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Not a good time to be a celebrity.
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Holy fuck.
:(
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This is really random. Sad and all, but to be honest here, I wasn't a big fan of his work, but he was great in Oceans Eleven
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RIP
pneumonia wtf?
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I gotta ask, whats with this fucking year?! Everyones dyin!
Clint Eastwood's next.
shut up :-\
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Charlton Heston
Sydney Pollack
Arthur C. Clarke
Richard Widmark
Heath Ledger
George Carlin
Tim Russert
Tony Snow
Brad Renfro
Allan Melvin
Suzanne Pleshette
Roy Scheider
David Groh
Paul Scofield
Beverlee McKinsey
John Phillip Law
Rob Knox
Dick Martin
Harvey Korman
Mel Ferrer
Stan Winston
Anthony Minghella
And now Bernie Mac.
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BERNIE MAC was the man. His show was underrated, ridiculously good. One of my favorite shows, the guy could put on a show, he was hilarious. Can't believe he's gone. :(
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Damn. He was pretty good in the Ocean's movies. Some people may also recognize him from the intro tracks on a few of Kanye West's albums.
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Damn. He was pretty good in the Ocean's movies. Some people may also recognize him from the intro tracks on a few of Kanye West's albums.
His absence from Graduation was one of the many disappoints I had with that album. I thought he was hilarious on the first two albums
RIP. Funny old school dude.
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Heh, I forgot his voice-overs on the Kanye albums, hilarious.
Another easily forgotten role was his turn in Friday, fucking classic stuff. This is a big loss.
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Bummer, he was a really funny dude and generally good entertainer. He will be missed.
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he was fucking amazing in Above the Rim
rip :'(