Bernie Mac Biography

Bernard Jeffrey "Bernie" McCullough (October 5, 1957August 9, 2008), better known by his stage name Bernie Mac, was an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice artist, and comedian at the All Jokes Aside comedy club in Chicago. 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 films in smaller roles. His most noted film role was as Frank Catton in the remake Ocean's Eleven and the titular character of Mr. 3000. He was the star of The Bernie Mac Show, which ran from 2001 through 2006, earning him two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. His other films included starring roles in Booty Call, Friday, The Players Club, Head of State, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Bad Santa, Guess Who, Pride, Soul Men, Transformers and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, a disease in which abnormal collections of chronic inflammatory cells (granulomas) form as nodules in multiple organs, particularly the lungs and lymph nodes. Lung scarring or infection may lead to respiratory failure and death. Mac had said the condition was in remission in 2005. His death on August 9, 2008 was caused by complications from pneumonia.

Early life

Bernie Mac was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, on the city's South Side by his single mother, Mary, who died of cancer when he was 16 years old in his sophomore year of high school.

He put on shows for neighborhood kids on the South Side. He attended Chicago Vocational Career Academy where Dick Butkus also earlier attended. Later, he moved to Tampa, Florida. During his 20s, he worked in a variety of jobs, including furniture mover and a UPS agent.

Career

Bernie Mac's influences were from The Three Stooges and listening to stand-up comedians Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx. Mac started as a stand-up comedian in Chicago's Cotton Club. After he won the Miller Lite Comedy Search at the age of 32, 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 played a small role in 1994's House Party 3 as Uncle Vester. He also had a short-lived talk show on HBO titled Midnight Mac. Later, Mac also acted in minor roles and got his big break as "Pastor Clever" in Ice Cube's 1995 film Friday. Following that role, Mac had his first starring role as "Dollar Bill", a silly, slick-talking club owner in The Players Club. Mac was able to break from 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 2001, he gave an impressive performance in a supporting role as the villain "Gin Slagel, The Store Dick" in Bad Santa. He also starred in Guess Who?, a comedic remake of the film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and made an appearance in the 2007 film Transformers as the car salesman "Bobby Bolivia". In his later years, he hosted the reality television talent show Last Comic Standing. He also served 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 as "Floyd Henderson". His final film role was as "Jimmy Lunchbox", a flamboyant children's entertainer in the 2009 Disney film Old Dogs which was released a year after his death. He starred alongside John Travolta and Robin Williams in that particular film.

In 2001, the Fox network gave Mac his own semi-autobiographical sitcom called The Bernie Mac Show portraying a fictional version of himself. In the show, he suddenly becomes custodian of his sister's three children after she enters rehab. It was a success, in part because it allowed 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. Bernie, who grew up on Chicago's South Side, was a die-hard fan of the Chicago White Sox, and would often sneak a reference to his favorite team in his episodes, including enlisting then White Sox pitcher Jon Garland to make a guest cameo appearance. Bernie Mac's "fourth wall" technique allowed him a moment of heartfelt sincerity during the sitcom's 2005 season when, sitting in his customary easy chair and facing the audience before the start of an episode, Bernie unabashedly donned a White Sox jacket and cap, and congratulated his hometown Chicago White Sox 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. However, the finale barely left a conclusion for the series, and no ending to the storyline of Bernie and Wanda trying to have a baby which had been abandoned a few episodes earlier. Among other awards, the show won an Emmy for "Outstanding Writing", the Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting, and the Humanitas Prize for television writing that promotes human dignity. His character on The Bernie Mac Show was ranked #47 in TV Guide list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time".

In 2004, Bernie Mac starred as a retired baseball player in the film Mr. 3000. In the 2003 National League Championship Series, Mac sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field with the Chicago Cubs leading the Florida Marlins in the series 3 games to 2 and in Game 6 by a 2"0 score at the time (it would soon be 3"0 in the bottom of the 7th). Instead of saying "root, root, root for the Cubbies" Mac said, "root, root, root for the champs!, champs!" The Cubs lost the game and the series, with some fans claiming that Mac helped 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 and was on the road 47 weeks out of the year".

Illness and death

In 2008, Mac was admitted to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. After a week of unsuccessful medical treatment, Mac went into cardiac arrest and died during the early morning hours of August 9 from sarcoidosis complicated by pneumonia. In the final three years of his life, Mac publicly disclosed that he had suffered from sarcoidosis, a disease of unknown origin that causes inflammation in tissue, most often seen in African Americans. Sarcoidosis frequently attacked Mac's lungs. Mac's public funeral 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, Samuel L. Jackson, Ashton Kutcher, Don Cheadle, the cast members from his eponymous series and his Kings of Comedy fellows D. L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer and Steve Harvey. Mac's body was cremated, and his ashes were interred at the Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery in Homewood, Illinois.

Tributes

The first two of Mac's posthumous films, Soul Men and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, were released three months after his death. Mac's third and final posthumous film, Old Dogs, was released a year after his death. The 2008 Bud Billiken Parade, which was held in Chicago at the time 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 and some of his family members and close friends. Mac was also honored during "In Memoriam" footages at various award ceremonies following his death.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Mo' Money	Club doorman	Cameo
1993	Who's the Man?	G-George
1994	Above the Rim	Flip
1994	House Party 3	Uncle Vester
1995	Friday	Pastor Clever
1995	The Walking Dead	Ray
1996	Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood	Officer Self Hatred	Cameo
1996	Get on the Bus	Jay
1997	B*A*P*S	Mr. Johnson
1997	Booty Call	Judge Peabody
1997	How to Be a Player	Buster
1997	Don King: Only in America	Bundini Brown
1998	'	Dollar Bill
1999	Life	Jangle Leg
2000	'	Himself	Documentary
2001	Ocean's Eleven	Frank Catton
2001	What's the Worst That Could Happen?	Uncle Jack
2003	Bad Santa	Gin Slagel
2003	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle	Jimmy Bosley
2003	Head of State	Mitch Gilliam
2004	Mr. 3000	Stan Ross
2004	Ocean's Twelve	Frank Catton
2005	Guess Who	Percy Jones
2005	Lil' Pimp	Fruit Juice
2005	Inspector Gadget's Biggest Caper Ever	Gadget Mobile
2007	Ocean's Thirteen	Frank Catton
2007	Pride	Elston
2007	Transformers	Bobby Bolivia	Cameo / Last film appearance during lifetime
2008	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	Zuba the Lion (voice)	Released posthumously?
2008	Soul Men	Floyd Henderson	Released posthumously
2009	Old Dogs	Jimmy Lunchbox	Released posthumously

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996"2000	Moesha	Uncle Bernie	11 episodes
1997	The Wayans Bros.	Shank	1 episode
2001"2006	'	Bernie McCullough	103 episodes
2003	King of the Hill	Mack (Voice)	1 episode

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Work
2005	Black Reel Awards	Won	Best Actor, Musical or Comedy	Mr. 3000
2002	Emmy Award	Nominated	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	The Bernie Mac Show
2003			Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	The Bernie Mac Show
2003	Golden Globe Award	Nominated	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy	The Bernie Mac Show
2004			Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series " Musical or Comedy	The Bernie Mac Show
2002	NAACP Image Awards	Nominated	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series	The Bernie Mac Show
2003		Won	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series	The Bernie Mac Show
2004		Nominated	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Head of State
		Won	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series	The Bernie Mac Show
2005		Won	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series	The Bernie Mac Show
2006		Won	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series	The Bernie Mac Show
2007		Nominated	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series	The Bernie Mac Show
2003	PRISM Award	Won	Performance in a Comedy Series	The Bernie Mac Show
2003	Satellite Award	Won	Best Performance by an Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical	The Bernie Mac Show
2004		Won	Best Performance by an Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical	The Bernie Mac Show
2005		Nominated	Best Performance by an Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical	The Bernie Mac Show
2002	Television Critics Association Award	Won	Individual Achievement in Comedy	The Bernie Mac Show