Undated recent photo of Bernie Mac.

Comic actor Bernie Mac Dies at 50

Comic actor and comedian Bernie Mac died early Saturday morning (August 9, 2008) at Northwestern Memorial Hospital due to complications from pneumonia, as was initially reported by a family member and his publicist, Danica Smith.  Mac had been hospitalized in his home town of Chicago, Illinois with a lung infection for at least a week.

Born Bernard Jeffrey McCollough, he was best known by his stage name, “Bernie Mac.”  Mac starred in his own TV series, FOX’s Emmy-winning, “The Bernie Mac Show,” and also twice earned both Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for his performance on the series.  He’d had supporting roles in several prominent films including Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean Eleven films, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003), and 2007’s Transformers.  Mac played the lead or co-lead in pictures like the highly successful Guess Who (with Ashton Kutcher) and the moderate hit, Mr. 3000.

Although Mac had been working as a comic since at least 1977 (according to interviews he gave), his breakout year was 1995 with the HBO Special, “Midnight Mac,” and a memorable part in the Chris Tucker/Ice Cube comedy film, Friday.  He also made a splash in Spike Lee’s concert documentary, The Original Kings of Comedy, and earlier in Lee’s Million Man March flick, Get on the Bus.  FOX recently passed on a new Bernie Mac TV comedy project.

On the personal side: My first memory of Bernie Mac is from the 1994 film, House Party 3, playing Uncle Vester, a character meant to replace the late Robin Harris’ “Pop,” from House Party (1990).  Although I did see Mo’ Money, the 1992 film in which he made his debut, I don’t remember his part, and I think I’d seen him doing stand-up before around the time of this film’s release.  As Uncle Vester in House Party 3, I found Mac crude, common, and hard to like, but he grew on me.  After seeing him in The Original Kings of Comedy, I was sold on Mac because he outshone his co-stars and because his frank, gruff, un-politically correct brand of humor, as depicted in the film, resonated with me from an African-American cultural standpoint.

However, I think Bernie Mac successfully crossed over from being a “Black comedian” to being a broad comic actor because, at its heart, his act was universal.  The things he said connected to the trials and tribulations and the follies and foibles of a broad base of Americans.  As the surrogate father in “The Bernie Mac Show,” Bernie’s old-school, old-fashioned attitudes towards parenting were refreshing in a TV landscape that portrays parents as befuddled buffoons and often as little more than children themselves.  The show, which ran from 2001-2006 for five seasons, frequently had good ratings, and only suffered when FOX capriciously experimented with different time slots for the series.

I assumed I’d get to enjoy Bernie Mac’s work for a long time to come.  I will still be able to do so, but it’ll be the work he’s left behind.  Rather than lament what could have been, I’ll happily appreciate what he gave us.  But still, it hurts to lose him.  Rest in peace, Bernie.

A partial filmography:
Transformers (2007)
Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)
Pride (2007)
Guess Who (2005)
Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
Mr. 3000 (2004)
Bad Santa (2003)
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
Head of State (2003)
Ocean’s Eleven (2003)
The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
Life (1999)
Get on the Bus (1996)
Friday (1995)
The Walking Dead (1995)
House Party 3 (1994)
Mo’ Money (1992)