What horrible and unexpected news to hear that actor and comedian Bernie Mac died on Saturday in Chicago of complications from pneumonia at 50 years old.
Mac suffered from sarcoidosis since 2005, an inflammatory lung disease, but his publicist said the pneumonia was not related to that disease. People magazine reported that Mac had started taking a prescription that suppressed his immune system, which may have contributed to him contracting pneumonia.
“He opened his eyes on his own and looked at [his wife] Rhonda,” Mac’s sister-in-law Mary Ann Grossett told People of the performer’s final hours. “She called his name, and he opened his eyes and nodded to her. She smiled at him and told him, ‘Don’t leave me.’ … He shrugged his shoulders, and she said that’s when she knew he was tired. He signaled to her that his body was tired.”
Mac’s daughter, Je’niece Childress, 30, told The Associated Press that she and her mom had expected Mac to recover from the pneumonia, but they were ready for the worst. “I think he will always be remembered as one of the original kings of comedy,” Childress said. “I think what made him so special to people was that even though he was a celebrity, he just seemed so down to earth and so much like a part of your family.
“He was a hard man, and he made no apologies for that,” Childress added. “When it came to me and my mother and my daughter, he was the softest.”
Bernie Mac’s stand up career led him to appear in the film The Original Kings of Comedy, that brought awareness to the next generation of great African-American comedians. He was also part of the Ocean’s ensemble as the ex-con blackjack dealer starring alongside Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and George Clooney. Clooney said of Mac’s passing, “The world just got a little less funny.”
Bernie Mac received the Peabody Award for his television sitcom The Bernie Mac Show, which also got Golden Globe and Emmy Nominations.
He commented to late-night talk show host David Letterman that he planned to retire soon because he wanted to enjoy his life.
Mac had four projects in post-production, including “Old Dogs” with John Travolta and “Soul Men,” which featured Isaac Hayes, who also died over the weekend.
The service will be held at the House of Hope, and his family is asking that donations be made in his honor to the Bernie Mac Foundation for Sarcoidosis.
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