Bernie Mac

Bernard Jeffrey McCullough (October 5, 1957 – August 9, 2008[1]), better known by his stage name Bernie Mac, was an American comedian, actor, and voice actor. Born and raised on Chicago's South Side, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined fellow comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D. L. Hughley in the film 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 title character of Mr. 3000. He was the star of his eponymous show, which ran from 2001 through 2006, earning him two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Mac's 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, Old Dogs, and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.
== Early life and education ==
Born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in Chicago, Illinois,[2] Mac was the second child of Mary McCullough and Jeffery Harrison.[3] Mac was raised by his single mother (who died of cancer when he was sixteen years old) and his grandparents on the city's south side.[4] Mac began his high school career at Chicago Vocational High School. During 1973, Mac moved to Tampa, Florida to attend Jesuit High School after the death of his mother during his sophomore year.[5] Mac later returned to Chicago and graduated from Chicago Vocational in 1975.[6] Mac married his high school sweetheart Rhonda Gore on September 17, 1977 and together they had a daughter Ja'Niece Childress (née McCollough) born in 1978. During his 20s through his early 30s, Mac worked in a variety of jobs, including janitor, coach, professional mover, cook, bus driver, Sears Delivery man, furniture mover and a UPS agent while doing comedy on the weekends at funerals, clubs, and parties.[5]
== 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; after Martin Lawrence was unable to calm an increasingly hostile crowd, Mac went onstage and famously said, "I ain't scared o' you mothafuckas", telling the audience that he "didn't come here for no foolishness". Mac's comedy and fearlessness on stage cemented his reputation with fans and colleagues. Mac 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 was selectively chosen to play the title role, The Wiz in the 1995 Apollo Revival of The Wiz. 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 Angelssequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. In 2003 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 Transformersas 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 in the 2009 Disney filmOld Dogs which was released a year after his death. He starred alongside John Travolta and Robin Williams in that film.
In 2001 the Fox network gave Mac his own television 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 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 left a conclusion for the series, and no ending to the storyline of Bernie and Wanda trying to adopt a baby which had been abandoned a few episodes earlier. Among other awards, the show won an Emmy[7] for "Outstanding Writing", the Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting, and the Humanitas Prize for television writing that promotes human dignity.[8] His character on The Bernie Mac Show was ranked #47 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time".[9]
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."[10]
== Health problems and death ==
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. Sarcoidosis frequently attacked his lungs.[11] 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 subsequently died during the early morning hours on August 9, from complications of pneumonia. He was 50 years old. Mac's public funeral was held a week after his death at the House of Hope Church with nearly 7,000 people in attendance.[12] 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.
=== 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 on the day of Mac's death, was also dedicated to his memory.[11] 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.
== Legacy ==
During Steve Harvey's television show which aired November 14, 2016, Harvey read a proclamation from Chicago's Mayor Rahm Emanuel proclaiming November 14 as "Bernie Mac Day".[13] Steve Harvey's guests included Bernie's wife Rhonda, their daughter Je'Niece, granddaughter Jasmine, and Bernie's The Original Kings of Comedy co-stars D. L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Guy Torry (who was the original host at the beginning of tour). Mike Epps, appearing via satellite, along with the principal of Bernie and Rhonda's alma mater Chicago Vocational High School (CVS), revealed and unveiled the renaming of CVS Auditorium to the "Bernie Mac Auditorium".[14] On February 14, 2017, Rolling Stone named Bernie Mac #41 of the 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time.[15]
== Filmography ==
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1978	Ice Castles 	Himself 	Spectator
1992	Mo' Money 	Club doorman 	Cameo
1993	Who's the Man? 	G-George 	
1994	House Party 3 	Uncle Vester 	
1994	Above the Rim 	Flip 	
1995	The Walking Dead 	Ray 	
1995	Friday 	Pastor Clever 	
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	The Players Club 	Dollar Bill 	
1999	Life 	Jangle Leg 	
2000	The Original Kings of Comedy 	Himself 	Documentary
2001	What's the Worst That Could Happen? 	Uncle Jack 	
2001	Ocean's Eleven 	Frank Catton 	
2003	Head of State 	Mitch Gilliam 	
2003	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle 	Jimmy Bosley 	
2003	Bad Santa 	Gin Slagel 	
2004	Mr. 3000 	Stan Ross 	
2004	Ocean's Twelve 	Frank Catton 	
2005	Guess Who 	Percy Jones 	
2005	Lil' Pimp 	Fruit Juice 	Voice
2007	Pride 	Elston 	
2007	Ocean's Thirteen 	Frank Catton 	
2007	Transformers 	Bobby Bolivia 	Cameo
2008	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa 	Zuba (voice) 	Posthumous release
2008	Soul Men 	Floyd Henderson 	Posthumous release
2009	Old Dogs 	Jimmy Lunchbox 	Posthumous release
 	 	 	Posthumous release
Television
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1996–99	Moesha 	Uncle Bernie 	9 episodes
1997 	The Wayans Bros. 	Shank 	1 episode
2001–06	The Bernie Mac Show 	Bernie McCullough	104 episodes
2003 	King of the Hill 	Mack 	Voice, 1 episode
2004 	Where will my feet take me today?	Phil Snowman 	Voice 16 episodes
== 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	Emmy Award 	Nominated	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	Golden Globe Award 	Nominated	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	NAACP Image Awards 	Won 	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series 	The Bernie Mac Show
2004	NAACP Image Awards 	Nominated	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture 	Head of State
2004	NAACP Image Awards 	Won 	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series 	The Bernie Mac Show
2005	NAACP Image Awards 	Won 	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series 	The Bernie Mac Show
2006	NAACP Image Awards 	Won 	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series 	The Bernie Mac Show
2007	NAACP Image Awards 	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	Satellite Award 	Won 	Best Performance by an Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical 	The Bernie Mac Show
2005	Satellite Award 	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
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Category:People With Tan Skin And Black Hair
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