[Deathwatch] Bernie Mac, actor / comedian, 50

[Deathwatch Central]

Comedian and actor Bernie Mac dies at 50

By Kyle Peterson

Comedian and actor Bernie Mac, who starred in one of U.S. TV's few
black sitcoms and appeared in the "Ocean's 11" movies, died in Chicago
on Saturday after a bout with pneumonia. He was 50.

Publicist Danica Smith confirmed the death in a statement but gave no
further details. "We ask that his family's privacy continues to be
respected," she said.

His hospitalization was announced on August 1. At the time, his
publicist said his illness was unrelated to a chronic tissue
inflammation called sarcoidosis, which had been in remission since
2005.

The Chicago-born comedian, whose real name was Bernard Jeffrey
McCullough, starred in "The Bernie Mac Show," which ran for five
seasons until 2006 and lives on in syndication.

He appeared on the big screen in films like the "Ocean's 11" trilogy,
and alongside Ashton Kutcher in the "romantic comedy "Guess Who."

With his beefy frame and bulging eyes, Mac cut an imposing figure. His
scathing comedic observations were inspired by his impoverished
childhood in Chicago and honed by years on the stand-up circuit.

"I reflect on my childhood, my young adulthood, the disappointments of
life -- the problems I brought on myself, the self-pity I went through
before I became a man," he told Playboy magazine in 2003.

ONE OF THE "KINGS OF COMEDY"

Mac achieved national prominence after joining the Kings of Comedy
stand-up tour in 1997 with Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric the
Entertainer. Tapping into an underserved market of middle-class blacks,
the dapper quartet sold out arenas across the country during their
annual treks.

In 2000, director Spike Lee shot a hugely profitable documentary about
the tour.

The following year, "The Bernie Mac Show" debuted on Fox, created by
Larry Wilmore and drawing heavily on Mac's personal life. Mac played a
married stand-up comedian who is reluctantly thrust into parenthood
when he takes custody of his sister's three children after she enters
rehab.

Mac's character often turned to the camera, addressing "America" with
such observations as "I hate my loved ones. They make me sick," or, "I
love my wife, but I hate her (golf) game."

He received two Emmy nominations for his role. While many contemporary
TV dads get cheap laughs by playing clueless characters, Mac
deliberately played a level-headed family man not afraid to exert his
authority.

Mac was born in Chicago on October 3, 1957, and raised in a
rat-infested tenement on the city's South Side. His mother died when he
was 15, and his father -- whom he met only a dozen times -- three years
later. He credited his grandmother for keeping him grounded.

Married for more than 30 years, Mac largely eschewed the Hollywood
lifestyle, choosing to live a simple life in Chicago playing golf and
collecting guns.

He is survived by his wife, a daughter and a granddaughter.

(Additional reporting by Dean Goodman)

Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary