Farewell, Bernie Mac

                           

TWIT is very sad to report that Bernie Mac has died.  He died this morning from complications due to pneumonia. The comedian and and actor was only 50 years old. He suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung diesease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but had said the disease went into remission in 2005.  He was hospitalized recently for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.

Bernie Mac worked hard to overcome a childhood in poverty, growing up in Chicago's South Side.  He began doing standup comedy as a child, and becamse one of "The Original Kings of Comedy" in the 2000 documentary of the same name that brought a new generation of black standup comedy stars to a wider audience.  He appeared in the popular "Oceans Eleven" movies, and starred in the box office hit "Guess Who" - the comedy remake of "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner". Bernie's career highpoint was with his Fox television series, "The Bernie Mac Show" which aired more than 100 episodes from 2001 to 2006. The show was about a man's adventures raising this sister's three children. Mac won the prestigious Peabody Award in 2002 for the show. 

In his 2004 memoir, "Maybe You Never Cry Again," Mac wrote about having a poor childhood - eating bologna for dinner - and a strict, non-nonsense upbringing. His mother died of cancer when he was only 16, and Mac said she was a support for him and told him he would surprise everyone when he grew up.  He wrote "She believed in my long before I believed."

Bernie Mac was one of my favorite comedians. I practically wore out the DVD set of the first season of "The Bernie Mac Show."  One of his frequently used lines from the show "Pray fuh me, America" became one of my favorite and often used terms.  One of the reasons I loved the show was because his character would admit and apologize (although sometimes reluctantly) to his nephew and neices if he screwed up.

In an interview, Bernie Mac told reporters "I came from a place where there wasn't a lot of joy.  I decided to try to make other people laugh when there wasn't a lot of things to laugh about."  And that you did, Bernie Mac; that you did.   You will be missed, Bernie Mac, but your comedy will live on forever. 

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