Saturday, August 9, 2008

BREAKING NEWS: Comedian Bernie Mac Dies, Age 50

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Comedian Bernie Mac has died at the age of 50 after an extended bout with pneumonia, according to sources with AllHipHop.com.



Mac was in Northwestern Memorial hospital when he died on Saturday morning. No official cause of death has been announced by his family.


After rumors of his death, his condition seemed to improve. Mac’s publicist stated that he was “responding well to treatment” and that he expected to leave the Chicago-area facility in a few weeks.



The family has reportedly convened at the Mac household.



He passed away at approximately 5:45 am on Saturday, according to sources.



“Bernie Mac will not only be missed by his family members and close friends, he will also be missed by the thousands of people he touch through his laughter. Please keep his family in your prayers,” said Kendra G, a Chicago bred radio host that now resides in Philadelphia.


Mac also lived with sarcoidosis, an immune system disorder that results in swollen, inflamed lymph nodes, causes ulcers on the skin and also makes breathing difficult.



Representatives for Bernie Mac said previously that he was not hospitalized for complications associated with sarcoidosis.



"I've had sarcoidosis since 1983, and it has not altered or limited my lifestyle. No one knows where sarcoidosis comes from or where it starts, and there's no known cause for this condition that effects primarily minorities," Mac said in 2005.



Bernie Mac will be remembered for his brash, but frank comedic style that was a staple in the Black community. His on-stage musings quickly went mainstream through his television sitcom, “The Bernie Mac Show” and a storied music career.





Mac appeared in movies like “Who's the Man?” (1993), “House Party 3” (1994) and “The Walking Dead” (1995), Spike Lee’s Get on the Bus (1996) and 1999’s “Life” with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence.



The movie of “Ocean's Eleven” (2001) put him in a movie that catered to middle America.



Bernie Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCollough in Chicago in 1957. He was reared in a rough neighborhood with a large family that would eventually be the backbone to his comic routine. His professional career started in 1977, when he was 19, and he refused to alter his style to accommodate critics.

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