Bernie Mac

Bernie Mac married Rhonda back in 1977 and the couple had a child together.

He suffered from Sarcoidosis, an ailment which causes inflammation in tissues. He died of cardiac arrest on 9 August 2008 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago

The ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine had recently mentioned Bernie Mac’s name in their list of ’50 Best Stand-Up Comics Of All Time’.

Bernie Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in Chicago, Illinois on October 5, 1957. His mother’s name was Mary and his father’s name is not known.

He pursued his education from the ‘Chicago Vocational Career Academy’ and later shifted base to Florida and continued his studies at the ‘Jesuit High School’, in Tampa.

His first formal tryst with stand-up comedy was at the tender age of eight, at a church congregation. He imitated his grandparents at the event and left the crowd in splits.

His mother, father, brother and grandmother passed away when he was quite young. Bernie Mac took up several odd jobs to make ends meet.

He found his true calling in stand-up comedy and decided to become a comedian for a living. He was greatly influenced by the legendary trio of The Three stooges and other comedians, such as Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx. Initially, he cracked jokes at subways and parks in exchange for money, but soon became associated with the famous ‘Regal Theatre’ in Chicago.

Bernie Mac’s life changed completely after he participated in the ‘Miller Lite Comedy Search’ contest and won it. He gained a lot of popularity after doing a famous stand-up comedy act on ‘Def Comedy Jam’, a television series produced by the channel ‘HBO’.

He later appeared in stand-up comedy shows that featured comedians like Dionne Warwick, Redd Foxx and Natalie Cole.

After a couple of blink-and-miss roles in movies like ‘Mo’ Money’ and ‘Who’s The Man?’, Bernie Mac was offered the character of Uncle Vester in the comedy flick ‘House Party 3’, which released in 1994. He was also seen in the movie ‘Above The Rim’ in the same year.

1995 saw the release of his two other flicks, namely ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Friday’. While ‘Friday’, a comic flick, was a success, ‘The Walking Dead’ failed miserably.

During the period 1996-99, Bernie Mac appeared in various films, such as ‘How To Be A Player’, ‘Booty Call’, ‘B*A*P*S’ and ‘The Players Club’. His most noteworthy performance during this period was his portrayal of Bundini Brown in the flick ‘Don King: Only In America’.

Bernie Mac is best known for his sitcom called ‘The Bernie Mac Show’. The episodes of the television show were mostly hilarious takes on the events which took place in his life. The show was a big hit with the American television viewers and catapulted Bernie Mac to the league of best comedians in the nation. The show ran for five years, from 2001 to 2006