Bernie Mac

Mac started as a stand-up comedian in Chicago's Cotton Club. He won the Miller Lite Comedy Search at the age of 32, at which point his popularity as a comedian began to grow. A performance on HBO's Def Comedy Jam thrust him into the spotlight. He opened for Dionne Warwick, Redd Foxx and Natalie Cole. He also had a short-lived talk show on HBO titled Midnight Mac. Later, Mac also began acting in minor roles, and received his big break as Pastor Clever in Ice Cube's 1995 film Friday. Following that role, Mac would also work in many other movies, and some television appearances, including Booty Call, How to Be a Player, Life and What's the Worst That Could Happen?. Mac was one of the few African American comedic actors to be able to break out of the traditional "black comedy" genre, having roles in the 2001 remake of Ocean's Eleven and becoming the new Bosley for the Charlie's Angels sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. In 2003 he also turned in an impressive performance in a small but important role as Gin "The Store Dick" in Bad Santa. He also starred in Guess Who?, a comedic remake of the film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?.

In 1997, Mac continued with his stand-up comedy roots, touring the country as one of "The Kings of Comedy", along with Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley. The comedy act was filmed by Spike Lee and was included later in the movie The Original Kings of Comedy.

In 2001, Fox gave Mac his own sitcom called The Bernie Mac Show. The show is based on his own life, in which he suddenly becomes custodian over his sister's three children. It has been a success in part because it allows Mac to stay true to his stand-up comedy roots, breaking the fourth wall to communicate his thoughts to the audience. The show contains many parodies of events in Bernie's actual life. The show was not renewed after the 2006 season. Viewers were left without a conclusion for the series, and no ending to the storyline where Bernie and Wanda were trying to have a baby. His character on The Bernie Mac Show was ranked #47 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue].

In 2004, Mac had his first starring role as a retired baseball player in the movie Mr. 3000. In the 2003 NLCS, Mac sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" at Wrigley Field with the Cubs leading the Florida Marlins in the series 3-2 and up in Game Six 3-0. Instead of saying "root, root, root for the Cubbies" Mac said, "root, root, root for the champions!" The Cubs would go on to lose the game and the series, with some fans claiming that Mac jinxed the Cubs. Mac later admitted that he has hated the Cubs his whole life, is a die-hard White Sox fan, and was seen during the 2005 World Series at US Cellular Field.

Mac is number 72 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time. On March 19, 2007 Mac told David Letterman on CBS Late Show that he will retire from his 30 year career after he finishes 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".

-Wiki

Bernie Mac passed away on August 9, 2008, from complications due to pneumonia.