Bernie Mac was born in Chicago, Bernard Jeffrey McCollough. He grew up in Chicago, in a rougher neighborhood than most others, with a large family living under one roof. This situation provided him with a great insight into his comedy, as his family, and the situations surrounding them would be what dominated his comedy. Mac worked in the Regal Theater, and performed in Chicago parks in his younger days. He became a professional comedian in 1977, at the age of 19. He refused to change his image for Television and films, and therefore was not very well known for most of the eighties.
Meanwhile, he created a bit of a stir in July 2008 when he made a surprise appearance at a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. After joking about menopause, infidelity and promiscuity – with the liberal use of blue language, of course – Mac was rebuked by Obama’s campaign for his “inappropriate” comments. Then a month later, Mac was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia in his native Chicago. On Aug. 9, 2008, Mac died from complications due to his pneumonia, though it was believed to be unrelated to sarcoidosis.
His death at just 50 years old shocked and saddened his fans, as well as those not as familiar with his comedy career but who knew him as a constant presence on the big and small screen. Said “Oceans” co-star George Clooney, “The world just got a little less funny.” Three months after his sudden death, Mac was billed for two of his final films, voicing Zuba in the animated sequel, “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” (2008), and starring alongside Samuel L. Jackson in “Soul Men” (2008), a buddy road comedy about two former members of a soul band who begrudgingly travel together across the country to attend the funeral of a former band mate.