Bernie Mac, the actor and comedian who teamed up in the casino heist caper Ocean's Eleven and gained a prestigious Peabody Award for his sitcom The Bernie Mac Show, has died aged 50.
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"Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away ... from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital," his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles.
She said no other details were available and asked that his family's privacy be respected.
The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but the condition went into remission in 2005. He was recently hospitalised and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.
Recently, Mac's brand of comedy caught him flack when he was heckled during a surprise appearance at a July fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama.
Toward the end of a 10-minute stand-up routine, Mac joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language. The performance earned him a rebuke from Obama's campaign.
But despite controversy or difficulties, in his words, Mac was always a performer. "Wherever I am, I have to play," he said in 2002. "I have to put on a good show."
Mac worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago's South Side. He began doing stand-up as a child, and his film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans comedy Mo' Money in 1992. In 1996, he appeared in the Spike Lee drama Get On The Bus.
He was one of The Original Kings of Comedy in the 2000 documentary of that title that brought a new generation of black stand-up comedy stars to a wider audience.
Mac went on to star in the hugely popular Ocean's Eleven franchise with Brad Pitt and George Clooney. And his turn with Ashton Kutcher in 2005's Guess Who topped the box office. Mac also had starring roles in Bad Santa, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Transformers.
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