The Amazing Life and Shocking Death of Beloved Comedian Bernie Mac, Who Would Have Turned 68 Gillian TellingOctober 7, 2025 at 2:38 AM 0 L.
- - The Amazing Life and Shocking Death of Beloved Comedian Bernie Mac, Who Would Have Turned 68
Gillian TellingOctober 7, 2025 at 2:38 AM
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Bernie Mac at InStyle Magazine's Fourth Annual Post-Golden Globes Party in 2004
Bernie Mac, who died at age 50 of complications from pneumonia, would have been 68 on Oct. 5
His wife of 30 years says that despite becoming a big star in his 30s, he always kept his past close to his heart
He overcame tragedy as a child, after losing both his parents and his brother
In August of 2008, comedian and actor Bernie Mac had recently wrapped filming his final movie Soul Man, was enjoying a career post The Bernie Mac Show, and was loving life with his wife of 30 years, Rhonda McCullough. So when he went into the hospital on July 19, 2008, saying he was having difficulty breathing, Rhonda told PEOPLE that at the time, she wasn't worried.
"I thought it would be a week and he'd be home," Rhonda said, even though Mac had long suffered from sarcoidosis, a chronic condition that can cause inflammation of the lungs.
But on August 9, the raspy-voiced comedian was pronounced dead from complications of pneumonia. At just 50, his death stunned loved ones and Hollywood friends alike.
"I lament the loss of a ferociously funny and hardcore family man," pal Brad Pitt, who starred with Mac in 2001's casino film Ocean's Eleven and its two sequels told PEOPLE.
Drew Barrymore, who starred with Mac on Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, said, "I used to call him the Ambassador of Goodwill because everybody liked him and he was kind to everyone."
Upon hearing the sad news, George Clooney said, "The world just got a little less funny. He will be missed dearly."
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Bernie Mac with wife Rhonda (right), daughter Je'Niece in 2004Finding Laughter Through the Pain
Born Bernard McCoullough on Oct. 5, 1957, Bernie Mac lived a difficult childhood. He was raised in the south side of Chicago by his mom, a single mother, and his grandmother before moving to Tampa, Florida. When he was a sophomore in high school, his mother died of cancer. His older brother and father also died shortly thereafter.
Mac found an outlet in comedy and was so confident about his future that he told his future wife Rhonda, "Girl, you better come on board this train because I'm going to be rich," when they began dating during his senior year at Chicago's Vocational Career Academy.
The couple wed in 1977, when they both were 19, and had their only daughter, Je'Niece, a year later.
A Long Road to Success
Despite believing in his ability to be funny, success was a long time coming for Bernie Mac, who held odd jobs—including driving a bus and working for Wonder Bread—before hitting it big at 32, when he won a national stand-up comedy search that led to a spot on HBO's Def Comedy Jam.
By 2000, he had cemented a national following by touring with fellow comics Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley as part of The Original Kings of Comedy, who were later celebrated in a film by Spike Lee.
"The highlight of everybody's night was waiting to see what Bernie wore, because Bernie wore colors," Hughley told PEOPLE after his death. "He lived out loud. He was loud onstage and his colors were loud, but he was the most humble, quiet dude."
Onstage, Mac reveled in raunch — regaling audiences with stories of his prowess in the bedroom. "His comedy was raw, it was very real," said FOX television executive Preston Beckman in 2008. But on The Bernie Mac Show, he showed a softer side, playing a gruff but devoted uncle who stepped in to become a father after his sister died. "It was like the anti-Cosby show," says Beckman. "He was a tough-love dad." The role brought Mac mainstream success and roles in films from the Ocean's series to Transformers.
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Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Bernie Mack (l. to r.), stars of the movie "The Original Kings Of Comedy," get together at Planet HollywoodRemember the Man She Loved
A week after her husband and best friend of 30 years died, Rhonda McCullough told PEOPLE at the time that she was in her bedroom when she caught the whiff of a familiar scent.
"I could smell his cologne," she recalls. "I inhaled and I said, 'You're here. You're here.' I was turning around, and I said, 'Hey, Bernard.' It stayed with me for about five minutes; I was very comforted."She said that to the world he was Bernie Mac, a sharply dressed and sharp-tongued Chicago stand-up, but to Rhonda, he was forever Bernard, a doting father and husband who never forgot where he came from. "I don't always feel him," says Rhonda, who lives in the suburban Chicago home the couple shared for six years. "But I think he comes when I really need him."When Mac died on August 9, 2008, after a second bout with pneumonia, Rhonda recalled her last moments with her beloved husband.
"He looked in my eyes, and they just looked so sad to me; I think he knew," she recalls. "Somewhere in the spiritual realm, he kind of knew what was going on. Once he passed away, they let us come in, and he just looked so peaceful, so calm."On Oct. 28, 2008, Rhonda attended her husband's final premiere in New York City with Je'Niece and other family members.
"We cried," she says. "Just seeing him and hearing him and knowing we're not going to see him again." Those who worked on Soul Men marked the loss of another cast member, Isaac Hayes, who died on Aug. 10 of a stroke. For costar Samuel L. Jackson, the film—about two aging soul musicians who reunite for a last tour—is a tribute to both men. "Bernie was a show-must-go-on kind of guy," says Jackson
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Bernie MacFuture Plans Cut Short
In 2007, Mac told David Letterman on the Late Show that he intended to retire from standup comedy.
"It's going to be 30 years for me, and I'm going to call it," said Mac. "I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977."
The years of hard work, Mac says, caused him to "miss out on so much, you know, and you live in all these hotels – I was on the road 47 weeks out of the year." As the comedian told Letterman, "I want to enjoy my life a little bit."
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Dee Dee Davis, Bernie Mac The Bernie Mac Show - 2001
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