Matinee Classics - Bernie Mac Biography & Filmography

Bernie Mac ACTOR

PHOTOS

BERNIE MAC BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Bernie Mac was born on October 5th, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois with the birth name Bernard Jeffrey McCullough. He was raised by his mother Mary who passed away when he was only sixteen years old from breast cancer. He studied at Chicago Vocational Career Academy and later relocated to Florida and worked various jobs to support himself.

He relocated later again back to Chicago and began working as a stand up comedian. At the age of thirty two, he won the Miller Lite Comedy Search and was given a chance to perform on HBO's, "Def Comedy Jam". It was this performance that helped his career take off.

Soon he was also working in the film industry appearing on such features as, "House Party 3" (1994), "Friday" (1994), "The Players Club" (1998) and "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) starring alongside of some very famous actors including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia just to name a few.

In addition to working in films he also added numerous television appearances to his resume such as, "Charlie's Angels", "The Wayans Bros", "Moesha" and "The Bernie Mac Show" (2001-2006), where he was able to hold onto his comedic roots and portray a fictional version of himself. The show was highly successful and many of the plots that took place on each episode, mirrored actual events in his real life. The show won numerous awards such as an Emmy for Outstanding Writing, a Peabody Award for excellence in Broadcasting and his character was ranked #47 in TV Guide's list of the, "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Times".

More recent film roles include, "Ocean's Twelve" (2004), "Pride" (2007), "Ocean's Thirteen" (2007), "Transformers" (2007), "Soul Men" (2008) and "Old Dogs" (2009), which was released after he passed away from complications from pneumonia on August 9th, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois due to an illness he had been diagnosed with called, sarcoidosis. His remains were cremated and his ashes were interred at the Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery in Homewood, Illinois. He was survived by his only wife, Rhonda McCullough whom he wed in 1977 and their one daughter, Je"Niece Childress.