UPDATE 8/10: Here’s a link to the People magazine article. I found this one to be the most personal and touching so far since they interviewed Bernie’s wife and daughter on the same night he died.
Bernie Mac’s Death: What Happened?
I nearly cried reading the play by play of his final hours, so it’s definitely worth reading.
Mary Ann Grossett says that the night before Mac died, “He struggled for his life. He couldn’t breathe.
“He opened his eyes on his own and looked at Rhonda. She called his name, and he opened his eyes and nodded to her. She smiled at him and told him, ‘Don’t leave me … ‘I’m waiting for you to come back.’ He shrugged his shoulders, and she said that’s when she knew he was tired. He signaled to her that his body was tired.” …
…”They tried to resuscitate him two times. One time he came back for about an hour. Then he went into cardiac arrest the second time.”…
…”He had sarcoidosis, but it was in remission,” she says. “But because he had it, his immune system was compromised. He had an infection … He was on a new medication that suppresses the immune system, and that’s where the pneumonia came from.”…
…Mac’s funeral is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 15, at an undisclosed location. The family requests that donations be made to the Bernie Mac Foundation for Sarcoidosis, 40 E. Ninth St., Suite 601, Chicago IL 60605.
Original Blog Post (below)…
I just turned my phone on and read a text message from one of my sisters about Bernie Mac passing away. So random, so shocking. I don’t have much time to write about it now, but I wanted to quickly get some kind of post up here about it.
Please comment with your reactions, links to more info, and good bye messages.
Life is so unpredictable. Let this be a reminder to live each day as if it were your last.
Here’s a quick excerpt from the Associated Press. I do think I’ve seen a couple of headlines about him being in the hospital with pneumonia, but I had no idea it had or could turn life threatening.
CHICAGO (AP) — 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,” died Saturday at age 50.
“Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning 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.
Read the entire press release here <– UPDATE May 11, 2011: link no longer active but adding the Associated Press video regarding Bernie Mac’s passing below.
aw says
I thought the article, linked to by almost all news outlets, about Bernie Mac’s passing was horribly written. The first couple of paragraphs talking about his death are fine, but immediate after that they link Bernie Mac to politics and his joke at a recent Obama event. For heaven’s sake! Bernie Mac’s life is/was so much more than the one joke at the Obama event. Bernie Mac has been doing work for A LONG TIME! I think it’s yet another horrific example of the media trying to make all news stories some sort of political tabloid story. I know that the Black community and those who were influenced by Mac’s work will understand. But shame on you MSM!
SolidMastery says
Oh man,
I saw the Bernie Mac – Charlie Rose interview this morning. That interview was intriguing. He is one of those comedians that is able to be vulnerable, sagacious, and offensively over the top. However, his so-called over the top offensive comedy was highly reasoned and responsible. Bernie performed his brand of comedy so effortlessly that the thoughtfulness behind its structure was completely masked. He became that crazy street-wise uncle. You would be a fool to not appreciate the authenticity of his work. Just watch an episode of the Bernie Mac show and prove me wrong.
aw says
I’m still missing bernie 🙁
Justin says
I am crying while I type this. It’s over two years since he passed away but I just happened across the Bernie Mac Show and it was the episode where the kids are all hung up on not sinning and the sin cup not being clean. The little girl is so adorable there just aren’t words. But anyway it reminded me that Bernie was gone and I am around the same age as Bernie so it just hit me so hard the reality of how short life is and how quickly we are gone. All the posturing, all the material gathering, all the bling showing off, none of that amounts to anything. It’s all about how we treat one another with love.
ifelicious says
Justin- the final words in your comment are so true. thank you so much for posting. with some exceptions, i think as we get older, we become more aware that life ends. it gives me a chill when someone close to my age passes on. Bernie Mac was such a big talent and is definitely gone way too soon. thanks for breathing some new life, so to speak, into this blog post with your comment.