Bernie Mac, an actor and comedian who starred in the "Ocean's Eleven" film franchise and "The Bernie Mac Show," a rare network comedy to feature an African American in a leading role, died Saturday. He was 50.
Mac died from complications related to pneumonia in a Chicago-area hospital, announced his publicist, Danica Smith.
The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation in tissue, most often the lungs. The pneumonia was unrelated to the disease, Smith said.
George Clooney, Mac's costar in the three "Ocean's" movies, said in a statement, "The world just got a little less funny. He will be dearly missed."
Comedian Martin Lawrence, who worked with Mac on the 1999 comedy film "Life," told The Times, "Words can't express the absolute devastation I am feeling over the loss of Bernie, a comic genius, a great man and someone I am honored to have called my friend."
From 2001 to 2006, Mac held court in "The Bernie Mac Show," a sitcom loosely based on his life. He was a politically incorrect parent raising his troubled sister's three children in a show with a definite edge that was softened by Mac's warmth and loving sensibility.
Times television critic Howard Rosenberg noted when the show debuted in 2001 that it was "bold, creative and ferociously witty." He wrote that Mac was "essentially lovable" and said the way his old-school parenting clashed with the kids was "entertaining and widely applicable."
"The Bernie Mac Show" initially looked like a major hit for Fox. When the show was recognized with a Peabody Award early in its five-season run, judges praised it for transcending "race and class while lifting viewers with laughter, compassion -- and cool," the Associated Press reported.
The show earned an Emmy for writing for executive producer Larry Wilmore, and Mac received two Emmy nominations for acting during the sitcom's early seasons.
"He had such a deep reservoir of talent. Mac had a way of making everyone in the audience feel like they were family. He is irreplaceable," Wilmore wrote in an e-mail to The Times.
In a statement, Fox Broadcasting Co. and 20th Century Fox Television called Mac "a gifted talent whose comedy came from an authentic and highly personal place."
When ratings dropped in the second season, Mac complained that the network meddled with the series' creative direction, and Wilmore left the show in 2003. Producers complained that erratic scheduling harmed viewership. "Bernie Mac" was canceled not long after the 100th episode aired.
