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RIP Bernie Mac

(Associated Press - Frazier Moore) Bernie Mac blended style, authority and a touch of self-aware bluster to make audiences laugh as well as connect with him. For Mac, who died Saturday at age 50, it was a winning mix, delivering him from a poor childhood to stardom as a standup comedian, in films including the casino heist caper "Ocean's Eleven" and his acclaimed sitcom "The Bernie Mac Show."


Though his comedy drew on tough experiences as a black man, he had mainstream appeal — befitting inspiration he found in a wide range of humorists: Harpo Marx as well as Moms Mabley; squeaky-clean Red Skelton, but also the raw Redd Foxx.


Mac died Saturday 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.


"The world just got a little less funny," said "Oceans" co-star George Clooney.


Don Cheadle, another member of the "Oceans" gang, concurred: "This is a very sad day for many of us who knew and loved Bernie. He brought so much joy to so many. He will be missed, but heaven just got funnier."


Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.


Mac worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago's South Side. He began doing standup as a child, telling jokes for spare change on subways, 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 standup comedy stars to a wider audience.


"The majority of his core fan base will remember that when they paid their money to see Bernie Mac ... he gave them their money's worth," Steve Harvey, one of his co-stars in "Original Kings," told CNN on Saturday.


Mac went on to star in the hugely popular "Ocean's Eleven" franchise with Brad Pitt and George Clooney, playing a gaming-table dealer who was in on the heist. Carl Reiner, who also appeared in the "Ocean's" films, said Saturday he was "in utter shock" because he thought Mac's health was improving.


"He was just so alive," Reiner said. "I can't believe he's gone."


Mac and Ashton Kutcher topped the box office in 2005's "Guess Who," a comedy remake of the classic Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn drama "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" Mac played the dad who's shocked that his daughter is marrying a white man.


Mac also had starring roles in "Bad Santa," "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and "Transformers."


But his career and comic identity were forged in television.


In the late 1990s, he had a recurring role in "Moesha," the UPN network comedy starring pop star Brandy. The critical and popular acclaim came after he landed his own Fox television series "The Bernie Mac Show," about a child-averse couple who suddenly are saddled with three children.


Mac mined laughs from the universal frustrations of parenting, often breaking the "fourth wall" to address the camera throughout the series that aired from 2001 to 2006. "C'mon, America," implored Mac, in character as the put-upon dad. "When I say I wanna kill those kids, YOU know what I mean."


The series won a Peabody Award in 2002, and Mac was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy. In real life, he was "the king of his household" — very much like his character on that series, his daughter, Je'niece Childress, told The Associated Press on Saturday.


"But television handcuffs you, man," he said in a 2001 Associated Press interview before the show had premiered. "Now everyone telling me what I CAN'T do, what I CAN say, what I SHOULD do, and asking, `Are blacks gonna be mad at you? Are whites gonna accept you?'"


He also was nominated for a Grammy award for best comedy album in 2001 along with his "The Original Kings of Comedy" co-stars Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric The Entertainer.


Chicago music producer Carolyn Albritton said she was Bernie Mac's first manager, having met him in 1991 at Chicago's Cotton Club where she hosted an open-mike night. He was an immediate hit, Albritton said Saturday, and he asked her to help guide his career.


"From very early on I thought he was destined for success," Albritton said. "He never lost track of where he came from, and he'd often use real life experiences, his family, his friends, in his routine. After he made it, he stayed a very humble man. His family was the most important thing in the world to him."


In 2007, Mac told David Letterman on CBS' "Late Show" that he planned to retire soon.


Associated Press writers F.N. D'Alessio, Daniel J. Yovich, Caryn Rousseau and Carla K. Johnson in Chicago contributed to this report.



Q & A with
Johnny Watson

Earlier this year, Johnny Watson was selected as one of ComedyNJ.com's top 10 Up-and-Coming Comics. He recently took a few moments to answer some question for us. For more info on Johnny, visit www.johnnywatson.net.


1. How did you first get involved in comedy?

I thought about comedy at different times in my life. But when i finally decided to do it, I mean in a way where I was going to try and stick with it, was in California. I was working at Medieval Iimes and there are so many entertainers who work there that the energy was infectious. I just started doing open mics and had some good luck so I just kept going and started to meet people who really encouraged me so that's how I got involved.

2. Who were your comedic influences?

That's a hard one because the comedians I like are nothing like how I do it. I like Seinfeld, Degeneres - that style. But my style is more high energy. I would say Chris Rock, Brian Regan; I'm a big fan of Bill Burr. But influence wise I feel I'm influenced by many.  I try to see what they are doing not only style and material wise but also business wise.

3. What was your first time onstage like?

Crazy! I was this over the top filthy New Jersey guy in California. It was a lot of fun to shock everyone; I actually got banned from the club that night. The good thing was I really knew I wanted to do this. I knew this was for me and finally after all the years of basically floating through life I had something I was sure of.

4. Where do you get your material from?

Family, I would say especially now that I'm really starting to dive into that. I am having a lot of fun with that and now it's really from a personal point of view rather than a completely observational point of view. Actually, I try to make the observational-style more personal, if you can follow that.

5. Do you have a favorite NJ venue?

Not really; I love performing in all parts of Jersey.  We're an interesting bunch of people. It's amazing how the state top to bottom is 3 hours long, but really half the state doesn't like the other half. Once you get to the South Jersey area, they can't stand North Jersey. I never could figure that out; I mean the rest of the country hates us as a whole, and we hate half of ourself. Go figure - that's what makes Jersey so great and unique.

6. What is your favorite part of performing stand-up?

I do love it all but the performing part is great when its going well. When it's not, then my favorite part is getting off the stage.

7. Do you have any advice for someone who might be considering trying stand-up?

Find a mentor who is in the business that can guide you along. It's a real tough thing being a standup comic. Most people dont respect it because everyone in the world has made somebody laugh so they think they could do what your doing. They don't know how hard it really is... Write clean material so you can work anywhere... Have fun... That's the hardest part; when your having fun the audience is having fun... Work, work, work...