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Actor and comedian Bernie Mac has died in a Chicago-area hospital from complications due to pneumonia. He was 50.
The Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated performer had suffered from sarcoidosis, which is an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the organs of afflicted persons.
"Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital," Danica Smith, his publicist, said Saturday in a statement from Los Angeles.
Smith said no other details about Mac's death were available.
Mac had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He had recently been hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia.
Mac's big-screen credits include "Ocean's Eleven," "Bad Santa," "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and "Transformers."
He had his own series on Fox in the U.S. "The Bernie Mac Show" had more than 100 episodes broadcast between 2001 and 2006. It earned the comedian critical and popular recognition.
Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He had told interviewers entertaining came naturally to him.
"Wherever I am, I have to play," Mac said in 2002. "I have to put on a good show."
Mac told CBS "Late Show" host David Letterman in 2007 that he planned to retire soon.
"I'm going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit," he said. "I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977."
Mac recently became embroiled in controversy when he made a surprise appearance at an event for Barack Obama, the U.S. Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee. He ended his act with what some considered off-colour remarks and received a rebuke from the Obama campaign.
Despite some controversies, Mac was considered one of the great comedic performers in Hollywood. He was part of "The Original Kings of Comedy," a 2000 documentary about black standup comedy stars.
"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," comedian Steve Harvey told CNN on Saturday.
