http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-obit-berniemac-ch,0,3827683.storyChicago mourns Bernie Mac, hometown guy made good
By DANIEL J. YOVICH | Associated Press Writer
4:41 PM CDT, August 9, 2008
CHICAGO - It's a celebration of family and pride, of education and success, but some attending Chicago's Bud Billiken parade said they were left feeling numb in the wake of Bernie Mac's death.
"I knew he was sick, but someone that young, you just don't expect the worst," said Chicagoan Patrick Dennan, 48, as he watched a stream of brightly decorated floats cruise down historic Martin Luther King Drive on Saturday afternoon. "His comedy was based on real life, and I think that's what really brought him a lot of respect. He kept things real and he didn't seem to let success go to his head."
Born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago, Mac grew up on the city's South Side. His publicist said he died Saturday from complications of pneumonia. He had 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.
Johnnie Blair, the president of the Bronzeville Chamber of Commerce, met Mac in the early 1990s at a local nightclub and said he followed with interest Mac's journey on the road to comedic stardom. Blair said though Mac performed with some of the biggest names in show business, he remained true to his South Side roots.
"It's major loss to our community," Blair said. "He never forgot where he came from, and I think his comedy reflected that."
Velin Stewart, 39, said Mac's success was a "point of civic pride" for Chicagoans, and not just because of his celebrity.
"I was just in shock to wake up and hear that Bernie Mac was dead," Stewart said. "He made it big, but it didn't seem to go to his head. He could have lived anywhere in the world. But he stayed close to where he came from."
That sense of approachability, of humility, is what led Gary Crawford to introduce himself in 2005 to the comedian at a Chicago White Sox game. Crawford, 51, manages a Chicago-based Web site that benefits surviving Negro League baseball players. In 2004, Mac starred in "Mr. 3000," a movie about an aging baseball player who returns to the game to collect his 3,000th hit.
Crawford thought the two might share a commonality.
"I've seen a lot of celebrities at baseball games and Bernie wasn't like that, meaning he didn't have an entourage," Crawford said. "We talked for several minutes, baseball mostly. He was excited the White Sox seemed to be poised for a pennant run. All in all, just a very down-to-earth regular guy."
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Saturday called Mac "a favorite son."
"He never forgot that he was a kid who grew up on Chicago's South Side," Blagojevich said in a statement. "Because of his Chicago roots, we picked Bernie Mac to be the face of the state lottery -- his passion, enthusiasm and humor helped make that one of our most successful, and funniest, campaigns."
Mac drew critical and popular acclaim with his Fox television series "The Bernie Mac Show," which aired more than 100 episodes from 2001 to 2006. His film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans movie "Mo' Money" in 1992. He went on to star in the "Ocean's Eleven" franchise with Brad Pitt and George Clooney and his turn with Ashton Kutcher in 2005's "Guess Who?" -- a remake of the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn 1967 classic "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" -- topped the box office.
Through it all, Mac maintained a home in the south Chicago suburb of Frankfort.
Crawford said Mac was more than just a hometown favorite, though on the city's South Side, the common theme among those reminiscing about Mac was that he was a local guy who made good.
"He was a hometown favorite," said Kenton Williams. "He was from Chicago. And he was good for black men. It's sad that he died so young. I'm 39, and 50, that's a young age."
Sun Aug 10, 2008 6:27 am
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