Bernie Mac’s Comedy Lives Forever
Bernie Mac, one of the most successful and beloved black comedians ever, passed away Saturday at age 50 from complications due to pneumonia. Complex will always remember the Chicago native for his foul mouth and absolute realness when dealing with touchy subjects like child abuse. Like many of his early fans, we first discovered Mac when he was doing stand-up on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam in the early ’90s.
Through the rest of the decade, there was hardly a noteworthy “urban” or “hip-hop” comedy that he didn’t make a cameo in—from Mo’ Money and Who’s the Man? to Friday and Booty Call. A more mainstream audience discovered Mac in his 2001 Fox sitcom The Bernie Mac Show, as well as in theatrical gems like Ocean’s Eleven and Bad Santa. Reminisce over some of his most memorable clips below.
