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Bernie Mac Ain't Scared Of Death, Motherfucker
Posted by Seth at 2:56 AM on August 10, 2008
We interrupt your weekend to relay sad news: Comedian and star of TV and movies Bernie Mac succumbed to pneumonia early this morning at the ridiculously unfair age of 50. Mac seemed an unlikely candidate for crossover success: He never outwardly solicited an audience's love, instead playing on his cannily conceived persona of the put-upon, working-class every-African-American. Despite his imposing size, booming voice, and those angry eye flares, the comedic hook, of course, was his blustery impotence—like a latter-day Ralph Kramden who insisted on referring to himself in the third-person, but who could give a shit if we knew that deep down he had a heart of gold. (We'd suggest he should have played him in The Honeymooners instead of Cedric the Entertainer, but that thing was such a piece of shit it wasn't worthy of his talents. Motherfucker had an appointment with Clooney and Pitt, anyway.) Listen to the bit above about taking in his drug-addict sister's kids—what would become the premise of his underrated Fox sitcom. Of the youngest he says,"That two-year-old—she the motherfucker. She the ringleader. She was sent here by the Devil. She works for the Devil!" Peace, Bernie. You're gone too soon.
- Bernie Mac dies at 50 [Chicago Tribune]
- Bernie Mac- Bad Arse Kids [YouTube]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
wharfrat
Posted 3:28 AM 10/8/08
Old No. 7 will say it shoulda been Katherine Heigl but I still vote for Andy Dick.
wharfrat
Little Mintz Sunshine
Posted 3:11 AM 10/8/08
Damn. It took some mental gymnastics but I actually convinced myself that the publicist wasn't lying. And God? Can we put a moratorium on you taking the good ones for a while?
Little Mintz Sunshine
dollywould
Posted 3:38 AM 10/8/08
Damn, I really thought he'd beat this. What a shock. Sigh.
dollywould
bess marvin, girl detective
Posted 4:12 AM 10/8/08
@bess marvin, girl detective: i meant to say that dane cook in the beginning was funny. now he has turned into a big douche. i don't wish death on anyone. ok i'm being to earnest, am really too sad for snark. *sigh*
bess marvin, girl detective
bess marvin, girl detective
Posted 3:59 AM 10/8/08
And yet, somehow Dane Cook continues to make it. Such is the mysteries of life.
bess marvin, girl detective
Losin_it
Posted 4:47 AM 10/8/08
Too many manicures might have done him in....
Aw. He was only 50....very sad.
Losin_it
rudolphdude
Posted 5:29 AM 10/8/08
@mink: well considering the well monied uncle, though mildly homophobic as he was, basically saved the kids life I think makes up for a bit.
It ain't a perfect world
rudolphdude
mink
Posted 5:17 AM 10/8/08
It is sad and I cant even snark thinking bout him in the Oceans films. I know that it is supposed to be funny about his nephew bein a fag but I think that sort of thing is not cool when it comes to kids who will grow up to read the internets.
mink
mothrafairy
Posted 6:14 AM 10/8/08
Though his stand-up act could lean toward minstrelsy, he was great in the Oceans flicks and his series was truly well-performed, well-written, and "a cut above," as they say. It should've been a bigger hit than it was.
RIP, Big Mac. Another genuine talent, gone. Peace to his family, too.
mothrafairy
Fama Est
Posted 6:56 AM 10/8/08
At the end of a scene in one of the Charlie's Angels movies he blurts, "This is bullshit." He seems to be improvising and describing more than just that one scene. It was a nice, brief example of how he couldn't keep the truth from flying out of his mouth, even after he'd achieved cross-over success.
Fama Est
DrAftershave
Posted 8:01 AM 10/8/08
make god laugh, bernie.
DrAftershave
countryofcali
Posted 7:43 AM 10/8/08
His show is still completely watchable. I'll miss you Mac.
countryofcali
SugartitsMcFirecrotch
Posted 8:50 AM 10/8/08
Have some fun raising Cain with Bill Hicks, Bernie . . . now we'll have to miss you too.
SugartitsMcFirecrotch
NoWireHangers
Posted 8:48 AM 10/8/08
Bernie Mac was talented, he worked hard, and he gave back. What a shame. Pneumonia has taken so many young people, too--Jim Henson, Bob Marley, and now Bernie. Sad, just sad.
NoWireHangers
Xylo
Posted 9:43 AM 10/8/08
"Bust a move!!" ... Stupid screen is blurry, tears are streaming down my face. From laughing, I think. :(
Xylo
misterdirky
Posted 9:50 AM 10/8/08
I hadn't seen that vid in years, but you know what? That performance was genius - raw, powerful, unapologetic, taboo, honest. So many comedians are pansies, regurgitating the same old tired shit, but Bernie chose his on path, and in that regard, I suppose he went out on top, or somewhere close to it.
misterdirky
kylo4
Posted 12:44 PM 10/8/08
This just sucks so much. It's sad, and I feel bad for his family. May he and his television show/Ocean's Eleven funniness live on.
kylo4
Mabimab
Posted 6:00 PM 10/8/08
His show was so underrated, and as I viewer whose family is pretty far-removed from his real-life experiences I thought he was really approachable in his humor (including this stand-up routine clip). The best part of his show was the kids he got to work on it, especially Jeremy Suarez. So funny.
Mabimab
regisgoat
Posted 9:51 PM 10/8/08
If I knew how to load clips, I'd load up the negotiation scene from Bad Santa. Bernie Mac's repeated use of the word "Half" is convulsively funny stuff. There's more life in his dead ass than there is in that living carrion Michael Bay, who gave him such a crap role in Transformers.
regisgoat
DrFeelgood
Posted 11:30 PM 10/8/08
His show will not only live on, but will thrive as more people over the years discover his genuis.
Really funny video. Yes he may not use a series of acceptablely correct keywords to avoid the PC police, but the real story is him showing up and saving the kids from foster care. That's the true measure of this man. '
RIP.
DrFeelgood
Pomalina
Posted 11:29 PM 10/8/08
OMG, Has anyone checked in on George and Matty?
Excuse me while I hop a plane to Italy to console G. (I'm actually in New England right now, but I'll leave Ben in charge to go to Boston.)
RIP Bernie, I heart you.
Pomalina
sanram64
Posted 11:12 PM 10/8/08
He was an awesome comedian. He will be missed.
sanram64
NotReadyForPrimeTime
Posted 2:03 AM 11/8/08
And, astonishingly, Andrew Dice Clay continues to live.
NotReadyForPrimeTime
NoWireHangers
Posted 7:20 AM 11/8/08
WTF, Isaac Hayes is dead too! Who's next???? What the HELL is going on this weekend???
[www.nytimes.com]
NoWireHangers
Benny
Posted 8:09 AM 11/8/08
@NoWireHangers: That blows about Hayes. I always wanted his story to have a happy ending. Instead he goes out while still in the clutches of that asinine cult.
As for your question, 150000 peeps shuffle off every day. Celebrities gotta play those odds like all the rest of us. How the truth does suck.
Benny
WGARefugee
Posted 8:40 AM 11/8/08
RIP
+ Watch video
WGARefugee
regisgoat
Posted 10:38 AM 11/8/08
It's like some galactic vampire is trying to drain this suffering nation of its precious soul-reserves. Fuck it, who's next, Little Richard?!?
regisgoat
Old No.7
Posted 11:58 AM 11/8/08
No really, shoulda been you Katherine Heigl.
Serious as a muthafucka bout dat shit.
Old No.7
Little Mintz Sunshine
Posted 12:39 PM 11/8/08
OK, so the Grim Reaper missed out on Freeman, but scores on Mac and Hayes. If anyone can point him in the general direction of OJ, we may be able to get the three-peat and stop the carnage.
Little Mintz Sunshine
mothrafairy
Posted 12:06 AM 12/8/08
It's Samuel Jackson who needs to keep his eyes peeled for scythe-carrying skeletons in flowing black robes. He just completed a film co-starring...Bernie Mac and Issac Hayes!
Don't take him Lord!
mothrafairy
Macloserboy
Posted 1:24 AM 12/8/08
That's not how you spell "muthafucka."
Macloserboy
Shumina
Posted 2:26 AM 12/8/08
The imbed clip is probably the best 5:25 setup for a punchline I can remember. I truly underestimated his stand-up performance. A funny man, a kind soul. RIP.
Shumina
el smrtmnky
Posted 4:03 AM 12/8/08
kanye west is going to bitch that god doesn't like black people now.
RIP Bernie and Isaac
el smrtmnky
Transuranic
Posted 7:03 PM 12/8/08
Kanye West wouldn't love the F-bomb that nigga drops at 3:10 in the video. And I'm sure his gay nephew is gonna grow up to totally give a shit about the guy. So yeah, Bernie Mac? Another dead straight asshole. Good riddance. *shrug*
Transuranic
Mark Graham
Posted 9:06 AM 13/8/08
@Transuranic: Hey Transuranic -- thanks for your comment (however base it might have been), but this is a racial epithet free comment section. Your post has been disemvoweled -- which, for those not in the know, is akin to a written disemboweling -- as a warning. Play nice in the sandbox or we'll have to step it up to the next level (ie, banishment).
Mark Graham