" Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital," his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles.
no other details are available & it is asked that his family's privacy be respected.
the comedian 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 & treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease .
in 2007, Mac told David Letterman on CBS "Late Show" that he planned to retire soon . "im going to still do my producing, my films, but i want to enjoy my life a little bit," Mac told Letterman . "i missed a lot of things, you know . i was a street performer for two years . i went into clubs in 1977."
Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He grew up on the city' s South Side, sadly Mac's mother died of cancer when he was 16 . "woman believed in me," he wrote . "she believed in me long before i believed ."
his memory will live on through the current reruns of his show "The Bernie Mac Show" and all of his films . for more on this story check out Yahoo
