Celebrity Graveland

October 5, 1957 – August 9, 2008

Bernie Mac was a comedian and actor who rose to fame in the late 1990s and was a staple in American movies and television throughout the 2000s. Bernard McCullough was born in Chicago and grew up idolizing comedians like Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor. He began his stand-up career in the Cotton Club in his hometown and immediately starting getting noticed for his fearless performances. In 1990, he won a comedy contest that led to an appearance on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam and by the mid-90s, he was appearing in movies like House Party 3 and Friday. In 2000, he was featured alongside Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley in Spike Lee’s massive hit, The Original Kings of Comedy.

Bernie forayed his success into a wildly popular run of film appearances. He most notably appeared in 2001’s Oceans Eleven (and its two sequels), the 2003 remake of Charlie’s Angels and 2004’s Mr. 3000. For 5 seasons, he also starred in his own, award-winning, eponymous sitcom on FOX.

During the height of his film career and in the middle of his sitcom run, Mac disclosed that he suffered from sarcoidosis, a disease that causes inflammation of tissue; in his case, most notably, his lungs. The disease progressed and he struggled with a number of bouts of pneumonia as a result. In August of 2008, Bernie entered the hospital and died of complications from pneumonia and cardiac arrest. Prior to his death, he had established the Bernie Mac  Foundation, to raise awareness of sarcoidosis. Chicago and Hollywood both mourned the loss of one of their favorite sons. He was 50 years old.

Burial

Washington Memory Gardens – Homewood, IL

Specific Location

At the easternmost part of this cemetery are two open-air mausoleum structures. Bernie is buried in the first one as you enter from the west, on the right in the bottom row, two spaces from the far corner.

This entry was posted on September 20, 2021 at 9:33 am and is filed under Washington Memory Gardens with tags Actors, Comedians, Washington Memory Gardens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.