Some tragic and unexpected news for everyone today: the comedian known as Bernie Mac, has died.  His real name was Bernard Jeffrey McCollough.  His publicist confirmed that he died from complications due to pneumonia early Saturday morning.

Mac, who was only 50 years old, had been hospitalized for about a week at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago.  Several years ago, Mac revealed that he suffered from sarcoidosis, a rare autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in tissue, most often in the lungs.

Even though we all know him as a hilarious comedian, movie superstar and TV regular, that wasn’t always the case.  Mac didn’t get his big break in show business until his 30s.

When he was 32,  he won the Miller Lite comedy search and that performance took him to the standup stage.  After his entertaining performance, he started landing gigs like his regular performances on popular shows like HBO’s Def Comedy Jam.

He was also one of The Original Kings of Comedy in the 2000 documentary of that title that brought a new generation of black standup comedy stars to a wider audience.

I would venture to say that most people will recognize him from his roles in the Ocean’s movies.  In those three movies, he shared the screen with Hollywood’s leading men- George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon- to name a few.

Last spring, Mac said that he was retiring from standup, and instead would focus more on movies.  In 2007, he co-starred in Ocean’s Thirteen, Pride and had a role in the blockbuster Transformers. He also had starring roles in Bad Santa and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and will be in a few movies scheduled for future release: Soul Men, with Samuel L. Jackson, which will be released this year, and Old Dogs, with Robin Williams, which is due next year.

Mac is survived by his wife Rhonda McCullough, and their daughter, Je’Niece

The entertainment industry has indeed lost a talented man, who I am sure would have starred in many more films.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.