Comedian and actor Bernie Mac, who appeared in the [[Ocean's 11]] movie and its sequels, died in Chicago on Saturday, at the age of 50.
He was admitted to hospital in Chicago last week and died due to complications arising from pneumonia.
The Chicago-born comedian, whose given name was Bernard Jeffrey McCullough, was best known in the United States for his TV comedy The Bernie Mac Show, which ran for five seasons until 2006.
Along with the Ocean's trilogy, he appeared in movies such as Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Guess Who and Mr. 3000, and recently worked on an upcoming film Soul Men.
Born in Chicago on 5 October, 1957, he made his start in the city's African-American comedy clubs, and broke into the big time after winning a national comedy contest in 1989.
Mac achieved national prominence after joining the Kings of Comedy stand-up tour in 1997 with Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric the Entertainer. Tapping into an under-served market of middle-class blacks, the dapper quartet sold out arenas across the country during their annual treks.
In 2000, director Spike Lee shot a hugely profitable documentary about the tour.
The following year The Bernie Mac Show debuted on Fox, drawing from Mac's personal life. He played a married stand-up comic reluctantly thrust into parenthood when he takes custody of his sister's three children after she enters rehab.
His scathing comedic observations were inspired by his impoverished childhood in Chicago and honed by years on the stand-up circuit.
The comedian had a history of ill health and suffered from the inflammatory lung disease sarcoidosis.
