Bernie Mac: Gone Too Soon

In this Dec. 4, 2001 file photo, comedian Bernie Mac poses for photographers backstage at the 2001 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. The award-winning actor-comedian has died at age 50 from complications of pneumonia, his publicist said Saturday, Aug. 9, 2008. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison, file)

Mac was so young when he died of pneumonia in 2008 – he would have turned just 55 years old today. We should have been able to enjoy a lot more years of Mac on TV, like in his funny and successful The Bernie Mac Show…

And we should have been able to see him continue his path to movie stardom. He was fantastic in Ocean's Eleven – and Twelve and Thirteen, too.

Even after his death, Bernie Mac kept us laughing. Three of his funniest movies were released posthumously – Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Old Dogs and Soul Men. In the latter, Mac got to prove that he was more than just a funny guy – he could sing, too.

Written by Linnea Crowther