Bernie Mac

AP:

Bernie Mac blended style, authority and a touch of self-aware bluster to make audiences laugh, as well as connect with him. For Mac, who died Saturday at age 50, it was a winning mix, delivering him from a poor childhood to stardom as a stand-up comedian in films, including the casino heist caper Ocean's Eleven and his acclaimed sitcom The Bernie Mac Show.

Mac died Saturday morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital, his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles. She said no other details were available.

Mac 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 hospitalised and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.

Recently, Mac's brand of comedy caught him flack when he was heckled during a surprise appearance at a July fund-raiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicagoan, Barack Obama.