Bernie Mac (Bernard Jeffrey McCullough) was born in 1957 on the south side of Chicago and raised by a single mother and grandparents.   His mother died of cancer when he was 16.   Bernie attended Chicago Vocational Career Academy, but was more interested in developing his comedy act.  He would try out his act anywhere he could—on the street to his buddies, in the subway to strangers, and in down-and-out clubs to tough audiences. Meanwhile, to make ends meet, Bernie took a series of odd jobs (including driving school buses and Wonder Bread and UPS trucks).  In 1976, he finally settled into a job as a factory worker at General Motors—the same year he married his high school sweetheart, Rhonda, with whom he stayed married until his death in 2008.  

1983 was a bad year for Bernie as he was laid off at the General Motors plant.  This was also the year that he was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease which plagued him much of the rest of his life (though he declared it was in remission as late as 2005).  But a determined Bernie continued to develop his own comic voice performing in local Chicago comedy clubs through the 1980s.

Finally at age 32, he caught the eye of veteran comedians, Slappy White and Red Foxx, who like Bernie, were not afraid of using an abundance of expletives in their monologues.  They brought him to Las Vegas to perform and in 1990 he won a national comedy search contest (The Miller Lite Comedy Search).  

He burst onto the national scene in the same year with two appearances on HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” which featured young black comedians.  His edgy, raw material was tailored for his black audience talking about such things as skin color and characteristics of black men and women.  His monologues were also risqué, filled with jokes about sex and plentifully peppered with expletives.  But his material was very funny and clever; his delivery was crisp and direct.  He became a favorite among African-Americans long before the white audience caught on.  

In 1992, he made his film debut in Damon Wayans’ “Mo’ Money” as the Club Doorman.   He quickly followed this with other roles (“House Party 3,” “Above the Rim” with Tupac Shakur and  “The Walking Dead” with Eddie Griffin).  In 1995, he landed his own comedy/variety series on HBO called “Midnight Mac.”  It lasted one season.  

His part in Ice Cube’s feature “Friday” as Pastor Clever led to a recurring role on the TV series, “Moesha,” as Uncle Bernie-which he played from 1996 to 2000.   But he was building up his film resume now with more high profile movies (the Wayans Brothers’ “Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood”, 1996’s “Booty Call”, B*A*P*S, and another Ice Cube film “The Players Club.”)

He continued his stand-up, and in 1999 joined the Kings of Comedy Tour with Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley.  The act was filmed by Spike Lee in 2000 and released on film under “The Kings of Comedy.”