Bernie Mac, From Bus Driver To Hollywood Star

ANDREA SEABROOK, host:

From NPR News, it's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Andrea Seabrook.

Bernie Mac once said, wherever I am, I have to put on a good show, and he did on comedy-club stages, in his Peabody-Award-winning sitcom, "The Bernie Mac Show," and in big-screen hits, including the "Ocean's Eleven" series.

Bernie Mac died this morning from complications of pneumonia. He was 50 years old. Allison Samuels interviewed Bernie Mac several times, and she's a national correspondent for Newsweek magazine, also a regular guest on NPR's NEWS & NOTES. Allison, thanks for your time today.

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Ms. ALLISON SAMUELS (National Correspondent, Newsweek): Thanks for having me.

SEABROOK: Let's start with a quick clip of Bernie Mac in a 2001 interview WHYY's FRESH AIR.

(Soundbite of FRESH AIR)

Mr. BERNIE MAC (Comedian): Comedy is something that has to be in your bones because it's you against the world. It's you and the mic and a bunch of people who don't give a dog-gone about you, and that's one thing that I love about comedy. I love that kind of pressure.

SEABROOK: Allison, what was he like?

Ms. SAMUELS: You know, Bernie was what you saw was what you got. This down to earth, really real guy who reminded you of, like, your uncle Willy, the sort of guy that lived next door who could give you advice and just sort of kept it real no matter when you spoke to him.

SEABROOK: His story is so amazing. He was a bus driver…

Ms. SAMUELS: Right.

SEABROOK: …who had a small-time comedy act, and then it was featured in Spike Lee's film, "The Original Kings of Comedy," and that helped him sort of jump from small time to Hollywood. And why do you think he broke through? How?

Ms. SAMUELS: I just think it is weird, because I think he questioned that, too, because he always talked about he felt like because he was dark-skinned that that had sort of, you know, held him back, but in "The Original Kings of Comedy," people went to see that, and they were familiar with the other guys.

They weren't with Bernie, and Bernie stole the show, and so I think from there, Hollywood started to pay attention to him and, you know, he got the TV show, and I think his biggest coup was really getting "Ocean's Eleven." I think that's the thing that made him the happiest, that he could sort of crossover and be this mainstream.

SEABROOK: "The Bernie Mac Show" won a Golden Globe. It earned him two Emmy nominations. What made that show so good?

Ms. SAMUELS: I think it's the uniqueness of it. A, it was a black family intact and, you know, and even though he was adopting, you know, his nephews or whatever, he still had a black family image with a wife, and he was living well, and that he had this great relationship with the kids, and he talked to the camera, and I think African-Americans had never really seen that type of show before, and I think for some reason, mainstream America also, you know, enjoyed it because he was a funny guy no matter what the color line was. He actually just, you know, made you laugh.

SEABROOK: How would you compare him, overall, to other successful comedians that have died, say George Carlin or Richard Pryor?

Ms. SAMUELS: I think, you know, I think he's up there. I think, you know, unfortunately, he only got (unintelligible), you know, like he was in his 40s before he really hit it big, and I think that's the thing that I think that I regret with him, that he doesn't have the years of history that a Richard Pryor had or George Carlin, but I think his impact, when you go back and see that show, when you see the "Ocean's Eleven" movies and all the other things that he was in, I think he will definitely still be one of those comedians that you remember and that you say, hi, I remember that guy. That guy was really funny.

SEABROOK: Allison Samuels, a national correspondent for Newsweek magazine. Thanks so much.

Ms. SAMUELS: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.