Who said there were no second acts in American life? (rhetorical)
Bernie Mac had a fairly successful career as a stand-up and occasional movie actor before Spike Lee made and released The Original Kings of Comedy through a major studio, Paramount. But like Tyler Perry and many of the great comedians, he was really only a name inside his community, in this case, the Black community.
But from the weekend Original Kings opened to over $11 million - more than most thought it would gross in its entire run - Mac and Cedric The Entertainer (and to a lesser degree, Steve Harvey and Dl Hughley, who already had more of a following) broke out as go-to-guys for the industry. The first mega-break was Ocean's Eleven, followed quickly by replacing $6 million Bill Murray in the Charlie's Angels sequel. His own self-named show followed.
His opportunity to be a movie lead was cut short with Mr 3000, though it was a movie that deserved better. It's not Shakespeare, but it's good fun and Disney couldn't turn the trick.
Dimension's Soul Men, in which Mac co-stars with Sam Jackson, has some positive buzz out there for its November release. The movie sounds like "The Moon-shine Boys," with two retired soul men getting back together to put on one more show. Will it be another example this year of an actor getting that career breakthrough performance in the can and passing away before being able to enjoy it?
He was 50. Jim Henson died of pneumonia at 53. Scary. (Especially for us Libras, which both of them were.)
You hate to see guys like that miss their third act.
Read the complete post at http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/2008/08/bernie_mac.html