Publicists literally had Bernie Mac recovering from illness until after death

I was shocked to learn this weekend that comedian/actor Bernie Mac was dead, literally because everything that was released publicly about his health condition stressed the notion that he was on the verge of a full recovery.

Of course, my shock should not be interpreted as surprise at the notion that officials would be less than honest when addressing the medical condition of a person of some prominence to whom the general public might have some interest.

I HAVE NO doubt that Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital was barraged with constant calls from reporter types who were seeking updates on the medical condition of the late Bernard McCullough.

Hospital officials, as they usually do, deferred to the wishes of publicists who were more interested in keeping alive the image of a man who would be back at work in weeks, rather than the truthful one of a man whose health was seriously at risk the entire time of his hospital stay.

Bernie Mac was admitted to the hospital about three weeks ago after experiencing respiratory problems and soreness, and the reports in those early days went out of their way to refer to the hospitalization as a precautionary measure. He’ll be going home in a day or two.

For what it's worth, this is my favorite film featuring the acting abilities of Bernie Mac.

When he didn’t go home in a day or two, reports went out of their way to stress that it was doctor precautions that were keeping him there – as though any real person would have been able to walk into his hospital room and see a fully functioning Bernie Mac – joking with nurses and doctors and signing autographs for every orderly in sight.

AS RECENTLY AS one week ago, we were given reports indicating that Bernie Mac would be out of the hospital and back home by now.

He’s out of the hospital all right, but only because he died in the early minutes of Saturday. Of course, to read reports that came out Saturday morning, officials were going out of their way to denounce as “irresponsible rumor” reports that Mr. McCullough had died.

It wasn’t until late morning Saturday that officials confirmed what had already worked its way into public knowledge – Bernie Mac, 50, of southwest suburban Frankfort, died due to complications from pneumonia, made worse by the fact that he had a recurrence of sarcoidosis – a lung disease that he had previously suffered from decades ago.

It’s not like one medical condition caused the return of the other. But the fact that Bernie Mac was fighting two serious medical conditions at once meant that he was seriously ill, and it is nothing but completely truthful to say that all the people who were spewing the talk that Bernie Mac was on the verge of recovery were flat out lying.

I COULD HANDLE it better if I thought the family of Bernie Mac was somehow being told a different account, and was kept in the loop on what his condition really was. But after reading an Associated Press account of an interview with the comedian’s daughter, it was clear they were given the same lie in those early days.

Je’niece Childress told the AP that she and her mother gradually came to the realization that he could die. “As the weeks (of hospitalization) went on, I kind of knew,” she said.

So how should we remember the man from Chicago’s South Side who grew up to be a nationally-known comedian who got what seems to be the ultimate reward for an entertainer – a television program named after himself.

The Bernie Mac Show was never a big hit during its time on the air (2001-06) on the Fox network, although it took its share of awards both for the quality of its writing and for its non-negative portrayal of African American people. In short, it was one of several quality programs that most people never watched.

BUT IT HAS become one of the staples of syndicated television, airing here on WCIU-TV. I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes Channel 26’s signature program. With many of the scripts based on Bernie Mac’s comedy routines, it could easily be the vehicle by which Mr. McCullough’s humor lives on for years – if not decades.

Of course, Bernie Mac also did Hollywood, appearing in various films throughout the years.

Most people want to remember him for his participation in the “Oceans Eleven” series by which George Clooney tried to turn himself into a modern-day version of Frank Sinatra (does that make Bernie Mac another Sammy Davis Jr.?). Others will note his involvement in the “Charlie’s Angels” series of films by which he was surrounded with multitudes of scantily clad women.

Personally, I will remember him for two films.

TO ME, BERNIE Mac’s role as the store detective who matched wits with Billy Bob Thornton’s drunken (and crooked) Santa Claus in “Bad Santa” is part of what makes that film a guilty pleasure for me.

There also was his role as an aging former major league baseball player who tries to come back with the Milwaukee Brewers to reach one last statistical achievement in the film “Mr. 3000.”

The question I always had about that film is why – if Major League Baseball is the entity that ultimately controls licensing of logos of all teams – did Bernie Mac’s character not play for the Chicago White Sox.

At a time when most Hollywood types who feel the need to take a stand on Chicago sports say they’re Cubs fans (and John Cusack feels the need to root equally for everybody), Bernie Mac was always true to his South Side roots in publicly supporting the White Sox.

ULTIMATELY, THE DVDs and syndicated reruns of Bernie Mac’s films and comedy show will be what allows us to feel like he truly never left us, similar to how we still “love Lucy” all these decades later – even though Desi Arnaz’ Ricky Ricardo is somewhere in the afterlife being hounded by his loveable wife’s ditzy antics.

It may even help us overcome what turned out to be Bernie Mac’s last moment of significance in the public eye – when he was the opening act for a political rally featuring Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Bernie Mac’s jokes about sexual promiscuity and menopause may have been tame by some standards, but Obama felt the need to “bust down” Bernie before the far right would have started to tar the politician with the comedian’s jokes.

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EDITOR’S NOTES: A public memorial service for Bernie Mac will be held at Chicago’s (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-berniemac,0,7189379.story) House of Hope at week’s end.

As recently as the day before his death, publicists were still trying to peddle the notion that (http://justjared.buzznet.com/2008/08/08/christina-apple-gate-breast-cancer-treatment/) Bernie Mac was “responding well” to his medical treatments and would be going home. For awhile, they were even trying to deny that he was in (http://www.koin.com/entertainment/entertainmenttonight/story.aspx?content_id=4d8a283d-66c8-4198-971e-aabf54c3e17f) the hospital.

In one of his final public appearances, Bernie Mac became a potential political issue (http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/07/at_chicago_fundraiser_for_obam.html) for Barack Obama.