Stella Foster was the first correspondent to report the death of the American comedian and actor Bernie Mac, on the Chicago Sun-Times Web site.

50-year-old Bernard Jeffrey McCullough, better known by the stage name Bernie Mac, passed away at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago on Saturday.  Just a few days earlier, his publicist Danica Smith issued a statement affirming that the comedian was "responding well to treatment".

According to Smith, the comedian passed away due to complications from pneumonia. He had been hospitalized since the middle of July. He also had sarcoidosis, a chronic tissue inflammation, but went into remission in 2005.

Je'niece Childress, the actor’s daughter, said the whole family was almost sure that the actor would completely recover from the pneumonia that required hospitalization three weeks ago. However, she admitted that, as time passed, she and her mother took into account the likelihood of him departing this life. “Initially when he was hospitalized we expected him to come back home, but as the weeks went on, I kind of knew," she said.

Being one of “The Original Kings of Comedy,” in the 2000 stand-up comedy film, Mac had a booming career. He played the role of Catton in the Ocean's trilogy of films. He also starred in many other successful movies, such as Mr. 3000 and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Transformers.

In 2001, the Fox Broadcasting Company gave Mac his own sitcom, called “The Bernie Mac Show,” which ran from 2001-2006. Based to a certain extent on the actor’s own life, the show earned two Emmy Award nominations.

As stated by Childress, the funeral arrangements were pending. Mac’s publicist said that a public memorial is scheduled to take place next weekend at House of Hope in Chicago.