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Home » Culture and Criticism

“You have lovely hands. Do you moisturize?”

Submitted by on August 9, 2008 – 10:01 AM26 Comments

BSD dropped me an email about Bernie Mac’s death about an hour ago; the Sun-Times had it, but none of the other news orgs were confirming it, so we were on the phone together looking for a second headline, hoping we’d gotten punked.

We hadn’t.

Farewell to what was, bar none, the best hilariously baleful reaction shot in the business — although the moment Metstradamus discusses here is one of my favorites in a movie full of favorites.

Anyone who can find a link to Mac singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” at Wrigley, please post it in the comments.

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26 Comments »

  • Jen S says:

    Ask not for whom the fountain dances–it dances for thee.

    We miss you, Bernie. R.I.P.

  • Cij says:

    What an amazing comic and actor. Untimely indeed.

  • Mr. Stupidhead says:

    So sad. This was completely unexpected. I knew he’d been hospitalized a couple days ago for pneumonia, but I never would have guessed it would kill him. He always seemed so…robust. And he was pretty young…

    R.I.P., Bernard Jeffrey. You were awesome in “Head Of State.”

  • Linda says:

    Damn. That is SAD.

  • Lisa says:

    He was hilarious in the candid sections of “Kings of Comedy,” especially while discussing why he didn’t (then) have a sitcom while the other three had.

    “I’ve been married for 20 years, I ain’t got no outside kids. . .”

    I hope he gets to beat the Devil’s head until the white meat shows. RIP, Bernie.

  • Anna says:

    Apparently he had sarcoidosis, which is why the pneumonia would have killed him. Very sad.

  • Rachel says:

    Bernie Mac stole every scene he was in during Ocean’s 11. What a shame.

    “…might as well call it ‘Whitejack!'”

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    “My name is Ramon. As you can see right here.”

  • Karen says:

    He was genius in “The Original Kings of Comedy.” When he said that the word “motherfucker is a noun: it describes a person, place or thing,” I was in love for life.

    I was shocked when I heard the news this morning. He’ll definitely be sorely missed.

  • DT says:

    It’s very sad news indeed. His TV show was underrated and he added a lot to any movie he was in. His brilliant smile, dapper style and genius comic timing will be sorely missed.

  • Claudia says:

    I just got back from Vegas….where I was watching the fountains from my hotel room every single night. RIP Bernie Mac, you’ll be missed

  • Sandman says:

    “…might as well call it ‘Whitejack!'”

    @Rachel: You’re so right. What a great scene that was, too. Such a shame.

  • BSD says:

    “CRACKER!!!”

  • SteveL. says:

    I don’t have the link to TMOTTB, but here’s a trivia fact: it was the Bartman game. Some superstitious Cub fans think it was bad karma, as Bernie was a White Sox fan.

    God Speed, Bernie.

  • Cindi in CO says:

    I’ll never forget a bit he did on his TV show, one of those where he broke the fourth wall and talked to the audience:

    “White girls, stop losing weight! Black girls, quit worrying ’bout yo’ hair!”

    Love. RIP, Mr. Mac.

  • La BellaDonna says:

    This is one time in my life when I’m grateful for reruns; it’s immortality, of a sort; deservedly so. RIP, Mr. Mac; you’ll be missed.

  • John E. says:

    Very sad indeed. He was always entertaining, and I’ll miss him.

  • BSD says:

    Yeeeeeessss, Denham, like the jeans!

  • BSD says:

    And that ideally you should be wearing gloves to bed, but I find that would interfere with my social agenda.

  • Charla says:

    I have to say, the conversation where he discusses various moisturizing regimens makes me laugh just thinking about – Sars’s title line is my favorite, but when he mentions that some routines get in the way of his “social agenda” I bust a get every damn time. I am so very sad that he’s gone.

  • BSD says:

    I could keep going.

  • Kate says:

    That look in Ocean’s Thirteen, where he’s demoing the “‘Nough Said” game and he’s almost salivating as Pacino offers him the prime spot on the casino floor. Pure unadulterated genius.

  • Emily says:

    What’s really creepy is that the last time I caught even a little bit of The Bernie Mac Show, all I saw was 1 scene with Bernie AND Isaac Hayes. It was only a few days ago, too. Weeeeeeiiiiiiirrrrrd…..

  • Stormy says:

    Emily: Even creepier he just finished filiming a movie where he and Samuel L. Jackson play soul singers who reunite their band in a tribute for the band’s dead singer. Featuring a cameo by Isaac Hayes.

  • RJ says:

    I’m so sorry about Bernie Mac. I liked his work so much… what a shame to lose him at such a young age!

  • Kristina says:

    This was a heartbreaker – I seriously love a comic that doesn’t do stupid stereotype comedy, and Bernie Mac kept it ridiculously real, in both comedy and his life, from the get go. Note: Morgan Freeman’s still in the hospital, so I’m holding my breath and crossing my fingers and toes – can’t deal with God Himself dying, no matter who was in the car with Him.

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