More than 6,000 family members, friends and fans of the late Bernie Mac gathered on Chicago's South Side this weekend to pay tribute to the comedic actor, who died August 9th at age 50 from what his publicist described as complications from pneumonia.
Hollywood heavyweights, including Samuel L. Jackson and Steve Harvey joined Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to bid farewell to Mac, a man they described as a "humble comic genius." In addition to the touching eulogies provided in person by several Tinseltown stars, the service also featured the reading of condolence letters from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
While Mac's co-stars such as D.L. Hughley and Cedric the Entertainer took the stage at the comedian's memorial service in Chicago, a smaller group of the actor's pals were gathering in California to view the first footage of Mac's last film--"Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa."
In "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa"--a sequel to the popular 2005 comedy about zoo animals, who get lost in the wild-- Mac voices a new character, Zuba, who turns out to be the father of zoo-pampered lion Alex (voiced by Ben Stiller). As a tribute to the late actor, DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg previewed clips showing Mac's character in hilarious situations. In one scene Mac’s character mistakes his show-tune singing son as a fearsome warrior and sends him into battle with rival alpha males. Mac and Stiller’s characters provide laugh a minute comedy during the lead up to the confrontation when Alex mistakes the war for a dance-off, and when another lion roars "Fight!" he starts doing the gang dance from "West Side Story."
At the end of the preview Katzenberg expressed his sympathy for Mac’s family and shared his own grief.
Somebody you spend time with and get to know becomes a part of your family and to have a sudden loss like this, it has been really, really hard on all of us."
Katzenberg noted that animators are still putting the finishing touches on some of Mac's scenes.
"Every day we are animating, and every day we are living with the creative contribution he made," Katzenberg said. "We loved Bernie, and there is a heart and a soulfulness that he brought to the role of Zuba."
"Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" is scheduled for release on November 7th. Katzenberg told reporters he plans to run a tribute to Mac at the end of the film.
Lucia Kim
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