Fans Recall the Last Words Bernie Mac Heard From His Wife on the Late Comedian's Birthday
Bernie died at the age of 50 in 2008.
Published Oct. 6 2025, 3:27 p.m. ET
Fans of the late comedian Bernie Mac are remembering the funny man on his birthday. The Ocean's 12 star was born on Oct. 5, 1975, in Chicago, Ill. He died unexpectedly in 2008 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago on Aug. 9, 2008, from sarcoidosis.
The comedian was known for his hilarious stand-up comedy, especially his legacy in the documentary The Original Kings of Comedy and his TV show, The Bernie Mac Show. He also starred in the films Soul Men, Guess Who, Mr. 3000, Charlie's Angels, and Old Dogs, just to name a few. His death at the age of 50 still haunts his fans to this day, and they are heartbroken over his untimely death.
Bernie Mac's wife described her last words to her husband, and they are heartbreaking.
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey back in 2016, his wife, Rhonda McCullough, described her last words to the comedian as he lay in his hospital bed. The comedian had been hospitalized for weeks prior to his death from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease.
The couple was married in 1977, and they were high school sweethearts. Rhonda said that Bernie had been her "whole life" since she was 16.
"He had woke up, and they said, 'We're going to put a feeding tube in him.' And just everything went wrong," she recalled. "His heart stopped beating, and they had to resuscitate him. And when they finally let me go in the room to see him, I was like, 'Oh my god!' He was just like — just shaking and his eyes was just like, wide open. And he wasn't really looking at anybody, you know?"
She went on to say that she begged him not to die.
"And I remember telling him, 'Oh, please don't, please don't, don't die. Please don't, don't die.' I said, 'I'm here. I'm waiting for you. I'll take care of you. Just don't, don't die. Don't die.'"
Rhonda added that Bernie died a few hours later.
"And so it was like hours later. It was around 2 o'clock that morning. I remember seeing the door open, and the doctor was standing in the doorway. And I looked at her, and I said, 'He's gone, isn't he?'"
Rhonda went on to say that she had been with Bernie since she was 16.
"My whole life was him, since I was 16," she added. "I didn't know what I was gonna do. It's like, what is my reasoning for being here now? What is my purpose? How am I going to make it now?"
According to ABC News, Bernie had founded The Bernie Mac Foundation to raise awareness about sarcoidosis and to fund research about the disease. Rhonda decided to honor her husband by continuing his legacy.
"What better way to have his legacy live on? The foundation means to me everything that Bernard was and that he wanted," she said. "So, I just really can’t let it go now."
Rhonda was recognized for her work with The Bernie Mac Foundation back in 2013 when she was named the Reaching Back Foundation's Phenomenal Woman of the Year for Philanthropy, per People. She also executive-produced a 2011 documentary about Bernie, I Ain’t Scared of You: A Tribute to Bernie Mac.