Comedian Bernie Mac dead at 50By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY CHICAGO — We've been cheated out of Bernie Mac's second act.Dead from pneumonia at a mere 50, Mac leaves behind a legacy of great success and unfulfilled promise. We can be grateful for the hits, most notably, his influential, insufficiently appreciated sitcom The Bernie Mac Show. But as with any performer who dies while at the height of his career, you can't help thinking there would have been more to come.Born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in 1957 in Chicago — but known to the rest of us as Bernie Mac — he was, in show-biz circles, a late bloomer. He didn't come to national attention until he was already well into adulthood, and his comedy came from a decidedly adult perspective. It could be raw and blustery, but the anger and insights both came from experience, and were often softened by a warmth he could turn on and off at will.Though he worked in TV and films though the '90s, most notably, perhaps, in the 1995 hit Fridays, Mac's career didn't take off until 2000 with the Spike Lee concert film The Original Kings of Comedy. His costars at the time were ...