He is recalled as the preacher who knows little about Bible teachings in "Friday" (1995) and as one of the funnier members of the ensemble cast of Spike Lee's "Get on the Bus" (1996).

Mac's first break came in Chicago in 1990 when he won the Miller Lite Comedy Search. That led to work as the opening act for such headliners as Dionne Warwick, Redd Foxx and Natalie Cole. The comic went out on the road in 1994 with his own "Who Ya Wit Tour", which included a ten-piece band and the five 'Mac-A-Roni Dancers'. As with other comics, pay-cable exposure has played a key part in Mac's rise. He was memorable guesting in the 1993 HBO special "Rosie Perez Presents Society's Ride" which lead to his own one-month HBO series "Midnight Mac" (1995). Mac also has appeared on that network's "Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam" and had a recurring role in the UPN series "Moesha" (1996).

Mac's feature film work began with a small bit as a club doorman in "Mo' Money" (1992) opposite Damon Wayans. He was also the ribald Uncle Vester in "House Party 3" (1994) and had supporting roles in the pallid comedy "B.A.P.S." and "How To Be a Player" (both 1997). But the new century brought bigger roles for Mac.

In 2000, Bernie Mac joined fellow comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric The Entertainer and DL Hugley as the foursome took their comedy act throughout the country. The tour was later captured by director Spike Lee and aired on HBO as "The Original Kings Of Comedy" (2000). It was during the tour that Mac mentioned that he was the only "King" without his own show. Mac's plea for his own show didn't go unawswered. In 2001, "The Bernie Mac Show" aired on Fox. In "The Bernie Mac Show" Mac is seen as a comedian who suddenly becomes the guardian of his sister's three children. Shortly after "The Bernie Mac Show" Mac was seen, once again on the big screen in "Ocean's Eleven" (2001). His character Frank Cattan brought comic relief to Steven Soderbergh's crime caper piece, though the actor was sorely underutilized in the 2004 sequel "Ocean's Twelve." Next up for Mac was a role supporting fellow comedian Chris Rock in the presidential comedy feature "Head of State," then the role of aide-de-camp Bosley in "Charlie's Angels 2" (both in 2003), filling in for the first film's Bosley Bill Murray as the earleir character's African American brother.

Mac next played a suspicous department store detective opposite Billy Bob Thornton in director Terry Zwigoff's delciously cynical Christmas comedy "Bad Santa" (2003), and got his chance to headline his first major Hollywood studio film, the well-received "Mr. 3000" (2004), playing an aging major leaguer whose hit record is revoked after retirement, inspiring him to return to the game to reclaim his title. The departure of key creative personnel and Mac's burgeoning film career caused his TV series to recede into the background (the series was moved into no less than 12 different timeslots, vexing even the most loyal viewers, and production was slowed when a bout of double pneumonia aggravated Mac's long-standing condition of sarcoidosis), and the comic continued to headline movies: He teamed with Ashton Kutcher for "Guess Who?" (2005), a broad-comedy reversal of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?", with Mac as a stern black father who disapproves of his daughter's relationship with Kutcher's white goofball.