Bernie Mac Dies at 50

LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO, Aug 9 (Reuters Life!) - Comedian and actor Bernie Mac, who starred in one of U.S. TV's few black sitcoms and appeared in the "Ocean's 11" movies, died in Chicago on Saturday after a bout with pneumonia. He was 50.


Publicist Danica Smith confirmed the death in a statement but gave no further details. "We ask that his family's privacy continues to be respected," she said.

Reactions poured in from Hollywood, which was taken by surprise because two days ago, Smith said he was "responding well to treatment" and remained in "stable condition."

"The world just got a little less funny. He will be dearly missed," said George Clooney, who starred with Mac in the "Ocean's" trilogy of hit box office films.

Mac was hospitalized in Chicago on August 1, and Smith said then his illness was unrelated to a chronic tissue inflammation called sarcoidosis, which had been in remission since 2005.

The Chicago-born comedian, whose given name was Bernard Jeffrey McCullough, was best known for his TV comedy "The Bernie Mac Show," which ran for five seasons until 2006.

Along with the "Ocean's" capers, he appeared in movies such as comedy "Guess Who" and "Mr. 3000." He recently worked on a new TV show "Starting Under" and an upcoming film "Soul Men."

With his beefy frame and bulging eyes, Mac cut an imposing figure. His scathing comedic observations were inspired by his impoverished childhood in Chicago and honed by years on the stand-up circuit.

"I reflect on my childhood, my young adulthood, the disappointments of life -- the problems I brought on myself, the self-pity I went through before I became a man," he told Playboy magazine in 2003.

ONE OF THE "KINGS OF COMEDY"

Camila Alves and Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey and girlfriend of two years Camila Alves have welcomed a son Monday night, his rep Alan Nierob confirms to PEOPLE. The baby – the first child for both – was born at 6:22 p.m. in Los Angeles, weighing in at 7 lbs., 4 oz.

"They're so happy!" said a close pal.

In January PEOPLE's former Sexiest Man Alive announced the couple were expecting on his website. "Camila and I made a baby together...," he wrote at the time. "We are stoked and wowed."

McConaughey's oldest brother, Rooster, shared their elation. "Oh, it's going to be fun!" he told PEOPLE. "He'll make a really good dad because he's got a lot of patience. I'm excited for him. It's about time."

Alves, a model and handbag designer, recently told PEOPLE she plans to take time off once the baby arrives. "More important than anything is that I have a peaceful life and a peaceful home," she said.

Source: People

Angelina Jolie's Luxe Hospital Suite

As she awaits the birth of her twins, Angelina Jolie chose a hospital that helps the poor – but also comes with a spectacular view. The Fondation Lenval, where Jolie is being monitored, is a 133-bed hospital in Nice, France, that specializes in the care of children and teens. Established in 1884, it has a history of treating children whose parents do not have the resources for medical care. According to local paper Nice-Matin, Jolie is staying in a pre-booked suite of four rooms, each of which go a relatively affordable $200 a night.

The hospital is one of the most modern-looking in the south of France, with a blue glass building fronting the world-famous Promenade des Anglais on the Mediterranean sea. At least half of the rooms overlook the Mediterranean. (Just down the street at the renowned Palais de la Mediterranee hotel, a seaview suite goes for more than $2,300 a night.)

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• Pregnant Man Gives Birth
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Source: People

Pregnant Man Gives Birth

Thomas Beatie, the very famous Preganant Man gave birth. For most of you questioning why he did this is because his wife was infertile.

Beatie, 34, who began life as a woman and legally switched to a male identity, while preserving his female reproductive organs, and his wife Nancy, 46, welcomed a daughter at an Oregon hospital on June 29.

Beatie, who took twice-weekly doses of testosterone and had his breasts surgically removed during his female-to-male transition, made headlines around the globe last April when he announced in an exclusive interview in PEOPLE and on The Oprah Winfrey Show that he was expecting a child – while legally living as a man. Raised in Hawaii, he spent the first two decades of his life as Tracy Lagondino, a Girl Scout, former model and finalist in a Miss Hawaii Teen USA pageant. Beatie told PEOPLE that he began to dress and live as a man in his 20s, in time officially changing his gender on his passport and driver's license.

In 2003, he legally married Nancy, a divorced mother of two who had had a hysterectomy as a result of endometriosis. The couple became pregnant using donor sperm and Thomas's eggs, through artificial insemination, after relocating in 2005 to Bend, Ore., where they operate a T-shirting printing business. Their baby girl is Thomas's first child. "The only thing different about me is that I can't breastfeed my baby. But a lot of mothers don't," he told PEOPLE. Despite published reports, Beatie says the baby was not delivered via C-section. He intends to publish a book about his experience this fall.

Source: People