Jet Magazine pays tribute to the legendary late comedian and actor Bernie Mac, putting him on the cover of the August 25, 2008 issue.  The issue also tributes music legend Isaac Hayes who died one day after Bernie Mac, on August 10, 2008.

Shortly before the untimely deaths of these icons, Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, they had finished filming of Malcolm Lee’s upcoming movie, Soul Men.

The movie, out Nov. 14, now shoulders the weight of being one of the last works by two icons. (Mac also stars in the Robin Williams comedy Old Dogs, out next year.)

Though Lee and distributor The Weinstein Co. have announced no changes to the movie or its release date, the director says he feels the pressure of creating a fitting farewell to the performers.

“This isn’t like Dark Knight, where Heath Ledger died while editing was in its infancy,” Lee says. “Most of our editing is done. We’ll go back and see if there is anything we can do better. But (Mac) left us with an indelible performance. I think I got him at the top of his game.”

Mac’s game included keeping cast and crew laughing. Lee says the actor, who had sarcoidosis, a chronic disorder that can cause inflammation in the lungs, never let the disease cut his days short.

If anything, Lee says, Mac worked harder than most stars and practiced stand-up for crew and cast members on long days.

Bernie Mac, Isaac Hayes, Samuel L Jackson in Soul Men (Photo credit: Doug Hyun/Dimension Films)

“He was always ready to perform,” Lee says. “We’d have some days that ran 12 hours, and in between takes Bernie would be cracking them up, giving them an impromptu routine.”

Lee says he regularly told Mac that he didn’t have to entertain the crew and bystanders, but the comedian wouldn’t hear it.

“He said, ‘These people made me what I am,’ ” Lee says. “He said that if it weren’t for the fans of his stand-up comedy, he wouldn’t have the career he had.”

Mac plays a wisecracking counterpart to Jackson’s dour character, while Hayes plays himself in Soul Men. Lee says both roles “are emblematic, I think, of the men they were.”

Lee, who first met Mac on the set of The Original Kings of Comedy (directed by Lee’s cousin Spike), says Mac’s character in Soul Men “is eternally positive, and that’s the way he was in real life. (The movie) gave him an opportunity to be extremely raw and showcase his singing and dancing talent.”

Source: For ‘Soul Men’ director, deaths of Mac, Hayes were doubly devastating

 
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•  Isaac Hayes, Music Legend (1942-2008) – Video Tribute

Bernie Mac Isaac Hayes Jet Magazine Cover Tribute August 25, 2008