3. Bernie Mac
Bernie Mac was at the pinnacle of his career when he became ill. The comedian was gearing up for a one-month residency in Las Vegas when he began experiencing trouble breathing and developed a fever. Mac was hospitalized in his hometown of Chicago and the actor was diagnosed with pneumonia and placed on a ventilator.
His sister, Mary Ann Grossett, told People Magazine in a 2008 interview that he was critically ill. “He was critically ill when he was in the hospital,” Gossett recalled. “He was in intensive care the whole time.”
Doctors kept Mac sedated throughout his stay and tried to nurse him back to health but were unsuccessful when they realized he contracted a second strain of pneumonia during his stay. Sadly, the 50-year-old passed away due to complications from pneumonia in August 2008.