R.I.P. Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes

This weekend has been a hard weekend for fans of comedian Bernie Mac, and soul-man Issac Hayes.

Starting off Saturday morning, reports came that stand-up comedian-turned-actor Bernie Mac has died of complications due to pneumonia. The 50-year-old had been hospitalized since mid-July but had been expected to recover. Mac had been active in Hollywood for nearly two decades, with a slate of stand-out roles in such films as the “Ocean’s Eleven” trilogy, “Bad Santa” and last year’s “Transformers.” He was also well-known for his Peabody-winning television series “The Bernie Mac Show.” Most recently, he had been working on a variety of current projects, including Samuel L. Jackson’s “Soul Men” and the comedy “Old Dogs” alongside John Travolta and Robin Williams.

Bernie Mac was one of "The Original Kings of Comedy" in the 2000 documentary of that title that brought a new generation of black stand-up comedy stars to a wider audience.

Fans and friends of Chicago comedian Bernie Mac, are invited to a public memorial celebrating Mac's life.Services are scheduled for noon Saturday in the 10,000-seat House of Hope, 752 E. 114th St., Chicago, said Danica Smith, Mac's publicist. Donations in Mac's honor may be sent to the Bernie Mac Foundation for Sarcoidosis, 40 E. 9th St., Suite 601, Chicago, IL 60605, Smith said.

And in sadder news, Soul singer and arranger Isaac Hayes, who won Grammy awards and an Oscar for the theme from the 1971 action film "Shaft," has died, sheriff's officials in Memphis, Tennessee, reported Sunday.

Relatives found Hayes, 65, unconscious in his home next to a still-running treadmill, said Steve Shular, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department. Paramedics attempted to revive him and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p.m., the sheriff's department said. No foul play is suspected, the agency said in a written statement.

Hayes was a longtime songwriter and arranger for Stax Records in Memphis, playing in the studio's backup band and crafting tunes for artists such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave in the 1960s.