The wife of tragic comedian Bernie Mac began preparing herself for the star's death a week before the star passed away.

The funnyman, real name Bernard Jeffrey McCullough, was admitted to Chicago, Illinois' Northwestern Memorial Hospital at the end of July with pneumonia. At the time, the actor's wife Rhonda thought he would be better within days and expected him to be discharged by the end of the first week.

However, when his condition failed to improve after two weeks of hospital treatment, she started to prepare for the worst. And she admits she knew he definitely didn't have long to live after their final conversation on August 8th - just hours before he passed away last Saturday.

She recalls, "I said, 'Hey Bernard. How are you?' and I kissed his forehead. He shrugged his shoulders, like, 'I'm tired' and I said, 'I know you're tired.' Later on that night, it took a turn for the worse." So Rhonda wasn't surprised when she was finally told the sad news: "(The doctor) came in and I said, 'He's gone, isn't he?' and she said, 'Yes'."

Mac will be laid to rest in a memorial service in Chicago this weekend, reports People.com.


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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)