Tracy Morgan’s mentor and fellow comedian Jimmy Mack was the passenger who was killed in the horrific car accident that has landed Morgan in critical condition.
CelebNMusic247.com has learned that James McNair, best known as Uncle Jimmy Mack, 62, was the man killed in the Tracy Morgan limo bus accident.
He left a construction job years ago to pursue comedy, a dream that was grueling and paid little but also put him in touch with other aspiring entertainers at the Uptown Comedy Club in Harlem and other venues.
Mack, who worked as Uncle Jimmy Mack, first met a younger comedian named Tracy Morgan. The two hit it off. Here is what else we learned from Lohud:
Morgan’s career soon would take off — first as a cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” then later in his own show and in a role on the hit sitcom, “30 Rock.” As his fame grew, Morgan sometimes called on McNair for help with comedy writing and for small parts in a few “Saturday Night Live” skits.
“Him and Tracy stayed really close,” said Glenn Cook, 56, of Peekskill, who was good friends with McNair. “When Tracy calls, (McNair) drops everything and goes.”
McNair was on one of those last-minute comedy-writing gigs, traveling with Morgan and others in a limousine bus that crashed on the New Jersey Turnpike hours after a standup routine show in Delaware. McNair was pronounced dead at the scene while Morgan and two other passengers were hospitalized in critical condition.
A truck driver, Kevin Roper, 35, of Jonesboro, Ga., who allegedly failed to notice the slowed traffic and slammed into the back of the limo, was charged with death by auto and four counts of assault by auto, Middlesex County, N.J. prosecutors said. He was expected to turn himself in later Saturday and his bail was set at $50,000.
