CHICAGO (CBS) — The late Bernie Mac is getting a special honor in Chicago. As WBBM Newsradio’s Felicia Middlebrooks reports, Mac died on Aug. 9, 2008, at the age of 50.
Now, his legacy will be celebrated with an honorary street name. The block of West 69th Street where Mac grew up in the Englewood neighborhood will gain the additional name of “Bernie Mac Street.”
Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in Chicago in 1957. He began his career as a comedian on the South Side in 1977, when he was just 19.
About 200 people, including his widow Rhoda McCullough, daughter Je’Niece McCullough and civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, gathered Tuesday on a corner near the home where he grew up.
Je’Niece McCullough says she hopes renaming the street Bernie Mac Street reminds people “they can do whatever they want to do in life.”
Mac, born Bernard McCullough, died in August 2008 at age 50 from pneumonia complications, after suffering from sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease.
The comedian is best known for his stand-up performance in the Original Kings of Comedy, a tour that showcased several popular contemporary black comedians, and the hit comedy series "The Bernie Mac Show."
