From Barack Obama to Oprah Winfrey to Michael Jordan, Chicago has been home base for some of the most renowned and globally famous figures of the last few decades — and, of course, we have a steady stream of local anchors, sports stars, radio hosts et al., with high recognition factors, as you’d see in any major city.
But there’s also another kind of celebrity unique to Chicago, i.e., the local character who achieves a certain level of semi-famousness just being out there and doing their thing. We’re talking about the likes of the beloved Andy the Clown, who for years strolled the concourses of old Comiskey Park, bellowing “GO YOU WHITE SOX!”, or his North Side counterpart, the always uniformed, bafflingly ubiquitous Ronnie “Woo Woo” Wickers.
