Don McNeill and His Breakfast Club

by Doolittle, John

• ISBN13: 9780268008987
• ISBN10: 0268008981
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr

Summary

In Don McNeill and His Breakfast Club John Doolittle chronicles the cheerfulness, wit, and self-deprecating humor that won Don McNeill the title "King of Corn" and a warm place in the hearts and homes of millions of radio listeners. As host of the Breakfast Club, the longest running program in network radio history, McNeill enraptured a wide audience -- from the people who would travel for miles to participate in his studio audience to his celebrity admirers.

During its heyday, the Breakfast Club was hailed by Newsweek as "one of the American Broadcast Company's most smiled-upon possessions. . . . the lifeblood of the network's Chicago office where the show originates." Some of the biggest names in show business dropped by the Breakfast Club including Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Jimmy Stewart, Jane Russell, Joe Lewis, Lucille Ball, Danny Kaye, and Groucho Marx, but the show's main attraction was McNeill himself, who, with his grassroots values and good-natured humor presided over a household institution that thrived for 35 years, through wars, the Depression, and

Author Biography

John Doolittle is an associate professor of broadcast journalism in the School of Communication at American University

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
McNeill Takes the Long Way from Milwaukee to Chicago	1	(8)
The Very First Call to Breakfast	9	(12)
A Marine Makes Way for Studio Audiences	21	(12)
Bringing Sponsors to the Table	33	(10)
The Wartime Silent Prayer Becomes a Tradition	43	(12)
Aunt Fanny Joins the Growing Cast	55	(10)
``McNeill for President''	65	(16)
After the Merchandise Mart	81	(10)
The TV Club (1950--1951)	91	(14)
Breakfast Club Road Trips	105	(8)
Himself's Hideaway---The Perfect Retreat	113	(8)
1954--1955 Radio-TV Simulcast	121	(10)
Taking Pride in America	131	(6)
Loyal Listeners and Sponsors	137	(12)
Memorializing the Silent Prayer	149	(12)
Breakfast Clubbing from Europe	161	(12)
Breakfast in the Clouds	173	(8)
Last Call to Breakfast	181	(8)
Don McNeill---A Super Senior	189	(14)
A Radio Pioneer	203	(10)
Epilogue	213	(2)
Chronology	215	(4)
Notes	219	(10)
Index	229