Don McNeil was "The Man Who Came to Breakfast." For 35 years millions joined him five days a week, laughed at and with him, sang with him, and marched around the breakfast table at 15-minute intervals. Don McNeill created and hosted "The Breakfast Club," a variety hour that made an indelible mark on radio.

Donald Thomas McNeill was born in Galena, Illinois, grew up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and entered Marquette University’s school of journalism intending to become an editorial cartoonist. During the depression McNeill took a job at a Milwaukee radio station to help pay for college. After radio jobs in Louisville and San Francisco, he returned to the Midwest, where he remained for the rest of his career.

It was 1933 when McNeill, then 25, auditioned to emcee "The Pepper Pot," an unsponsored 8:00 a.m. show at NBC in Chicago. Hired for $50 a week, McNeill remarked that he had "taken over an hour that no one else wanted." He quickly renamed the program "The Breakfast Club" and introduced a folksy quality that attracted loyal listeners and led to its distinction as the longest running network entertainment program in radio history.

In 1936 McNeill changed the show’s format, introducing live audiences and unscripted shows. The program aired without commercials until 1939, when its growing popularity attracted sponsors and made the morning hours a prime source of network revenues.

The first of its genre, one of its most popular features was "calls to breakfast" every 15 minutes—wake-up calls when the audience marched around the table. McNeill didn’t resent that his humor was called "corny." He had a special ability to talk to anyone, from foreign heads of state to humble day laborers.

Jim and Marian Jordan, later known as "Fibber McGee and Molly," and singer Johnny Desmond debuted on "The Breakfast Club." Fran Allison, who later starred in the "Kukla, Fran, and Ollie" puppet show, appeared regularly as the gossipy character, "Aunt Fanny." Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Gary Cooper, Ginger Rogers, and James Stewart were featured guests.

"The Breakfast Club" went off the air in 1968, and McNeill retired from radio. He remained active, teaching communications courses at Marquette and Notre Dame Universities. In addition to serving on numerous boards and helping various charities, he worked actively on a North Shore Senior Center program for Alzheimer patients and was a strong supporter of the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago.