POISE 



thirty-three 



caused Don to open the broadcasting 

 studio proper to visitors. 



That incident is also one of the most 

 poignant memories of the nation's be- 

 loved master of ceremonies. A U. S. 

 Marine, dying of tuberculosis, who for 

 years had been a regular listener to the 

 program, asked that he be allowed to 

 witness one of the broadcasts. Rules 

 were waived and the sick man was 

 brought to the studio where Don Mc- 

 Neill and Walter Blaufuss directed their 

 entire program to him. Don declares 

 that no program was ever more appre- 

 ciated. It was indeed a public work of 

 mercy, and the sick man awaited his 

 death more happily because of it. 



Largely as a result of popular acclaim 

 regarding this incident, today the excep- 

 tion has become the rule. Everyone is 

 welcome to the "Breakfast Club" studio, 

 and the cast is always ready to go out 

 of its way to make some shut-in — 

 human ones this time — happy. 



This opening of the studio to the 

 public has added an unexpected and 

 gleeful feature to the program. A joyful 

 trick of the M. C. is to invite a member 

 of the audience to the stage and have 

 him take part in the program proper. 

 Pro tempore cast members and audience 

 alike get a big kick out of the always 

 laughable results. 



Excursions through the studio audi- 

 ence, a regular thing on the show, bring 

 as unexpected results and as much for 

 spectators and radio listeners as the 

 many other lively McNeill antics. In 

 the last feature, however, Don proves 

 himself a genuine family man by his 

 forever picking out a child visitor for 

 his memorable thumbnail interview. 



Mothers and grandmothers are inva- 

 riably flattered highly when Don stops 

 before one of the little ones — and the 

 more so because they all know how very 

 proud he is of his own three boys. 



The nation rejoiced with the genial 



Little Tom and Donny with their Dad. 



Irishman last St. Patrick's Day when 

 he stopped the broadcast to announce 

 that a nine-pound boy had been born 

 to the McNeill household at St. Luke's 

 hospital an hour and a half after the 

 dawn of St. Patrick's Day. The boy 

 was proudly named Robert Patrick. 



Don and Katherine's other two 

 youngsters are Tommy and Donny, 

 respectively aged six and eight. Both 

 attend Sts. Faith, Hope and Charity 

 school in Winnetka, 111., in the daytime, 

 and make life for their dad a rough and 

 tumble affair the minute they return to 

 their home in Kenilworth. 



Mrs. McNeill and Don. A good Catholic family man, his laugh-provoking programs are noted for their cleanliness. 



