Iconic Atlanta morning radio host Gary McKee died Monday at the age of 81 due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
At the height of his tenure, McKee built a cast around him that included memorable characters like “Red Neckerson” (Gary Lee Corry), “Willis the Guard” (Bob Carr), and high-profile news and sports anchors who also served as sidekicks for the show, including Yetta Levitt, Beau Bock, Tom Sullivan, and Neil “Hondo” Williamson.
From 1971 to 1989, McKee dominated the Atlanta airwaves, first on WQXI-AM (790), and then as a simulcast on both the AM and the 94.1 FM frequency. He was getting an unprecedented 20-share of the Atlanta morning radio audience.
After leaving then-Star 94 in 1989, McKee worked at WSB, then B98.5, then Z93, but the market had become fragmented, and he was never able to return to the level of success he had enjoyed at WQXI.
He retired from radio in 1989, and led a quiet life in East Cobb, having – as he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Rodney Ho – been a smart manager of his money.
He told Ho in a 2014 interview, “I was known as a cheapskate.” At his peak, he recalled receiving paychecks every two weeks totaling $17,000, and would take $3,000 to live on and put the remainder into savings and investments.
He is survived by his son Parker McKee, and daughter Cassidy McKee. The family has not finalized plans for a celebration of life.