Richard and Maurice McDonald

Richard James McDonald (February 16, 1909 – July 14, 1998) and Maurice James McDonald (November 26, 1902 – December 11, 1971) were American fast-food restaurateurs. They were the founders of the original McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino, California and inventors of the ‘Speedee Service System’. They were born in Manchester, New Hampshire.

In 1954, the McDonald brothers partnered with Ray Kroc. Kroc took 1.9 percent of the gross sales, of which the McDonald brothers got 0.5 percent.[1] The brothers wanted to only have a small number of restaurants, which Kroc did not want them to have. Ray Kroc eventually bought them out.

On November 30, 1984, Richard McDonald – the first cook behind the grill of a McDonald's – was served the ceremonial 50,000,000,000th (50 billionth) McDonald's hamburger by Ed Rensi, then president of McDonald's USA, at the Grand Hyatt hotel in New York City.[2][3][4]

Maurice McDonald died from heart failure in Riverside, California, on December 11, 1971, at the age of 69. Richard McDonald died in Manchester, New Hampshire, on July 14, 1998 of a heart attack, at the age of 89.[3][5][6][7]

In the 2016 movie The Founder, Richard McDonald is played by Nick Offerman, and John Carroll Lynch portrays Maurice McDonald.

References

  1. ↑ Business Stories of All Time: Ray Kroc; John Wiley & Sons; 1996.
  2. ↑ Anderson, Susan Heller; David W. Dunlap (1984-11-21). "New York Day By Day; 50 Billion and Still Cooking". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Restaurant Innovator Richard McDonald Dies at 89: Pioneered McDonald's, World's Largest Restaurant System". Hotel Online. July 1998. Archived from the original on 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  4. ↑ "La reina de la cocina (rápida) cumple 100 años". May 30, 2004 El Mundo (Spain).
  5. ↑ Richard James McDonald at Find a Grave
  6. ↑ Gilpin, Kenneth N. (1998-07-16). "Richard McDonald, 89, Fast-Food Revolutionary". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  7. ↑ "Fast food supremo dies" July 15, 1998. BBC News. Accessed January 6, 2007.