Phil Donahue, pioneering daytime TV talk show icon, dies at 88 following a long illness
Phil Donahue, the renowned "King of Daytime Talk" and creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show, passed away on August 18th at the age of 88, said People.
According to a statement reported by the Today show, Donahue died peacefully at his home, surrounded by his family, including his wife of 44 years, actress Marlo Thomas, as well as 'his sister, children, grandchildren, and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie'. The statement noted that he had died following a long illness.
Donahue's family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund.
Born on December 21, 1935, in Cleveland, Donahue began his media career in the late 1950s in talk radio and television. He launched his eponymous talk show in 1967 in Dayton, Ohio, gaining credibility and acclaim for tackling controversial topics and taking viewers behind bars for a weeklong series at the Ohio state penitentiary in 1971.
The Phil Donahue Show was known for devoting its full hour-long broadcasts to single, often controversial, issues such as child abuse in the Catholic Church, feminism, and race relations. It was also the first talk show to allow audience members to directly ask questions of the guests. In 1974, after relocating the show to Chicago and renaming it simply "Donahue", the host was able to further innovate the daytime talk show format and find his niche.
"When Phil came to Chicago, he found his most important element — the Chicago studio audience," Ron Weiner, the former director of Donahue, told WGN-TV in 2023. "From that point, the program really took off."
Donahue added, "One day, I just went out in the audience, and it's clear there would be no Donahue show if I hadn't somehow accidentally brought in the audience."
In 1985, The Phil Donahue Show moved to New York City, broadcasting live from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. From this new location, Donahue continued to break new ground in daytime television, interviewing a wide range of notable figures including politicians, activists, musicians, athletes, and actors.
Donahue was a pioneering host, being the first to tape episodes of his show in the Soviet Union in 1987. In 1990, he conducted one of the first televised interviews with Nelson Mandela, who appeared on the show via satellite from Zambia. The show also hosted a notable debate between Democratic presidential candidates Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown in 1992, which broke new ground by being done without an audience, moderator, or commercial breaks.
Over the years, Donahue's show featured many other high-profile celebrity guests, from Sammy Davis Jr. to Richard Pryor. His innovative approach and impact on the talk show genre earned him 20 Emmy Awards, 10 for outstanding host and 10 for the show itself. Donahue paved the way for other influential daytime talk show hosts like Geraldo Rivera, Oprah Winfrey, and many others.
"If there had been no Phil Donahue show, there would be no Oprah Winfrey Show," Winfrey wrote in the September 2002 issue of O, the Oprah Magazine.
"He was the first to acknowledge that women are interested in more than mascara tips and cake recipes — that we're intelligent, we're concerned about the world around us and we want the best possible lives for ourselves."
The Phil Donahue Show remained based in New York City until its final taping in September 1996, after a 29-year run. Following a 6-year hiatus, Donahue returned to primetime TV in 2002 to host another interview-driven program simply called "Donahue" on MSNBC. However, this show was canceled in 2003 due to low viewership.
After the cancellation of his MSNBC show, Donahue wrote, co-directed and produced the 2007 documentary "Body of War."
Donahue married his second wife, actress Marlo Thomas, in 1980. The two had first met in 1977 when Thomas was a guest on Donahue's talk show, and they later co-authored the book "What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share with Us the Secrets to a Happy Life" in 2020.
In May 2024, Donahue was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden, alongside Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky and actress Michelle Yeoh.
Donahue is survived by Thomas and four children — Michael, Kevin, Daniel and Mary Rose — from his first marriage. He is predeceased by son James "Jim" Patrick, who died in 2014 of an aortic aneurysm at the age of 51.
