‘Daytime Talk Show Legend Phil Donahue Passes Away at 88’

Phil Donahue, renowned as the “King of Daytime Talk,” passed away at the age of 88. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by family, on Sunday, August 18. To honor the influential daytime television icon, let’s look back at his remarkable career.

Donahue began his illustrious career in the late 1950s, initially working on radio and television. It wasn’t long before he conceptualized his own talk show, The Phil Donahue Show, launched in Dayton, Ohio, in 1967. The program quickly gained a strong reputation for addressing controversial subjects, including an attention-grabbing 1971 episode featuring inmates at the Ohio State Penitentiary, which earned significant journalistic acclaim.

Unlike other shows of the time, Donahue’s hour-long broadcasts were dedicated to a single issue per episode. Topics like abuse within the Catholic Church, race relations, and feminism were frequent subjects of discussion, breaking ground as the first show to let audience members directly ask questions.

By 1974, the show rebranded as Donahue and moved to Chicago. This transition was pivotal. As Ron Weiner, former director of Donahue, noted, “When Phil came to Chicago, he found his most important element — the Chicago studio audience. From that point, the program really took off.”

Phil Donahue himself echoed this sentiment, stating, “There would be no Donahue show if I hadn’t somehow accidentally brought in the audience.”

In 1985, nearly a decade later, the show made another big move, this time to the iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. From this new location, Donahue continued to shape daytime television by engaging with activists, politicians, athletes, actors, and musicians. January 1987 saw five episodes filmed in the Soviet Union, and in 1990, Donahue conducted a landmark interview with Nelson Mandela.

In a groundbreaking 1992 episode, Donahue facilitated a presidential debate between Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown Jr., notable for its absence of both an audience and commercial breaks.

Throughout his career, Donahue interviewed numerous prominent figures such as Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Dolly Parton, Roseanne Barr, Ralph Nader, Elton John, Steve Martin, and Richard Pryor, among many others.

Donahue’s dedication and innovation in talk show journalism earned him 20 Emmy Awards, with 10 for outstanding host and 10 for the show itself. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Phil Donahue’s impact paved the way for future television hosts like Ricki Lake and Oprah Winfrey. Oprah once expressed in the September 2002 issue of O, “If there had been no Phil Donahue show, there would be no Oprah Winfrey Show.” She added, “He was the first to acknowledge that women are interested in more than mascara tips and cake recipes — that we’re intelligent, concerned about the world around us, and want the best possible lives for ourselves.”

After 29 successful years, Donahue aired its final episode in September 1996. Though there was an attempt to revive the show in 2002, it was ultimately canceled by MSNBC in February 2003 due to low ratings. Nonetheless, Donahue didn’t step away from the spotlight. In 2007, he co-directed, produced, and wrote the documentary Body of War.

Phil Donahue enjoyed a rich life outside the television world as well. He married his second wife, Marlo Thomas, in 1980. The couple first connected in 1977 when she appeared on his talk show as a guest. Together, they shared 44 years of marriage.

In a heartfelt post on Facebook, Marlo Thomas reminisced about the “instant chemistry” she felt with Phil. The couple collaborated on a book titled What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share With Us the Secrets to a Happy Life. For Marlo, the keys to their enduring marriage were “love, listening, and lust.”

The news of Phil Donahue’s passing on August 18 was first reported by Today. At the time of his death, he was surrounded by his loving family, including Marlo Thomas, his children, grandchildren, and his golden retriever, Charlie. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund.

Source: TODAY