Phil Donahue, trailblazing talk show host, dead at 88
Legendary talk show host Phil Donahue died Sunday night, his family confirmed. He was 88.
The TV trailblazer died “peacefully” at home following a long illness, per the “Today” show. He was surrounded by his family, including his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, as well as his sister, children and grandchildren and beloved golden retriever, Charlie.
His loved ones requested that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund in lieu of flowers.
Donahue, who was best known for his eponymous talk show, began his career in radio in 1959 before making the transition to the small screen in 1967. “The Phil Donahue Show,” which tackled controversial topics considered taboo at the time, made history when it was nationally syndicated in 1970.
The daytime show was also the first to include audience participation.
Donahue’s candid and refreshing approach to topics such as abortion, incest, artificial insemination, alcoholism, homosexuality and more made his popularity explode.
“One sometimes suspects that Donahue’s idea of the perfect guest is an interracial lesbian couple who had a child by artificial insemination,” a Newsweek writer once wrote.
After launching his show in Ohio, Donahue relocated to Chicago before settling in New York. He remained No. 1 in daytime television until Oprah Winfrey landed on the scene in 1985.
“It’s just not possible to overstate the enormousness of her impact on the daytime television game,” he later said. “It was staggering.”
Donahue retired his show in 1996 after turning 60 and receiving 11 Daytime Emmys. Winfrey presented him with a lifetime achievement honor.
In May, President Biden honored Donahue with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Donahue is survived by Thomas, 86, and his children Michael, Daniel, Kevin and Mary Rose, whom he welcomed with his first wife, Margaret Cooney. Another son, Jim, 51, died in 2014 of an aortic aneurysm.
