Phil Donahue, pioneering daytime talk show host, has died (2024)

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Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre, has died

  • By JULIE CARR SMYTHAssociated Press
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We’ve had to say goodbye to some beloved musicians, athletes, actors and more. Here's a look at the stars we've lost so far in 2024, through July.

Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre that brought success to Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Ellen DeGeneres and many others, has died. He was 88.

NBC's “Today” show, citing family members, said Donahue died Sunday after a long illness.

Dubbed “the king of daytime talk,” Donahue was the first to incorporate audience participation in a talk show, typically during a full hour with a single guest.

“Just one guest per show? No band?” he remembered being routinely asked in his 1979 memoir, “Donahue, my own story.”

The format set “The Phil Donahue Show” apart from other interview shows of the 1960s and made it a trendsetter in daytime television, where it was particularly popular with female audiences.

Phil Donahue, pioneering daytime talk show host, has died (1)

Later renamed “Donahue,” the program launched in Dayton, Ohio, in 1967. Donahue’s willingness to explore the hot-button social issues of the day emerged immediately, when he featured atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair as his first guest. He would later air shows on feminism, hom*osexuality, consumer protection and civil rights, among hundreds of other topics.

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The show was syndicated in 1970 and ran on national television for the next 26 years, racking up 20 Emmy Awards for the show and for Donahue as host, as well as a Peabody for Donahue in 1980. In May, President Joe Biden awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Donahue, who was cited as a pioneer of the daytime talk show.

The show included radio-style call-ins, which Donahue greeted with his signature, “Is the caller there?”

The show’s last episode aired in 1996 in New York, where Donahue was living with his wife, actress Marlo Thomas. He met Thomas, the “That Girl” star of the 1960s who was a household name at the time and would later become a regular on “Friends,” when she appeared on his show in 1977.

He later said it was love at first sight, and they did a poor job of hiding it on the air.

“You are really fascinating,” Donahue told Thomas, grasping her hand. “You are wonderful,” Thomas said back. “You are loving and generous, and you like women and it’s a pleasure, and whoever the woman in your life is, is very lucky.”

Phil Donahue, pioneering daytime talk show host, has died (2)

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The two had been married since 1980. Donahue had five children, four sons and a daughter, from a previous marriage.

Donahue returned briefly to television in 2002, hosting another “Donahue” show on MSNBC. The station canceled it after six months, citing low ratings.

He was born Phillip John Donahue on Dec. 21, 1935, part of a middle-class Irish Catholic family in Cleveland. They moved to Centerville, Ohio, when Donahue was a child, where he lived across the street from Erma Bombeck, the future humorist and syndicated columnist.

Donahue was in the first graduating class of St. Edward High School, a Catholic all-boys preparatory school in Lakewood, in 1953 and graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in business administration in 1957. He later rebelled against, and left, the church, though he poignantly recalled in his book that “a little piece” of his faith would always be with him.

After a series of early jobs in radio and TV, Donahue was invited to move an earlier radio talk show to Dayton’s WLWD television station in 1967. It moved in 1974 to Chicago, where it stayed for years, then ended its run in New York.

The show featured discussions with spiritual leaders, doctors, homemakers, activists and entertainers or politicians who might be passing through town. He said striking upon the show’s winning formula was a happy accident.

“It may have been a full three years before any of us began to understand that our program was something special,” Donahue wrote. “The show’s style had developed not by genius but by necessity. The familiar talk-show heads were not available to us in Dayton, Ohio. ...The result was improvisation.”

That lent a freedom to the show that persisted as it grew to No. 1 status in its class.

With an amiable style and a head of salt-and-pepper hair, Donahue boxed with Muhammed Ali. He played football with Alice Cooper. His guests gave cooking lessons, taught break dancing and, more controversially, described “mansharing,” being a mistress, lesbian motherhood or — with the help of gathered video that got shows banned in certain cities — how natural childbirth, abortion or reverse vasectomies worked.

A stop on “Donahue” became a must for important politicians, activists, athletes, business leaders and entertainers, from Hubert Humphrey to Ronald Reagan, Gloria Steinem to Anita Bryant, Lee Iacocca to Ray Kroc, John Wayne to Farrah Fawcett.

Outside of his famous talk show, Donahue pursued several other projects.

He partnered with Soviet journalist Vladimir Posner for a groundbreaking television discussion series during the Cold War in the 1980s. The U.S.-Soviet Bridge featured simultaneous broadcasts from the United States and the Soviet Union, where studio audiences could ask questions of one another. Donahue and Posner also co-hosted a weekly issues roundtable, Posner/Donahue, on CNBC in the 1990s.

Donahue also co-directed the 2006 documentary “Body of War,” which was nominated for an Oscar.

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Phil Donahue, pioneering daytime talk show host, has died (2024)

FAQs

Phil Donahue, pioneering daytime talk show host, has died? ›

Phil Donahue, the celebrated daytime talk show host who pioneered the television staple, has died, his publicist confirmed to CBS News. He was 88. Donahue died Sunday night surrounded by his wife, actor Marlo Thomas, and his sister, children and grandchildren, his publicist said in a statement.

Was Marlo Thomas still married to Phil Donahue when he died? ›

The couple famously fell in love on live television. Here's how they kept their relationship strong for decades afterwards. Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas were married for 44 years, and she was by his side when the talk show host died at home on Sunday, Aug. 18, at age 88.

What talk show host just died? ›

Phil Donahue, an innovative TV host who rose to fame in the late 1960s after he was the first person to interact with a studio audience on a talk show and brought new ideas into American living rooms, died Sunday, his family said. He was 88.

What faith is Phil Donahue? ›

He was born Phillip John Donahue on Dec. 21, 1935, part of a middle-class Irish Catholic family in Cleveland. Donahue was in the first graduating class of St. Edward High School, a Catholic all-boys preparatory school in the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood, in 1953.

Who was the first daytime talk show host? ›

Aug. 19, 2024 3:36 p.m. Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre that brought success to Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, Ellen DeGeneres and many others, has died. He was 88.

What year did Phil Donahue come out? ›

Donahue got his start in broadcasting in the 1950s, working for both TV and radio. He launched "The Phil Donahue Show" in Dayton, Ohio, in 1967 and it was syndicated nationally three years later.

What is Phil Donahue's cause of death? ›

Phil Donahue, whose influential TV talk show aired for nearly 30 years, has died at age 88. Donahue died Sunday night of an undisclosed illness, according to a family statement provided to ABC News by a representative for Donahue's wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas.

What is Phil Donahue best remembered for? ›

Phil Donahue (born December 21, 1935, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.—died August 18, 2024) is an American journalist and television personality who pioneered the daytime issue-oriented TV talk show.

Who did Phil Donahue marry? ›

Personal life and death

For a brief period in the 1970s, Donahue employed Vivian Maier, an American street photographer, as a nanny for his children. Donahue married actress Marlo Thomas on May 21, 1980.

Who is famous talk show host? ›

HostCountryTalk show(s) hosted
Kelly ClarksonUnited StatesThe Kelly Clarkson Show
Andy CohenUnited StatesWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Stephen ColbertUnited StatesThe Colbert Report, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Gary CollinsUnited StatesHome
45 more rows

What was the Donahue controversy? ›

The program moved to Chicago in 1974, shortened its name to "Donahue" and was syndicated across the United States. He took chances and welcomed controversy. He aired a birth in his first week. He televised an abortion in a later episode.

How many children does Marlo Thomas have? ›

“I'm not 29 anymore, my wife isn't pregnant, I'm not trying to raise kids, I don't have a mortgage — so it takes less courage for me to speak up.” Here's what to know about Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas' five children: Michael, Kevin, Daniel, Mary Rose and James.

Who was Marlo Thomas's mother? ›

Thomas was born in Detroit and raised in Beverly Hills, California, the eldest child of Rose Marie Cassaniti and comedian Danny Thomas.

Who has the most popular daytime talk show? ›

'The View' Is the Most-Watched Daytime Talk Show, Taking the Top Spot in All 23 Weeks of Original Telecasts This Season in Households and 22 of 23 Weeks in Total Viewers. For the week of Feb. 22, 2021, the most recent week including syndication, ABC's “The View” ranked No.

Who was the first female daytime talk show host? ›

Sally Jesse Raphael

Raphael was the first woman to host a syndicated talk show.

Who is the first woman to host her own talk show? ›

Billionaire media executive and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey is best known for hosting her internationally popular talk show from 1986 to 2011. From there, she launched her television network, OWN.

What religion is seed faith? ›

Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, seed-faith gospel, Faith movement, or Word-Faith movement) is a religious belief among some Charismatic Christians that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them ...

What denomination is the door of faith? ›

Door of Faith Ministries is a non-denominational Christian ministry. Although we are not affiliated with any one denomination, we work together with a number of Christian churches to build a strong spiritual base for our children. We believe in the fundamental doctrines of orthodox evangelical Christianity.

What denomination is Faith Fellowship? ›

Faith Fellowship Church is a Foursquare church which holds to the Articles of Faith of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (otherwise known as ICFG).

What religion is household of faith? ›

At the Household of Faith, we depend on the Holy Spirit to lead us exactly where God wants us to go. We are committed to helping you find your purpose and God's plan for your life. We are a Bible-teaching Christian church that understands that God's Word is what you need to change your life.

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