Entertainment
Phil Donahue passed away at the age of 88 after a long illness
The former host of The Phil Donahue Show passed away on Sunday evening surrounded by his loved ones.
August 19, 2024, published at 10:10 am ET
Legendary TV talk show host Phil Donahue passed away at the age of 88.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Donahue, who first reinvented the TV talk show format as host The Phil Donahue Show in the 1960s and beyond, he died Sunday evening at his home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side after a long illness.
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His family said in a statement: “Donahue died at his home, surrounded by his family, including his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie.”
Donahue pioneered modern daytime talk shows – and was the first to add the staple of audience participation – when The Phil Donahue Show first premiered in November 1967.
His show later became one of the most influential programs of its time and remained influential until it ended in September 1996.
In addition to hosting his eponymous daytime talk show, Donahue also made regular appearances TODAY from 1979 to 1988.
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TODAY hosts Craig Melvin45, and Sheinelle Jones46, announced Donahue’s death during the Monday morning show.
Jones said, “You know, we sometimes overuse the word pioneer, but he certainly was.”
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Donahue’s death also comes months after he visited the White House to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the president Joe Biden in May.
The White House said in presenting Donahue with the prestigious honor: “Phil Donahue is a journalist and television pioneer who pioneered the daytime television talk show.
Donahue was the first daytime talk show to feature audience participation and one of the most influential television programs of its time.”
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Born on December 21, 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio, Donahue broke new ground when his show debuted on November 6, 1967. Although he started his career as a radio host, he was recruited by the TV station WLWD in Dayton, Ohio to repackage his program. call-in program for local television.
Donahue quickly addressed current issues with his callers and also allowed the audience to ask questions. The first TV presenter, who was a devout Irish Catholic, launched one of his first episodes with a tense audience discussion with controversial atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair.
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He said during an interview with the Archives of American Television about his first show, “Honestly, I didn’t think I could leave the building; people were going crazy.
“We knew we needed personalities that would make you want to go to that phone. The response was so intense that we shut down part of the telephone system in Dayton.”
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Donahue also discussed his philosophy as a talk show host in 1993 when he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, saying, “A talk show is a fundamentally democratic event.
“It allows the people who actually own the airwaves, the public, to stand up and actually use it. No one screens our audience. No one tells our audience what to say. This is the corner of the street.”
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Although The Phil Donahue Show broadcast his last episode in September 1996, the talk show pioneer briefly returned to television in 2002 to be a presenter Donahue on MSNBC. The program was canceled several months later.
In lieu of flowers, Donahue’s family requested donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund.
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