The Emmy-winning ‘Donahue’ talk show host and media personality died following a long illness, his family said
Renowned “King of Daytime Talk” Phil Donahue, who created and hosted the The Phil Donahue Show, died on Sunday, Aug. 18 at the age of 88, PEOPLE can confirm.
In a statement first reported by the Today show on Monday, Aug. 19, Donahue’s family said the groundbreaking TV talk show journalist died in his home surrounded by his family including his wife of 44 years — actress Marlo Thomas — as well as “his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie.”
The statement noted he “passed away peacefully 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 Dec. 21, 1935, Donahue grew up in Cleveland and began his media career in the late 1950s in talk radio and television. He started his eponymous talk show in 1967 in Dayton, Ohio. The show gained 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 devoted its hour-long broadcast to single issues including child abuse in the Catholic Church, feminism and race relations, and it was the first to allow audience members to ask guests questions. In 1974, once he relocated the show to Chicago and changed its name to Donahue, the host found his niche while innovating the daytime format.
“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.”
The show then moved to New York City in January 1985. While broadcasting live from 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Donahue continued to break new ground in daytime TV, interviewing politicians, activists, musicians, athletes and actors.
