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.
The family requests in lieu of flowers that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund, according to the statement.
After working as a local TV reporter in his native Ohio and launching a talk show on local CBS affiliate WHIO in Dayton, he moved his “The Phil Donahue Show” to the local NBC affiliate WLWD, also in Dayton, in 1967. Three years later, it entered nationwide syndication, now titled simply “Donahue.”
Phil Donahue blows a kiss to Oprah Winfrey as she presents him with a Lifetime Achievement Award…
The show would run for 26 years in syndication, produced at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza, until its last show in September 1996.
“Donahue” rose to national prominence for its compelling guests and its pioneering, open-forum interview style, where audience members could ask questions of the guest and fans could call in to the show. That format was soon emulated by others who followed, including Oprah Winfrey and Sally Jessy Raphael.
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“We knew if we were to have any chance to succeed, you know, we couldn’t be talking about juvenile delinquency or, you know, all these broad, very imprecise issues that are often discussed at Rotary Club meetings and other places. We knew we had to have personalities who moved you to go to that phone and make a phone call,” said Donahue, discussing the show with the Television Academy Foundation.
Among the topics Donahue chose to highlight on his show were breakdancing, which was was new to national audiences after originating in New York City when Donahue featured it in 1983.
Donahue also prompted conversations around fringe figures, like Ku Klux Klansman David Duke, whom he interviewed in 1978.
“You don’t fix racism by throwing a blanket over the people who are racist. Put them on, let’s hear them,” said Donahue, discussing the Duke interview with the Television Academy Foundation.
Donahue’s wife, actress Marlo Thomas, posted a touching tribute to her husband on Instagram on Monday. She announced she would be taking time to heal, reflecting on her husband’s life and thanking fans for their support.
“As a man who spent his career loving his audiences, Phil got such a kick out of our cozy little community here, and I know he would be very touched by the heartwarming thoughts and memories you’ve been sharing,” wrote Thomas in a post with a throwback photo of her and Donahue on a scooter. “I wish you good health and happy days in the company of family and friends, and I hope that you will continue to hold close those you cherish most, just as I was blessed to do with my beloved Phillip.
President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Phil Donahue during a ceremony…
Oprah Winfrey also took to Instagram on Monday to pay tribute to Donahue, who she said paved the way for her success.
“There wouldn’t have been an Oprah Show without Phil Donahue being the first to prove that daytime talk and women watching should be taken seriously,” Winfrey wrote alongside a black and white photo of her and Donahue. “He was a pioneer. I’m glad I got to thank him for it. Rest in peace Phil.”
Donahue earned 20 career Emmy Awards for “Donahue” and, in 1992, the Television Academy inducted him into its Hall of Fame. In 1980, he was awarded a personal Peabody Award, recognized for his “sensitive yet probing interviews, his ability to ask the tough questions without seeming to offend, his knack for getting to the heart of the matter are all important. Above all, Phil Donahue brings to his interviews and discussions what has been characterized as an ‘innate sense of honesty.'”
In May, Donahue was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden. He was lauded at the ceremony as pioneering “the live daytime talk show, holding a mirror up to America,” and for “[interviewing] everyone from our greatest stars to our forgotten neighbors, uniting us around the toughest issues of our time,”
Donahue is survived by his wife, Thomas, as well as “his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever Charlie,” according to the family statement.
