Phil Donahue, the celebrated “King of Daytime Talk” and creator of The Phil Donahue Show, passed away on Sunday, Aug. 18, at the age of 88, PEOPLE has confirmed.
According to a statement first shared by the Today show on Monday, Aug. 19, Donahue’s family revealed that the trailblazing talk show host died peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones, including his wife of 44 years, actress Marlo Thomas, his sister, children, grandchildren, and his cherished golden retriever, Charlie.
The statement mentioned that Donahue “passed away peacefully after a long illness.”
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund.
Phil Donahue was born on Dec. 21, 1935, in Cleveland and began his media journey in the late 1950s, starting with talk radio and television.
In 1967, he launched his namesake talk show in Dayton, Ohio, which quickly gained recognition for its bold approach to controversial subjects, including a groundbreaking weeklong series inside the Ohio state penitentiary in 1971.
The Phil Donahue Show became known for its hour-long focus on single issues, such as child abuse in the Catholic Church, feminism, and race relations. It was also the first show to allow audience members to interact directly with guests.
After moving the show to Chicago in 1974 and rebranding it as Donahue, the host revolutionized the daytime talk format.
“When Phil came to Chicago, he discovered his key ingredient — the Chicago studio audience,” Ron Weiner, the former director of Donahue, recalled in a 2023 interview with WGN-TV. “From that moment, the show truly soared.”
Donahue recalled, “One day, I stepped into the audience, and it became obvious that there wouldn’t be a Donahue show without that spontaneous decision to involve them.”
In January 1985, the show relocated to New York City, broadcasting live from 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where Donahue continued to push the boundaries of daytime television, interviewing a diverse array of guests, including politicians, activists, musicians, athletes, and actors.
In January 1987, Donahue became the first to film five episodes in the Soviet Union, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He also made history in March 1990 by interviewing Nelson Mandela via satellite from Lusaka, Zambia, marking Mandela’s first talk show appearance.
In April 1992, Donahue hosted a landmark televised debate between Democratic presidential candidates Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown Jr., conducted without an audience, moderator, or commercial interruptions.
Over the years, Phil Donahue welcomed a wide range of celebrity guests, including Sammy Davis Jr., Ralph Nader, Elton John, Gloria Steinem, Gregory Peck, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Dolly Parton, Muhammad Ali, Michael J. Fox, Roseanne Barr, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, and many others.
Donahue’s groundbreaking work earned him 20 Emmy Awards—10 for outstanding host and 10 for the talk show itself—setting the stage for future daytime hosts like Geraldo Rivera, Sally Jesse Raphael, Ricki Lake, Montel Williams, and Oprah Winfrey, whose show, like Donahue’s, originated in Chicago.
If there had been no Phil Donahue Show, there would be no Oprah Winfrey Show,” Oprah Winfrey wrote in the September 2002 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.
“He was the first to recognize that women are interested in more than just mascara tips and cake recipes—we’re intelligent, we care about the world around us, and we strive for the best lives possible.”
The show remained based in New York City until its final episode in September 1996, wrapping up 29 years on the air.
After a six-year break, Donahue returned to primetime in 2002 with a new interview-focused program, but MSNBC canceled it in February 2003 due to low ratings, as reported by The New York Times.
Following this, Donahue went on to write, co-direct, and produce the 2007 documentary Body of War.
Donahue married his second wife, Marlo Thomas, in 1980, three years after they first met when she appeared as a guest on his talk show in 1977. Reflecting on their initial meeting, Thomas shared in a nostalgic Facebook post that “it was instant chemistry.”
The couple later co-authored a book titled What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share with Us the Secrets to a Happy Life in 2020.
In May 2023, Thomas told PEOPLE that the keys to her happy marriage with Donahue were “love, listening, and lust.”
She explained, “You have to listen to truly understand what the other person is thinking and experiencing. You need to love each other. And without lust, there’s nothing.” She added, “He’s the best. I’m very lucky.”
In May 2024, President Joe Biden honored Phil Donahue with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, alongside Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky and Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh.
Donahue is survived by his wife, Marlo Thomas, and his four children—Michael, Kevin, Daniel, and Mary Rose—from his first marriage. He was predeceased by his son James “Jim” Patrick, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 51 due to an aortic aneurysm.
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