Emmy-Winning TV Legend Phil Donahue Dies at Age 88
Legendary TV talk show host Phil Donahue has died at the age of 88.
“Groundbreaking TV talk show journalist Phil Donahue died Sunday night at home surrounded by his wife of 44 years Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved Golden Retriever Charlie. Donahue was 88 years old and passed away peacefully following a long illness,” a statement from his family read, according to Deadline.
No further details, including the cause of his death, were about his cause of death were released, according to Today.
On Monday’s “Today” show, Sheinelle Jones sought to sum up Donahue.
“You know, we overuse sometimes the word trailblazer, but he certainly was, indeed,” she said.
RIP Phil Donahue, 88.
One of the true trail-blazing icons of American television. He hosted over 6,000 talk shows, and was the first to interact with a studio audience. Interviewing him for CNN a few years ago lived up to every expectation.. such a clever, interesting man. pic.twitter.com/vxJwCu0OSt— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) August 19, 2024
Donahue created the mold for daytime TV talk shows.
Donahue won nine Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding host.
“The Phil Donahue Show” began in 1967 in Ohio. After some years in Chicago after the show became syndicated, it moved to New York City in 1985.
Over the course of the years, it was renamed “Donahue,” and filmed its last show in 1996, 29 years after Donahue’s debut.
The show made the studio audience and the folks at home part of the show. Audience members could ask directly, while viewers could call in their questions, according to ABC.
“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,” he said once.
Ohio native Phil Donahue has died at the age of 88. Relive some of the greatest moments of his influential talk show from this highlight clip that celebrated 20 years of The Phil Donahue Show. https://t.co/pK8kxWgpWh pic.twitter.com/DUU9DCtBMB
— WLWT (@WLWT) August 19, 2024
Donahue tried to make a comeback in 2002 on MSNBC, but the show lasted less than a year, as noted by NPR.
“I was fired because I did not support the invasion of Iraq,” he said. “I thought I was going to be a hit because I was different. Everybody else was beating the war drums. I wanted to get on the air and say, ‘Why are you doing this?’”
Donahue once said television should be interesting, according to The New York Times.
“Television’s problem is not controversy,” he explained. “It is blandness.”
The Times report said Donahue offered an epitaph for himself: “Here lies Phil. Occasionally he went too far.”
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