Phil Donahue, Famed Talk Show Host, Dead At 88

Journalist Phil Donahue, known for his longtime gig hosting his eponymous talk show, has died at age 88, according to TMZ.

Donahue, who was inducted into the Television Academy's Hall of Fame in 1993, hosted "The Phil Donahue Show" from 1967 to 1996. He nabbed nine Daytime Emmy Awards during its run and received a lifetime achievement award in 1996. The host also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2024 from President Joe Biden. Before the show's debut, he had worked as a broadcast journalist anchoring the news on the radio and hosting a call-in show called the "Conversation Piece" in Dayton, Ohio, which inspired his television talk show. 

The secret to his success was involving the audience in the show, which was originally just supposed to focus on Donahue asking questions of his interviewees. "I realized during the commercials that these people in the audience were asking better questions than I was," Donahue told the Television Academy. "So about the third or fourth show, I went out in the audience and it saved us. There would've been no 'Donahue' show without that studio audience." The show was a hit and saw national syndication in 1970. In the 1980s, its pioneering format inspired a host of competing talk shows, from "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to "The Sally Jessy Raphael Show."

"The Phil Donahue Show" became known for pushing the envelope with controversial guests and interviews at the time they aired. In 1985, an episode focused on abortion rights was a lightning rod. In 1967, he featured an openly gay man, one of the first TV shows to do so. Another first? Male strippers on television. Donahue told the Television Academy he wasn't sure if such a show would work. "I walked out there for that show, and I'm telling you, I couldn't believe that audience. They screamed nonstop for 60 minutes," he said. "We were naughty before Howard Stern, before anybody had even heard of shock jocks."

After his show ended, Donahue hosted a talk show on MSNBC, but his anti-war views got him fired in 2003 as the channel was worried about ratings in light of public support for the Iraq War. "They were terrified of the antiwar voice," Donahue told Democracy Now! in 2013.

Donahue married actor Marlo Thomas in 1980, and while he retired from television, he kept busy co-writing a book and hosting a podcast, both on marriage, with his wife. He and his wife also supported causes close to their hearts, including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital — Thomas' father, actor Danny Thomas, founded the organization — and supported women's rights. "I do miss it occasionally," Donahue told People in 2024 when reflecting on his career. "Sometimes I'll shout my question to a guest on the screen and hope they'll somehow hear me."