Phil Donahue, Daytime Talk Show Pioneer, Dead at 88

The family of Donahue said he had been suffering from a “long illness.”

Renowned “King of Daytime Talk” Phil Donahue, who rose to fame in the late 1960s as the first host to interact with a studio audience, died on Sunday, Aug. 18. He was 88.

A representative for the family, Susan Arons, confirmed his death.

“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,” said a statement from his family. “Donahue was 88 years old and passed away peacefully following a long illness.”

In lieu of flowers, loved ones have asked for donations to be made to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund.

Donahue was born on December 21, 1935, in Cleveland, Ohio. Though he studied business in college, he embarked on a career as a radio journalist in the late 1950s.

He worked at various radio stations and as a reporter for the CBS Evening News before securing several prominent roles at Dayton, Ohio’s CBS affiliate, WHIO, including morning news anchor and host of an afternoon radio talk show. In 1967, he moved to a rival station, WLWD, and launched The Phil Donahue Show.

The Phil Donahue Show—later renamed Donahue—gained credibility and acclaim for tackling controversial topics and, in 1971, taking viewers behind bars for a weeklong series at the Ohio State Penitentiary.

The show, known for allowing audience members to ask guests questions, devoted its hour-long broadcast to “all the topics hot,” including single issues such as child abuse in the Catholic Church, feminism, and race relations.

“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.”

The show enjoyed a remarkable 29-year run between 1967 and 1996, quickly evolving from a local production in Dayton, Ohio, to a nationally syndicated success.

Donahue recalled, “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.”

Donahue won 20 Daytime Emmys during its run and, at its peak, averaged about eight million viewers per episode. Donahue himself also earned a recurring interview segment on Today from 1979 to 1988.

“Phil Donahue essentially started this company and began an entire industry in daytime syndication,” Bob Turner, then president of Multimedia Entertainment, said in a statement to The Times in 1996 when Donahue announced his retirement.

Oprah Winfrey paid tribute to her predecessor on Instagram, writing, “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. He was a pioneer. I’m glad I got to thank him for it. Rest in peace, Phil.”

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden honored him with a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The White House called him a “television pioneer,” whose daytime chat show became “one of the most influential” programs of its time.