Famous talk show host Phil Donahue died on Aug 18 following a long bout of illness.
The journalist was well known for his innovative format when it came to topical daytime interactive talk shows. Donahue won 20 Emmy awards, (10 for outstanding host and 10 for the talk show.)
He died surrounded by his family; his wife for the last 44 years, Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children; Michael, Kevin, Daniel and Mary Rose and grandchildren.
The Phil Donahue Show first made its pilot episode in 1967 in Ohio and later moved to Chicago. New York City finally became its base in 1985.
The show dealt with issues such as child abuse in the Catholic Church, feminism and race relations and the audience would be allowed to question guests on the show.
Donahue also interviewed Nelson Mandela during his first appearance on a talk show through satellite from Lusaka, Zambia in March 1990.
“When Phil came to Chicago, he found his most important element – the Chicago studio audience. From that point, the program really took off,” said Ron Weiner, the former director of Donahue, in an interview with WGN-TV in 2023.
Donahue had then said, “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.”
The final episode of the show ended in 1996 after 29 years. Donahue did return to the world of television in 2002 on the sets of Donahue, which was by MSNBC, but the show was cancelled after a few months.
He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May this year from President Joe Biden. The medal is the highest honour awarded to civilians and is given to “individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace or other significant societal, public or private endeavours.”
It is also said that Donahue paved the way for people like Oprah Winfrey in the talk show host genre. Winfrey herself credited Donahue for this. In the September 2002 issue of O magazine, she said, “If there had been no Phil Donahue show, there would be no Oprah Winfrey show.”
She said of Donahue, “He was the first to acknowledge that women are interested in more than mascara tips and cake recipes -that we’re intelligent, we’re concerned about the world around us and we want the best possible lives for ourselves.”
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