Phil Donahue, the groundbreaking TV talk show journalist, passed away at the age of 88 at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was surrounded by his wife, Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children, grandchildren, and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie. Donahue’s family announced his peaceful passing following a long illness.
In lieu of flowers, his loved ones have requested 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. Despite studying business in college, he pursued a career as a radio journalist in the late 1950s, working at various radio stations and as a reporter for the CBS Evening News.
He later achieved prominence at Dayton, Ohio’s CBS affiliate, WHIO, taking on roles such as 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*. Renamed *Donahue*, the show gained recognition for addressing controversial topics and taking viewers behind bars for a series at the Ohio State Penitentiary in 1971.
This marked the turning point for the show, which grew from a local production in Dayton, Ohio, to a nationally syndicated success between 1967 and 1996. The program won 20 Daytime Emmys and, at its peak, had an average of about eight million viewers per episode. Donahue also had a recurring interview segment on *Today* from 1979 to 1988.
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