The previous Phil Donahue Present host handed away on Sunday evening surrounded by his family members.
Aug. 19 2024, Revealed 10:10 a.m. ET
Legendary TV speak present host Phil Donahue has died aged 88.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Donahue, who first reinvented the TV speak present format because the host of The Phil Donahue Present within the Sixties and past, handed away on Sunday evening at his dwelling on the Higher East Aspect of Manhattan following an extended sickness.
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Donahue’s household confirmed his dying in a touching assertion on Monday morning.
His household mentioned in an announcement: “Donahue died at his dwelling surrounded by his household, together with his spouse of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, his sister, his kids, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie.”
Donahue pioneered the trendy format of issue-based daytime speak exhibits – and was the primary so as to add the staple of viewers participation – when The Phil Donahue Present first premiered in November 1967.
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His present later grew to become one of the crucial influential applications of its time and remained influential till it resulted in September 1996.
In addition to internet hosting his eponymous daytime speak present, Donahue additionally usually appeared on TODAY from 1979 to 1988.
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Donahue’s spouse Marlo Thomas, 86, starred within the sitcom That Woman. Her father Danny Thomas additionally based St. Jude Kids’s Analysis Hospital.
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TODAY hosts Craig Melvin, 45, and Sheinelle Jones, 46, introduced Donahue’s dying in the course of the present on Monday morning.
Jones mentioned: “You recognize, we overuse generally the phrase trailblazer, however he definitely was, certainly.”
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Donahue’s passing additionally comes months after he visited the White Home to obtain the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden in Could.
The White Home mentioned upon presenting Donahue with the distinguished honor: “Phil Donahue is a journalist and tv pioneer who pioneered the daytime issue-oriented tv speak present.
“Donahue was the primary daytime speak present to function viewers participation and one of the crucial influential televisions applications of its time.”
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Donahue as soon as mentioned: “A chat present is a essentially democratic occasion. It permits the individuals who actually personal the airwaves, the general public, to face up and truly use them.”
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Born on December 21, 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio, Donahue blazed a brand new path when his present debuted on November 6, 1967. Though he started his profession as a radio host, he was recruited by the Dayton, Ohio TV station WLWD to repackage his call-in program for native TV.
Donahue rapidly leaned into hot-button points along with his callers and in addition allowed viewers members to ask questions. The primary-time TV host, who was a religious Irish Catholic, launched one among his first episodes with a tense viewers dialogue with controversial atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair.
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He mentioned throughout an interview with the Archives of American Tv concerning his first present: “Sincere to goodness, I did not suppose I used to be going to have the ability to get out of the constructing; folks went berserk.
“We knew we needed to have personalities that will transfer you to go to that phone. The response was so intense that we paralyzed a part of the telephone system in Dayton.”
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In lieu of flowers, Donahue’s household requested donations be made to both St. Jude Kids’s Analysis Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund.
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Donahue additionally mentioned his philosophy as a chat present host in 1993 when he was inducted into the Tv Corridor of Fame, saying: “A chat present is a essentially democratic occasion.
“It permits the individuals who actually personal the airwaves, the general public, to face up and truly use them. No one screens our viewers. No one tells our viewers what to say. That is the road nook.”
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Though The Phil Donahue Present aired its final episode in September 1996, the speak present pioneer briefly returned to TV in 2002 to host Donahue on MSNBC. This system was canceled a number of months later.
In lieu of flowers, Donahue’s household requested donations be made to St. Jude Kids’s Analysis Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund.
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