Phil Donahue — host of the trail-blazing daytime television talk show The Phil Donahue Show — has died.

The 88-year-old had been been battling an illness for quite some time, but did recently appear at the White House to receive an honor from President Joe Biden.

• News of Donahue’s death was first reported by Today on Monday (Aug. 19).
• His syndicated talk show ran from 1970 to 1996 and featured thousands of one-hour episodes.
• Doanahue’s wife is actress’s Marlo Thomas, daughter to St. Jude Children’s Hospital founder Danny Thomas.

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Specifics of Donahue’s illness and cause of death were not shared, but in the hours since his passing, he’s been rightly referred to as a trailblazer. The Ohio-raised newsman and talk show host was first to allow audience participation.

He also opened doors for women in the talk show host category. Oprah Winfrey has famously said that without the Phil Donahue Show, there would be no Oprah Winfrey Show.

“He was the first to acknowledge that women are interested in more than mascara tips and cake recipes,” she said in a 2002 issue of O, the Oprah Magazine (per People). “That we’re intelligent, we’re concerned about the world around us and we want the best possible lives for ourselves.”

A post on Winfrey’s website forwards Donahue remembering going up against shows like Let’s Make a Deal when he began in 1969 (before syndication). Controversy was intentional, because he was competing with a host “who’s giving $5,000 to a woman dressed like a chicken salad sandwich.”

Presidential candidates, world leaders, activists, legendary actors and important athletes like Muhammad Ali were all guests on Donahue. Country music stars joined him, as well: A quick Google search finds clips of performers like Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and Kenny Rogers on his show.

Full episodes with stars like John Denver are still available on YouTube.

Seven years after retiring, Donahue brought Donahue back to television, but the MSNBC show didn’t last a year.

Over 20 years that followed, he’d appear in support of various political or social causes. His last appearance came in May 2024, when he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Biden.

Donahue married Thomas in 1980 and they had no children together. He is survived by four kids from his first marriage. Son James Patrick died in 2014 at age 51.

Billy Dukes is a Senior Editor and Executive Producer of Video Content at Taste of Country. He specializes in country music interviews, trend analysis and the Secret History of Country Music. Additionally, Billy covers Yellowstone, 1923 and related television shows through the Dutton Rules podcast. To date, he’s written more than 13,000 articles for Taste of Country and produced over 3,000 videos for the Taste of Country YouTube channel.