Phil Donahue united a broadcaster鈥檚 telegenic appeal, an insistent curiosity, and a taste for provocative topics to create a new genre of television 鈥� the audience participation talk show 鈥� which briefly took over daytime television and sealed his status as a TV pioneer. The broadcaster, who was age 88, died on Sunday, his family said.
No cause of death was given, though his family said he'd "passed away peacefully following a long illness."
But even though he built his legend on cheeky stunts, Donahue often led earnest conversations on newsy topics. From interviewing former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke in 1991 as he was running for governor of Louisiana to jousting with conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, Donahue dug into hot-button issues with the zeal of an investigative journalist 鈥� emulating the kind of mainstream media figures who always inspired him.
鈥淚 grew up in this game with stars in my eyes,鈥� Donahue said in an interview with NPR in 2021. 鈥淚 always admired mainstream media types. They went right for the jugular. It appeared to me they didn鈥檛 have to be popular. They just had to be aggressive and have their facts straight.鈥�
Donahue sat his guests before a large studio audience, stalking through the crowd with a microphone, mixing questions from the onlookers with his own queries and 鈥� for a time 鈥� questions from callers over the telephone.
The former radio announcer lobbed questions with a down-to-earth charm and a flair for dramatic pauses so distinctive that impressionist Darrell Hammond captured it on Saturday Night Live. Another SNL alum, Phil Hartman, actually lampooned him to his face in 1989.
One of Donahue鈥檚 innovations was that he spoke to a predominantly female TV audience without talking down to them, highlighting a single topic per show: atheism, abortion, racism.
The host himself said controversy was the key to his show鈥檚 survival. 鈥淭he coin of our realm is the size of the audience,鈥� Donahue said . 鈥淲hat will draw a crowd, especially to a visually dull program? And we thought: Controversy. Controversy is what will do it.鈥�
Born Philip John Donahue in Cleveland, Ohio, he graduated from the University of Notre Dame and worked for a radio station in a small town in Michigan. 鈥淚 could stop the Mayor of Adrian, Michigan in the hallway,鈥� he told NPR in 2021. 鈥淚 was, like 21 鈥� I may have looked 16 鈥� and it was kind of a first-grade lesson in the power of journalism.鈥�
In 1967, Donahue moved a radio talk show he was hosting in Dayton, Ohio to local TV, and The Phil Donahue Show was born. His first guest was renowned atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair 鈥� who had brought a lawsuit against prayer in schools -- and a few years later, his show was syndicated nationally, kicking off a 26-year run in daytime television, mostly with little competition.
His mix of hot-button topics with earnest discussion was so successful that it was eventually emulated by everyone from Geraldo Rivera, Jerry Springer, and Morton Downey Jr. to Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey said as much while handing Donahue a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmy Awards in 1996, noting, 鈥淗ad there not been a Phil Donahue, I don鈥檛 think there could have been an Oprah.鈥�
Donahue, speaking with the Archive of American Television, said he was always surprised no one came along to really try copying what he did until Winfrey鈥檚 debut in 1986. 鈥淎long comes Oprah Winfrey, and it is not possible to overstate the enormity of her impact on the daytime television game,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n many ways, she raised all the boats with her success. If you didn鈥檛 have Oprah, you had to have me. And we were a lot less expensive.鈥�
Winfrey鈥檚 success led many other hosts to try the format, with some featuring increasingly combative and tawdry subjects, including fistfights onstage. Once considered outrageous himself, Donahue found his show beaten in ratings by more explicit programs and retired from daytime TV in 1996 after more than 6,000 shows.
He wouldn鈥檛 return to a regular TV job until 2002 when he hosted a show for MSNBC called Donahue. He tried emulating the fearless truth-telling he always idolized in mainstream journalism, but Donahue lasted less than a year there. He didn鈥檛 hold back when telling NPR why it was canceled.
鈥淚 was fired because I did not support the invasion of Iraq,鈥� he added. 鈥淚 thought I was going to be a hit because I was different. Everybody else was beating the war drums. I wanted to get on the air and say, 'Why are you doing this?鈥欌��
Donahue said the firing essentially ended his TV career. He did co-direct a 2007 documentary Body of War and co-wrote a book in 2020 called What Makes a Marriage Last with wife and actress Marlo Thomas.
He married Thomas 鈥� a TV star, producer and outspoken feminist 鈥� in 1980 after meeting her when she was a guest on his show.
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