Phil Donahue#MSNBC program

{{Infobox person

| name = Phil Donahue

| image = Phil Donahue at the Toronto International Film Festival.jpg

| caption = Donahue in 2007

| birth_name = Phillip John Donahue

| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|12|21}}

| birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|8|18|1935|12|21}}

| death_place = New York City, U.S.

| occupation = {{cslist|Talk show host|film producer}}

| years_active = 1957–2024

| education = University of Notre Dame (BBA)

| website =

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Margaret Cooney|1958|1975|end=divorced}}
{{marriage|Marlo Thomas|1980}}

}}

| children = 5

}}

Phillip John Donahue (December 21, 1935 – August 18, 2024) was an American media personality, writer, film producer, and the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, later known simply as Donahue, was the first popular talk show to feature a format that included audience participation.{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20141323,00.html|title=Donahue's Last Hurrah : People.com|work=People|access-date=September 20, 2016|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224636/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20141323,00.html|url-status=dead}} The show had a 29-year run on national television that began in Dayton, Ohio, in 1967 and ended in New York City in 1996.

Donahue's shows often focused on issues that divide liberals and conservatives in the United States, such as abortion, consumer protection, civil rights, and war issues. His most frequent guest was Ralph Nader, for whom Donahue campaigned in 2000. Donahue also briefly hosted a talk show on MSNBC from July 2002 to February 2003.

Donahue was one of the most influential talk show hosts and was often referred to as the "king of daytime talk". Oprah Winfrey has said, "If it weren't for Phil Donahue, there would never have been an Oprah Show."{{cite web|url=http://www.oprah.com/entertainment/talk-show-hosts-where-are-they-now_1|title=The Titans of Talk|publisher=Oprah.com|access-date=December 31, 2018}} In 1996, Donahue was ranked {{abbr|No.|Number}} 42 on TV Guide{{'}}s 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.{{cite magazine |year=1996 |title=Special Collectors' Issue: 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time |magazine=TV Guide |issue=December 14–20}}

Early life

Donahue was born on December 21, 1935,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UZkC2D6WkHEC&q=Catherine%20McClory%20Donahue&pg=PA102|title=Political Commentators in the United States in the 20th Century: A Bio-critical Sourcebook|first1=Dan D.|last1=Nimmo|first2=Chevelle|last2=Newsome|date=January 1, 1997|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313295850|access-date=September 20, 2016|via=Google Books}} into a middle-class, Irish Catholic family in Cleveland, Ohio; his father, Phillip Donahue, was a furniture sales clerk, while his mother, Catherine (née McClory), was a department store shoe clerk.Timberg, Bernard M. et al. Television Talk, p.69. University of Texas Press, 2002, {{ISBN|0-292-78176-8}}Manga, Julie Engel. Talking Trash: The Cultural Politics of Daytime TV Talk Shows, p. 28. NYU Press, 2003, {{ISBN|0-8147-5683-2}} In 1949, he graduated from Our Lady of Angels Elementary School in the West Park neighborhood. In 1953, Donahue was a member of the first graduating class of St. Edward High School, an all-boys college preparatory Catholic private high school in Lakewood, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame, with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, in 1957.{{cite news |url=https://www.wral.com/story/1090087/ |title=Donahue Gets Crowd Riled up at N.C. State Graduation |date=May 19, 2003 }}

Career

=Early career=

Donahue began his career in 1957 as a production assistant at KYW radio and television when that station was in Cleveland. He got a chance to become an announcer one day when the regular announcer failed to show up. After a brief stint as a bank check sorter in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he became program director for WABJ radio in Adrian, Michigan, soon after graduating.{{cite web|url= http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/phil-donahue|title=PHIL DONAHUE|publisher= Archive of American Television|access-date= February 24, 2014}} He moved on to become a stringer for the CBS Evening News and later, an anchor of the morning newscast at WHIO-TV in Dayton, Ohio, where his interviews with Jimmy Hoffa and Billie Sol Estes were picked up nationally. While in Dayton, Donahue also hosted Conversation Piece, an afternoon phone-in talk show from 1963 to 1967 on WHIO radio. In Dayton, Donahue interviewed presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, late-night talk show host Johnny Carson,{{YouTube|_mIjtDy3WNw|Donahue interviews Johnny Carson in February 1970}}. human rights activist Malcolm X, and Vietnam war opponents including Jerry Rubin.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgeonR275aA| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/OgeonR275aA| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|title=Yippies For Nixon|last=Dave Wendt|date=October 7, 2007|access-date=September 20, 2016|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} In Chicago and New York City, Donahue interviewed Elton John,{{YouTube|UG1Au9U1Ua0|Elton John on "Donahue" in 1980}}. heavyweight boxing champions Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier,{{YouTube|FUjLpZ8bZNg|Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier on "Donahue" in 1990}}. and author and political activist Noam Chomsky.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfDdTpWSuX4| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/CfDdTpWSuX4| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|title=Donahue/Pozner: Chomsky (Part One)|last=Mike Gardner|date=June 18, 2008|access-date=September 20, 2016|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

=''The Phil Donahue Show''=

File:Phil Donahue Johnny Carson 1970.JPG in August 1970]]

On November 6, 1967, Donahue left WHIO, moving his talk program with The Phil Donahue Show on WLWD (now WDTN), also in Dayton. Initially, the program was shown only on other stations owned by the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation (which would later take the name of its parent Avco Company), which also owned WLWD. But, in January 1970, The Phil Donahue Show entered nationwide syndication. Donahue's syndicated show moved from Dayton, Ohio, to Chicago in 1974; then in 1985, he moved the show to New York City.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/19/arts/television/phil-donahue-dead.html|title = Phil Donahue, Talk Host Who Made Audiences Part of the Show, Dies at 88|last = Haberman|first = Clyde|date = August 19, 2024|accessdate = August 19, 2024|work = The New York Times|url-access = limited}}

After a 29-year run—26 years in syndication and nearly 7,000 one-hour daily shows—the final original episode of Donahue aired on September 13, 1996.{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/rip-phil-donahue|title=R.I.P. Phil Donahue, legendary talk show host|website=AV Club}}

While hosting his own program, Donahue also appeared on NBC's The Today Show as a contributor, from 1979 until 1988.{{cite news |last1=Hampton |first1=Deon J. |title=Phil Donahue, talk show host pioneer and husband of Marlo Thomas, dies at 88 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/phil-donahue-talk-show-host-pioneer-dies-rcna129601 |access-date=21 August 2024 |publisher=NBC News |date=19 August 2024 |language=en}}

=U.S.–Soviet Space Bridge=

File:Phil Donahue with audience members.jpg

In the 1980s, during the Cold War period of openness by the USSR, Donahue and Soviet journalist Vladimir Pozner co-hosted a series of televised discussions, known as the U.S.–Soviet Space Bridge, among everyday citizens of the Soviet Union and the United States.[http://rbth.ru/articles/2012/12/06/phil_donahue_we_reached_out_instead_of_lashed_out_20867.html Phil Donahue: "We reached out instead of lashed out"] Russia, Beyond the Headlines, http://rbth.ru, December 6, 2012. It was the first event of its kind in broadcasting history: Donahue hosted an audience in a U.S. city while Posner hosted an audience in a Soviet city, all on one television program. Members of both audiences asked each other questions about both nations. While the governments of both nations were preparing for the possibility of nuclear war, Donahue said: "We reached out instead of lashed out." From 1991 to 1994 Donahue and Posner co-hosted Posner/Donahue, a weekly, issues-oriented roundtable program, which aired both on CNBC and in syndication.{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Phil_Donahue/189331|title=Phil Donahue | Biography, Photos, Movies, TV, Credits|publisher=Hollywood.com|access-date=2010-12-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080320021104/http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Phil_Donahue/189331|archive-date=March 20, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

His wife Marlo Thomas created a children's version in 1988 entitled Free to Be... A Family. Donahue and Posner became long-time friends after the experience.{{Cite web |last=Gasyuk |first=Alexander |date=2012-12-07 |title=Phil Donahue: "We reached out instead of lashed out" |url=https://www.rbth.com/articles/2012/12/06/phil_donahue_we_reached_out_instead_of_lashed_out_20867.html |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Russia Beyond |language=en-US}}

=MSNBC program=

In July 2002, Donahue returned to television after seven years of retirement to host a show called Donahue on MSNBC.Sherman, Gabriel, [http://nymag.com/news/media/68717/ "Chasing Fox,"] New York magazine, October 3, 2010. On February 25, 2003, MSNBC canceled the show.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/26/business/msnbc-cancels-the-phil-donahue-talk-show.html |title=MSNBC Cancels the Phil Donahue Talk Show |last=Carter |first=Bill |work=The New York Times |date=February 26, 2003 |access-date=December 28, 2016}}{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/phil-donahue-gets-the-ax/ |title=Phil Donahue Gets The Ax |last=Collins |first=Dan |publisher=CBS News |agency=Associated Press |date=February 25, 2003 |access-date=December 28, 2016}}

Soon after the show's cancellation, an internal MSNBC memo was leaked to the press stating that Donahue should be fired because he opposed the imminent U.S. invasion of Iraq and that he would be a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war"Poniewozik, James, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090118233146/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1871916,00.html "In the Obama Era, Will the Media Change Too?"] Time, January 15, 2009. and that his program could be "a home for the liberal anti-war agenda".Naureckas, Jim

[https://web.archive.org/web/20171214144515/https://fair.org/extra/msnbcs-racism-is-ok-peace-activism-is-not/ "MSNBC’s Racism Is OK, Peace Activism Is Not"] FAIR, April 1, 2003. Donahue commented in 2007 that the management of MSNBC, owned at the time by General Electric, a major defense contractor, required that "we have two conservative (guests) for every liberal. I was counted as two liberals."Poniewozik, James, [https://entertainment.time.com/2007/04/26/im_not_generally_in_the/ "Watching the Not-Watchdogs,"]Time, April 26, 2007.

=''Body of War''=

{{external media| float = right| video1 = [http://www.c-span.org/video/?204350-1/qa-phil-donahue Q&A interview with Donahue on Body of War, March 23, 2008], C-SPAN}}

In 2006, Donahue served as co-director with independent filmmaker Ellen Spiro for the feature documentary film Body of War. The film tells the story of Tomas Young, a severely disabled Iraq War veteran and his turbulent postwar adjustments. In November 2007, the film was named as one of fifteen documentaries to be in consideration for an Oscar nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.Melidonian, Teni. [http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2007/07.11.19.html 15 Docs Move Ahead in 2007 Oscar Race] Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences official website. 2007-11-19. Retrieved December 3, 2007.

Other appearances

In June 2013, Donahue and numerous other celebrities appeared in a video showing support for Chelsea Manning.{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/celebrity-bradley-manning-video-93041.html|title=Celeb video: 'I am Bradley Manning'|work=Politico|date=June 19, 2013 |access-date=September 20, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFFkcCh-pCc| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/UFFkcCh-pCc| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|title=I am Bradley Manning (full HD)|last=I am Bradley Manning|date=June 18, 2013|access-date=September 20, 2016|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

Donahue was interviewed for the documentary film Finding Vivian Maier (2013), about the posthumously recognized American street photographer and an acquaintance of his from the 1970s.{{cite AV media |people=Maloof, John (Director), Siskel, Charlie (Director) |date=September 9, 2013 |title=Finding Vivian Maier |medium=Motion picture}}

On May 24 and May 25, 2016, Donahue spoke at Ralph Nader's "Breaking Through Power" conference at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.{{cite web|url=https://www.breakingthroughpower.org/|title=Breaking Through Power|access-date=May 28, 2016}}{{cite AV media| url-status = live| archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/G_znQjb_Q4w| archive-date = 2021-12-11| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_znQjb_Q4w&t=7134s| title = Breaking Through Power Day 2 | via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ctinsider.com/opinion/article/Ralph-Nader-Breaking-through-power-Join-16901454.php|title=Ralph Nader: Breaking through power: Join together to mobilize against wars of aggression|work=CT Insider |date=May 26, 2016 }}

Honors

File:President Joe Biden presents the Medal of Freedom to Phil Donahue.jpg from President Joe Biden in May 2024]]

Donahue was nominated for 20 Daytime Emmy Awards during his broadcasting career, winning eight for Outstanding Talk Show Host The Phil Donahue Show, as well as receiving both a Special Recognition Award in 1993, and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. He received the Peabody Award in 1980, and was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame on November 20, 1993.{{Cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/bios/phil-donahue|title=Phil Donahue|website=Television Academy|language=en|access-date=2019-10-23}}

In 1987, he received the "Maggie" Award, highest honor of the Planned Parenthood Federation, in tribute to their founder, Margaret Sanger. In 2024, Donahue was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden.{{cite web|url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/05/03/president-biden-announces-recipients-of-the-presidential-medal-of-freedom-2/|publisher=The White House|title=President Biden Announces Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom|date=May 3, 2024|access-date=May 3, 2024}}

Personal life

File:077-IMG 5862 (6872096087).jpg and Donahue in February 2012]]

Donahue's 1958 marriage to Margaret Cooney produced five children – Michael, Kevin, Daniel, Mary Rose, and James – but ended in divorce in 1975. She returned to her native New Mexico, remarried, and retired from public view.{{Cite news |title=The Washington Post {{!}} Donahue's Dilemma |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/01/27/donahues-dilemma/a1fcdddc-ba6d-476a-ac40-ca92f57fdc56/}} The family had lived in Centerville, Ohio, across the street from Erma Bombeck, a humorist who would become one of his contemporaries as a national voice in the 1970s and 1980s.{{Cite web|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-spotlight-falls-on-erma-bombeck-paradecom-podcasts-interview-family-phil-donahue-and-writers-254593021.html|title=National Spotlight Falls on Erma Bombeck: Parade.com, Podcasts Interview Family, Phil Donahue and Writers|first=University of|last=Dayton|agency=PR Newswire}} For a brief period in the 1970s, Donahue employed Vivian Maier, an American street photographer, as a nanny for his children.

Donahue married actress Marlo Thomas on May 21, 1980.Ravo, Nick, "[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4D6133CF933A25755C0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink Eyesore or Landmark? The House Donahue Razed]", The New York Times, July 10, 1988 He and Thomas had no children together.

In 1999, Donahue was one of the lead candidates to host the game show Greed along with Keith Olbermann, but Chuck Woolery was hired instead.Nedeff, Adam. Game Shows FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Pioneers, the Scandals, the Hosts, and the Jackpots. Milwaukee: Applause, 2018, page 306.

Regarding his religion, Donahue had stated: "I will always be a Catholic. But I want my church to join the human race and finally walk away from this anti-sexual theology." He also said that he is not "a very good Catholic", and that he did not think it was necessary to have his first marriage annulled.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502E3DF1E3DF937A25757C0A9649C8B63 Questions for Phil Donahue]. By David Wallis. The New York Times. Published April 14, 2002. He had expressed admiration of Pope Francis.{{cite web|url=https://onbeing.org/programs/phil-donahue-transformation-on-screen-and-off/|title=Phil Donahue: Transformation, On-Screen and Off|publisher=On Being Project|first=Krista|last=Tippett|date=December 12, 2013}}

In early August 2014, Donahue's youngest son, James Donahue, died suddenly at the age of 51 due to a ruptured aortic aneurysm.{{Cite web|author = Moss, Meredith | date = August 11, 2014 | url=https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local-obituaries/james-jim-patrick-donahue-son-phil-donahue-dies/p6QFlzDTthnVp1qn1kHb3M/|title=James "Jim" Patrick Donahue, son of TV's Phil Donahue, dies at 51|work=Dayton Daily News| access-date = December 4, 2021}}

Death

Donahue died following a long illness at his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, on August 18, 2024, at the age of 88. Donahue's death was confirmed by a family spokesperson, Susie Arons, who said Donahue died "peacefully following a long illness," surrounded by family members and "his beloved Golden retriever, Charlie."{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2024/08/19/phil-donahue-dies-talk-show-marlo-thomas/71403549007/|title=Pioneering daytime TV host Phil Donahue dies at 88|first=Bryan|last=Alexander|website=USA Today}}{{cite news|url = https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/phil-donahue-talk-show-host-pioneer-dies-rcna129601|title = Phil Donahue, talk show host pioneer and husband of Marlo Thomas, dies at 88|last = Hampton|first = Deon J.|date = August 19, 2024|accessdate = August 19, 2024|publisher =NBC News}}

References

External links

{{The Interviews name|phil-donahue}}
{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923055317/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/D/htmlD/donahuephil/donahuephil.htm |date=September 23, 2013 |title=Phil Donahue – U.S. Talk-Show Host}} from Museum of Broadcast Communications
{{IMDb name|4882|Phil Donahue}}
{{C-SPAN|6419}}
{{discogs artist|Phil Donahue}}

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Category:1935 births

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Category:20th-century American journalists

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Category:21st-century American male writers