Phil Donahue has passed away…

[Tuffcookie]

He was 88. He was one of the first daytime talk show hosts. I met him in 1980, when I was in his studio audience in Chicago. He met his wife, Marlo Thomas, while hosting his show. They were married for 44 years. Here is a picture of me with Phil, after the taping of the show, I was attending, had ended. He was a class act and a champion for women’s rights. RIP, Phil!

 

[lynxstch]

RIP Mr Donahue.

 

[Genie+]

I hadn’t thought of Donahue in a long while. Yesterday afternoon DH was watching a video from D23 expo where someone made a comment about the seating being like Donahue, then remarked how the younger people might not know the reference. Hope some are finding out today who Donahue was. RIP

 

[fla4fun]

My mom watched his show when I was a child. It was based in Dayton, Ohio at the time. I don’t think she watched after he went to Chicago. RIP Mr. Donahue, and condolences to your family.

 

[bobbiwoz]

RIP Mr Donahue

 

[Meriweather]

RIP

 

[barkley]

before his afternoon show went the sensationalized route i remember my mom watching him daily. i always enjoyed his interviews and the wide range of guests (but i realy enjoyed watching when he had Ralph Nader on).

rip mr. donahue

 

[irlandaise]

He was 88. He was one of the first daytime talk show hosts. I met him in 1980, when I was in his studio audience in Chicago. He met his wife, Marlo Thomas, while hosting his show. They were married for 44 years. Here is a picture of me with Phil, after the taping of the show, I was attending, had ended. He was a class act and a champion for women’s rights. RIP, Phil!

Thank you for your remembrance, Tuffcookie. As you and Barkley noted, his show was originally a haven of intelligent and reasoned discussion amid the daytime soap operas. He treated his mostly-female audience with respect, as people who were interested in serious issues and eager to hear informed discussions of them.

It was a real pity when, as Barkley said, "his afternoon show went the sensationalized route." Frankly, I wish he had stopped doing the show at that point instead of trying to compete with other talk shows that were getting more and more sleazy. I'm glad he did finally get out of the business. I feel bad that most people reading today's news who ever saw his show will have seen the latter stages of it and not know how groundbreaking and excellent it was before that.

 

[AnnaS]

RIP

 

[sarahann77]

We watched. My aunt must have gone to Dayton when she was in the audience and asked a question. My dad and I were just talking about the show last week.

 

[Dan Murphy]

RIP. He was a real classic, a pioneer, @Tuffcookie. Marie, her mom and two other lady friends visited his show one time also here in Chicago. Marie said she had good memories of that show.

Great picture, thanks for sharing, Cindy.

 

[georgina]

My late mother was a fan. Irish Catholic boy from Cleveland... (She came to the US (Ohio) from Ireland in 1937 so the timing was right)

 

[LuvOrlando]

Ohhh that stinks, rest in peace

 

[sasywtch]

In the late 70's I went to see one of his shows he did in Stockton and then again when he came to Sacramento. I'm thinking it must have been 1978 because there had been rumors he was seeing Marlo Thomas but no concrete proof yet and she was standing off to the left of the stage during the show. I remember that confirmed it for me. He was kind and took pictures after the show with everyone that stood in line to get pictures (me included). I think it was a women's empowerment type topic and I did get to ask a question on tv. What I liked about his show is he didn't let anyone make excuses for their actions and didn't baby them.