Phil Donahue
Phillip John Donahue (born December 21, 1935) is 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 talk show format that included audience participation.[1] 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.
Phil Donahue
Talk show host, film producer
1957–present
5
Donahue's shows have 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.[2] Donahue also briefly hosted a talk show on MSNBC from July 2002 to March 2003. Donahue is one of the most influential talk show hosts and has been called the "king of daytime talk".[3] Oprah Winfrey has said, "If it weren't for Phil Donahue, there would never have been an Oprah Show".[3] In 1996, Donahue was ranked #42 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.[4]
Early life[edit]
Donahue was born into a middle-income, churchgoing, Irish Catholic family in Cleveland, Ohio; his father, Phillip Donahue, was a furniture sales clerk and his mother, Catherine (née McClory) was a department store shoe clerk.[5][6][7] In 1949, he graduated from Our Lady of Angels elementary school in the West Park neighborhood of Cleveland. 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 run by the Congregation of Holy Cross in suburban Lakewood, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame, which is also run by the Congregation of Holy Cross, with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1957.
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
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.[8] 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,[9] human rights activist Malcolm X and Vietnam war opponents including Jerry Rubin.[10] In Chicago and New York City, Donahue interviewed Elton John,[11] heavyweight boxing champions Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier,[12] and author and political activist Noam Chomsky.[13]
Other appearances[edit]
In June 2013, Donahue and numerous other celebrities appeared in a video showing support for Chelsea Manning.[23][24]
Donahue was interviewed for the documentary film, Finding Vivian Maier (2013), about the posthumously recognized American street photographer of that name, an acquaintance of his from the 1970s.[25]
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.[26][27]
Honors[edit]
Donahue was awarded 20 Emmy Awards during his broadcasting career, 10 for Outstanding Talk Show Host, and 10 for The Phil Donahue Show. He received the Peabody Award in 1980, and was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame on November 20, 1993.[28] In 1987, he received the "Maggie" Award, highest honor of the Planned Parenthood Federation, in tribute to their founder, Margaret Sanger.
Personal life[edit]
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.[29] The family had lived in Centerville, Ohio, across the street from Erma Bombeck, a comedian who would become one of his contemporaries as a national voice in the 1970s and 1980s.[30] For a brief period in the 1970s, Donahue employed Vivian Maier, an American street photographer, as a nanny for his children.[25]
Donahue married actress Marlo Thomas on May 21, 1980.[31] He and Thomas do not have any children together.
In 2014, Phil Donahue's youngest son, James Donahue, 51, died suddenly from a burst aortic aneurysm.[32]
Regarding his religion, Donahue has stated, "I will always be a Catholic. But I want my church to join the human race and finally walk away from this antisexual theology".[2] 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.[2] He has expressed admiration of Pope Francis.[33]