{"id":119449,"date":"2024-08-19T14:01:32","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T14:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/19\/tv-pioneer-phil-donahue-dies-aged-88\/"},"modified":"2024-08-19T14:01:32","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T14:01:32","slug":"tv-pioneer-phil-donahue-dies-aged-88","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/19\/tv-pioneer-phil-donahue-dies-aged-88\/","title":{"rendered":"TV pioneer Phil Donahue dies aged 88"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"byline\">\n<time itemprop=\"datePublished\" content=\"2024-08-19\" datetime=\"1724076092\" pubdate=\"\">19 August 2024<\/time>\n<\/p>\n<p>Phil Donahue has died aged 88.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"image-caption landscape\">Phil Donahue has died aged 88<\/p>\n<p>The iconic TV star &#8211; who created and hosted &#8216;The Phil Donahue Show&#8217; for almost three decades &#8211; passed away on Sunday (18.08.24) following a long illness.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement given to &#8216;TODAY&#8217;, it&#8217;s been revealed that Donahue was surrounded by his family, including his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, their children and his grandchildren, when he passed away at his home.<\/p>\n<p>The family have encouraged fans to make donations be made to St Jude Children\u2019s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue\/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund in lieu of flowers.<\/p>\n<p>Donahue began his media career in the 1950s, when he worked for local radio and TV stations in Cleveland.<\/p>\n<p>\nIn the 60s, he began hosting an eponymous phone-in talk show in Dayton, Ohio.<\/p>\n<p>\nDuring this period, Donahue interviewed some of the most well-known public figures of the era, including former US President John F. Kennedy, late-night host Johnny Carson, and Malcolm X, the human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement.<\/p>\n<p>\nThen, in November 1967, Donahue launched &#8216;The Phil Donahue Show&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>\nThe iconic TV talk-show ran for 29 years and it even proved to be an international success, as it was also broadcast in the UK and Australia.<\/p>\n<p>\nThe show often focused on issues that divided liberals and conservatives in the US, such as civil rights and abortion.<\/p>\n<p>\nHowever, by the mid-90s, the show&#8217;s ratings were falling sharply as competition increased and the last episode of &#8216;The Phil Donahue Show&#8217; aired on September 13, 1996.<\/p>\n<p>\nDespite this, Donahue is still widely revered in the TV industry and various stars have previously highlighted his influence on their careers.<\/p>\n<p>\nOprah Winfrey, for instance, acknowledged that Donahue was a major source of inspiration for her.<\/p>\n<p>\nShe once said: &#8220;If there had been no &#8216;Phil Donahue Show&#8217;, there would be no &#8216;Oprah Winfrey Show&#8217;.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.femalefirst.co.uk\/celebrity\/pioneer-phil-donahue-dies-aged-88-1404836.html?f=rss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>19 August 2024 Phil Donahue has died aged 88. Phil Donahue has died aged 88 The iconic TV star &#8211; who created and hosted &#8216;The Phil Donahue Show&#8217; for almost three decades &#8211; passed away on Sunday (18.08.24) following a long illness. In a statement given to &#8216;TODAY&#8217;, it&#8217;s been revealed that Donahue was surrounded [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7501,248,9227],"class_list":{"0":"post-119449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-make-up","8":"tag-john-f-kennedy","9":"tag-oprah-winfrey","10":"tag-phil-donahue"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}