Phil Donahue, Pioneering Talk Show Host, Dies at 88

As I delve into the life story of Phil Donahue, I find myself captivated by his remarkable journey from a summer job at WNDU to the esteemed halls of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. His resilience and determination are truly inspiring. From his early days at Notre Dame, where he majored in business, to his brief stint as a salesman for E.F. MacDonald, Phil’s relentless pursuit of his passion for broadcasting is a testament to the power of persistence.

Legendary talk show host Phil Donahue, known for amusing, provoking, and enlightening audiences across two decades of daytime TV, passed away on Sunday evening after a prolonged sickness, according to his family, who announced the news on “Today.” He was 88 years old.

Originating as “The Phil Donahue Show,” a groundbreaking talk show focused on current issues, made its national debut in syndication in 1969 and was later renamed “Donahue” in 1974. By the end of its run, it was airing on over 200 stations nationwide. However, the daytime talk show scene had dramatically transformed by 1996 into a tabloid-like spectacle, with competitors like Oprah Winfrey attracting Donahue’s female audience. Despite occasionally delving into sensational topics, “Donahue” was relatively subdued compared to the sensational imitators such as “Sally Jesse Raphael” and “Jerry Springer” that emerged later.

Known for his involvement in contentious or widely discussed social and political matters, Donahue, with his silvery hair, added a robust journalistic backbone to his well-liked program. He stood out starkly against the usual gossip about celebrities and daytime TV’s regular diet of soap operas.

As a seasoned movie critic, I must say, my hat goes off to Phil Donahue. Over his illustrious career, he racked up an impressive collection of accolades. He garnered nine Daytime Emmys and 21 nominations, which is quite a feat in itself. But wait, there’s more! He also scooped a Primetime Emmy for his special “Donahue and Kids.” Not to be outdone, his five-part series titled “Phil Donahue Examines the Human Animal,” first aired in 1986, also made waves. To top it all off, he was bestowed with a prestigious Peabody Award in 1981. Simply put, Phil Donahue’s impact on television is undeniable and continues to be felt today.

The essential aspect of Donahue’s charm lay in his gentle, fatherly persona and his ability to connect with the women in his audience. Additionally, he was known for his incisive interviewing style that was assertive but not aggressive. Over time, he interviewed an impressive array of individuals such as heads of state, politicians, activists, members of the Ku Klux Klan, adult film stars, and ’60s radicals. Notably, Donahue was the only talk show host to secure a post-prison interview with South Africa’s Nelson Mandela. His program was so controversial that Newsweek once suggested he preferred guests who were an interracial lesbian couple who had conceived through artificial insemination. Remarkably, such a couple made an appearance on the show as early as 1979.

As Donahue made his mark as an icon of his time, he amassed significant wealth: By the mid-’90s, according to EbMaster, he was earning approximately $20 million per year in salary, stocks in multimedia, and other investment options.

“The Phil Donahue Show” originally started as a daily talk show on WLWD station in Dayton, Ohio, focusing on interviews. Finding it challenging to attract high-profile guests, Donahue turned the situation around by conducting one-on-one interviews and delving deeply into a single topic per episode. However, what truly set the show apart was Donahue’s frequent interactions with the studio audience and his encouragement of their participation, which soon became the show’s defining features.”

Initially, his first guest was Madalyn Murray O’Hair, a renowned atheist whose challenge against school prayer had been upheld by the Supreme Court; the program attracted a significant number of viewers due to this. Over time, Donahue started discussing contentious topics such as premarital sex, homosexuality, and various other social, political, and lifestyle matters. Later on, he made trips to the Ohio State Penitentiary and the Ohio Reformatory for Women, exploring prison life in depth. He also arranged debates between the president of General Motors and Ralph Nader, a consumer advocate, on various issues.

The success of the show in Dayton was so significant that Avco Broadcasting Company started airing it across their national stations starting from 1969. By 1971, the program had gained popularity on 44 stations, primarily in the Midwest region. In 1974, the show was relocated to WGN-TV station facilities in Chicago and was renamed “Donahue.”

In 1976, Multimedia Program Productions acquired “Donahue,” which eventually aired on over 200 stations by the end of the 1970s, with most being network affiliates. This broadcast reached approximately 9 million viewers, the majority of whom were women. At that time, Donahue was earning an annual salary of $500,000 and a portion of the show’s earnings. As his popularity grew, his yearly income surpassed $1 million. He also agreed to appear regularly on “The Today Show” from 1979 to 1982, and for an additional year on ABC’s late-night program “The Last Word.”

In 1985, the show shifted its location to New York City and started airing live (previously, it was live only in Chicago and on tape for most other broadcasts). That same year, Donahue and Soviet counterpart Vladimir Pozner engaged in discussions via satellite between American and Russian audiences in Leningrad. Later, Donahue became the first American talk show host to tape within the Communist nation of the Soviet Union, and he was also the first Western journalist to visit Chernobyl after the nuclear disaster. The news/talk show “Pozner/Donahue,” co-hosted by the pair, aired on CNBC in syndication from 1991 to 1994. During the 1992 primary season, he moderated a debate between future president Bill Clinton and former California governor Jerry Brown.

By the mid-’90s, Donahue found himself struggling due to his own success. With over 6,000 shows broadcasted, similar or even more sensational talk shows emerged, forcing him to continually adjust his content to stay competitive. His main rival, Oprah Winfrey, was particularly successful in attracting female audiences, while other shows aimed at younger demographics pushed the boundaries of sensational topics even further. Over time, Donahue began losing key markets until 1996 when he and Multimedia decided to end the show.

In 2002-03, Donahue made a short comeback to television with his own MSNBC talkshow where he conversed with notable figures about social and political matters. Although it didn’t draw as large an audience as “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox Network, it was the most watched show on the cable network during that period. However, after six months, MSNBC decided to end “Donahue,” leading some analysts to speculate that the network found the show inappropriate given the political climate in America at the time.

According to EbMaster, it seemed that network management didn’t appreciate the political leanings of the anchor, a claim that resonates with a recent internal memo suggesting Donahue’s politics might not have been well-received by audiences during wartime.

In a September 2002 interview, Oprah Winfrey expressed admiration for Phil Donahue as she considered launching an anti-war series on her own show. She stated, “Ultimately, what’s important is that we need you, Phil, because your voice of dissent is crucial to us.”

In collaboration with Ellen Spiro, Donahue created, supervised, and released the 2007 documentary “Body of War,” which was a critique of the Iraq War. The film focuses on the journey of a solitary soldier who sustained injuries during combat upon his return home. EbMaster described it as a compelling plea against hasty decisions, whether they involve enlisting in the military or launching an attack on a nation.

Despite no longer hosting his own television program, Donahue continued to be a familiar face, making appearances on shows like “The O’Reilly Factor,” “Tavis Smiley,” “Real Time With Bill Maher,” “Hannity,” “The Piers Morgan Show,” and “Moyers & Company.” In November 2010, Donahue was featured on an episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” alongside other former talkshow hosts, Sally Jessy Raphael, Geraldo Rivera, Ricki Lake, Montel Williams, and others.

Additionally, he made appearances in documentaries such as “William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe” (released in 2009), “Good Riddance” from 2011 focusing on Madalyn Murray O’Hair, “Finding Vivian Maier” in 2013, and “Unity” of 2014 alongside other prominent figures.

Phillip John Donahue was born in Cleveland. After his junior year at Notre Dame, where he majored in business, Donahue took a summer job at WNDU, the university-owned local station, working his way up to announcer. After graduating with a B.B.A., he started as a summer replacement announcer for KYW-AM TV, a television and radio outlet in Cleveland, and left only to return shortly thereafter, unhappy with his job and unable to break into full-time TV journalism.
In 1958 he went to work for WABJ, a small radio station in Michigan, as its program/news director, which led to a job at WHIO-AM-TV in Dayton, where he honed his reporting skills, landing interviews with the likes of Jimmy Hoffa and Billie Sol Estes. He also hosted a daily 90-minute radio talkshow called “Conversation Piece” in 1963, attracting a largely female audience. But he was frustrated in his efforts to land a job with national reach and quit broadcasting in 1967 to work as a salesman for E.F. MacDonald, a trading stamp company in Dayton.

In just a few short months, he resumed his role as the host of a morning talk show on WLWD TV in Dayton, titled “The Phil Donahue Show.”

In 1993, Donahue was honored by being inducted into the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame. Later, in 1996, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).

Among the survivors are Marlo Thomas, Donahue’s second spouse whom he wedded in 1980; and five offspring stemming from his initial marriage.

2024-08-19 16:47

Phil Donahue, Pioneering Talk Show Host, Dies at 88

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