Legendary television pioneer Phil Donahue has passed away.
The Today Show reported Monday morning that “Donahue died at his home surrounded by his family, including his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie, his family said in a statement to TODAY.”
Donahue hosted a dayside talk show throughout the 1980s in which he regularly discussed pop cultural and political trends that defined the form of daytime talk show programming that followed. A vocal progressive, Donahue became a regular figure in the early days of cable news, where he hosted a show on MSNBC, but his television presence declined as he got older and effectively retired.
For most of his career, Donahue hosted his show from his beloved in his home city, Chicago. He later moved to NBC’s Rockefeller Center studios. In May of 2024, he received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.
Donahue’s family requested that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund in lieu of flowers, according to the statement.
Watch above via NBC.
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