Phillip John Donahue (born December 21, 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio) is the creator and star of The Phil Donahue Show (1969 -1996), the first of the syndicated talk shows where the host walks through the audience to let audience members make comments and ask questions. His shows have generally focused on liberal issues, like women’s reproductive rights, consumer protection (his most frequent guest was Ralph Nader, who he campaigned for in 2000), civil rights, and war protests.
Personal history
Donahue graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.B.A. in 1957 A year later, he married his first wife, Marge Cooney . They had five children: Michael, Kevin, Daniel, Jim, Maryrose. He divorced Marge in 1975 and married actress Marlo Thomas in 1980.
Talk-show career
Donahue began his career in 1957 as a production assistant at college TV and AM station KYW in Cleveland. He got a chance to become 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 news director for WABJ radio, Adrian, Michigan, soon after graduating. He moved on to become a stringer for the CBS Evening News and then anchor of the morning newscast at WHIO-TV, where his interviews with Jimmy Hoffa and Billy Sol Estes were picked up nationally.