Phil Donahue is credited with pioneering the daytime television talk show format. The American media personality, writer, film producer, the creator, and host of The Phil Donahue Show, later known simply as Donahue, was the first talk show format that included audience participation.
Dubbed “king of daytime talk”, Phil’s show had a 29-year run on national television that began in Dayton, Ohio, in 1967 and ended in New York City in 1996. His TV shows have primarily focused on sensitive issues that divide liberals and conservatives in the United States, such as abortion, consumer protection, civil rights, and war issues.
Donahue went on to have numerous high-profile guests over the years on his show, including Ronald Reagan, Nelson Mandela, and Jane Fonda. However, he remained most popular for his devotion to controversial issues. “Controversy is not a dirty word,” he says. “controversy means it’s important and it’s something that people disagree on.” He once said, “If they found Hitler, I’d be the first in line to interview him.“
Donahue has received numerous accolades including Emmy Awards, but called it quits in 1996 after years of declining ratings. He resurfaced in 2002 with a short-lived show on MSNBC, and also directed the 2007 documentary Body of War.
Who are Phil Donahue’s Children?- Michael, Jim, Daniel, Kevin, and Mary Rose Donahue
In his personal life, Phil Donahue has been married two times. His first marriage was to his college sweetheart Marge Cooney. The couple tied the knot in 1958. Margaret Cooney and Phil’s marriage produced five children 4 boys and a girl—Michael Donahue, Jim Donahue, Daniel Donahue, Kevin Donahue, and Mary Rose Donahue.
ALSO, READ; Marge Cooney: Inside the Life of Phil Donahue’s Ex-wife
The Donahue siblings- Michael Donahue, Jim Donahue, Daniel Donahue, Kevin Donahue, and Mary Rose Donahue spent their early years in Dayton when their father was at the start of his broadcast career and developing his history-making talk show.
A neighbor and family friend Maddi Breslin of Centervile told daytondailynews, “Their kids played with my kids everyday from the time they were in kindergarten to the time they were freshmen in high school,“
Phil’s book “Donahue: My Own Story” reveals he was a virgin before marriage, a lousy lover afterward, and avoided the draft through fatherhood. Marge and Phil’s marriage came to an end 17 years later. The divorce settlement gave Marge custody of the daughter— Mary Rose Donahue and him of the four boys— Michael Donahue, Jim Donahue, Daniel Donahue, and Kevin Donahue.
In many ways, Donahue’s show has been therapeutic for him as he believes his personal life mirrors some of the problems discussed on his show: “The light’s started to go on in me. I noticed that my children weren’t really sharing feelings with me — and one of the reasons was I don’t do a hell of a lot of sharing with them in terms of feelings. And I began to examine why, listen to some of the shrinks and people who do our show. I began to realize that not much in the way we were raised encouraged that.” Washington post reported. However, he wanted to change that and decided to share more with his children.
Phil moved on and tied the knot with actress Marlo Thomas. The actress is a stepmother to Phil Donahue’s Five children but revealed that she never wanted to be a stepmother and dreaded becoming one of her husband’s children. However, she found a way to accept and embrace the title and she is loving it.
While talking about the transition into becoming a motherly figure for the children, the actress shared:
“And as I got to know them and lived with them day by day, I became more caring and more interested, and I guess, well, more mothering. And eventually, I became what I am today; a stepmother.”
The actress also revealed the Donahue children did not resist her arrival and she also didn’t come in to take the place of their mother- she said: “From the very first day, I decided that I was not going to try to be a “mother” to Phil’s children in the traditional sense — they already had a mom — but, instead, to be their friend.“
The actress recalled when Mary Rose Donahue returned from a year in Paris, during which she had received numerous bundles from her and Donahue and her own mother- Marge Cooney. When they asked her if she’d gotten them, the actress remembers, “she said, ‘Oh, yes, it was so wonderful, to know that all three of my parents loved me.‘ “, “Of course, I wept,” Marlo Thomas told Washingtonpost.
ALSO, READ; Mary Rose Donahue: Who is Phil Donahue’s daughter?
Phil Donahue’s son, Jim passed away
Phil Donahue’s youngest son, Jim passed away in 2014. James Donahue, 51, died suddenly from a burst aortic aneurysm. Jim’s stepmother, Marlo Thomas described her stepson as “a great light in our family, a funny character and an independent spirit.” Jim lived and practiced law in Honolulu per daytondailynews. For more than 20 years, he worked for the Ralph Nader group, Essential Information, as an investigative researcher and writer.
ALSO, READ; Jim Donahue: What happened to Phil Donahue’s son?
Donahue’s children: Michael Donahue, Daniel Donahue, Kevin Donahue, and Mary Rose Donahue
Phil Donahue’s children- Michael Donahue, Daniel Donahue, Kevin Donahue, and Mary Rose Donahue has been very private about their life. Though their father is a famous personality, the children have been living a very private life away from the camera.
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