Talk show pioneer Phil Donahue (88) has passed away

This article was last updated on August 21, 2024

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Talk show pioneer Phil Donahue (88) has passed away

American talk show pioneer Phil Donahue (88) has died. This was announced in the NBC Today program, based on a statement from relatives. He died yesterday after a long illness.

Donahue began his career as a production assistant at a local radio station in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. He was heard on the radio for the first time when one day the regular announcer didn’t show up.

After jobs at various radio stations, where he interviewed trade union leader with criminal ties Jimmy Hoffa, among others, Donahue was appointed as a presenter at radio and television station WHIO.

There he started as a talk show host, where he interviewed American President John F. Kennedy and human rights activist Malcolm X, among others.

In 1967, the presenter left the channel and started the talk program The Phil Donahue Show, initially only for local TV. After three years, the talk show was also broadcast nationally.

“Just a guest and no band?”

Donahue became one of the icons of the talk show world. He renewed the genre by inviting only one guest to his talk show in a studio where there was an audience, and no permanent band. He himself attributed this mainly to coincidence. “The style of the show was developed out of necessity and improvisation,” he wrote in his autobiography.

The American was not afraid to discuss controversial topics in his program. In his first broadcast, atheist Madalyn Morray O’Hair was a guest and in broadcasts he discussed themes such as civil rights, homosexuality and abortion.

The design of Donahue’s show was followed: presenters such as Oprah Winfrey, Johnny Carson and Ellen DeGeneres later started presenting similar programs.

20 Emmys

His program ultimately aired for 29 years. The Phil Donahue Show won a total of twenty prizes at the Emmy Awards, which are presented annually to makers of the best television programs.

In May, Donahue was presented with a presidential award by President Biden for his work.