Phil Donahue, the talk show innovator who changed the conversation and the course of daytime television with the weekday program he hosted for nearly three decades, has died. He was 88.

There was a period of time in the '80s where, in the talk show world, it didn't get much bigger than Phil Donahue. But then a news anchor out of Chicago named Oprah Winfrey (you may have heard of ...

Rest in peace Phil.” By the time “Donahue” went off the air in 1996 after 29 years, nearly 7,000 episodes and 20 Emmy Awards, the daytime television landscape was littered with lookalikes.

Phil Donahue, Daytime Talk Show Host, Dies at 88 via Everett Collection Donahue’s very first guest was Madalyn Murray O’Hair, at the time America’s most famous, and widely unpopular, atheist.

Phil Donahue, Dec. 21, 1935-Aug. 18, 2024 TV legend Phil Donahue was often referred to as a pioneer and the king of daytime talk shows with a media career that spanned decades.