Phil Donahue, creator and host of the daytime talk television program that featured his name, died at his home at age 88 after a long illness. The Cleveland native began his television career in Ohio and launched “The Phil Donahue Show” at WLWD-TV in Dayton, Ohio in 1967. The daytime talk show took on serious subjects instead of the lighter fare usually associated with daytime TV. Donahue also did subjects that were considered “low brow,” but his approach gave the audience the opportunity to ask questions as Donahue walked among the studio crowd while anchoring the show. It became a hit, was launched into syndication and moved production to Chicago in 1974, then eventually to New York. It ended in 1996. Donahue married actress Marlo Thomas in the late 1970s.
