Way before Oprah graced the television airwaves there was this guy with salt-and-pepper hair who dominated the talk-show circuit.
He made a huge impact on a small-town kid interested in journalism.
Phil Donahue died recently at the age of 88.
Without even having to Google it, I can recall he was from Ohio and lived next door to the hilarious writer Erma Bombeck.
I never missed an episode of The Phil Donahue Show.
Vivid in my memory, to this day, was the program where his guest was Marlo Thomas from That Girl, a comedy series from the '60s. I remember the obvious flirting between the two.
She said something like, “Whomever is the lady in your life is extremely lucky.” And Phil blushed.
Apparently, they went on a date the next night and were together from then on.
The couple was married for 44 years.
She still called him her "sweetheart."
His talk-show format was unique, with audience members asking some of the questions of the guests while he ran up and down the aisles to reach them with the microphone.
While there were always shows about celebrities, he also hit on controversial topics of the day.
I can recall he spotlighted a well-known atheist at the time, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, and got oodles of flack for it.
In 1982, his show was first to feature a person living with AIDS when the number of cases was just in the hundreds.
While the show hit all the topics of the day, it was primarily aimed at a female audience ... and Phil understood women.
He gave off the vibe that he admired and respected ladies. He also gave them a voice. He was one of the few talk-show hosts who actually listened to the guests and audience before he asked his follow-up question. (This is a talent long forgotten.)
I am embarrassed to admit I was so pro-Donahue that I did not welcome Oprah's appearance on television. I watched with disdain, mistakenly thinking she was his competition. I guess she was, but really she was just following in his footsteps and adding to the media landscape.
She has said: "Without Donahue, there would have been no Oprah Winfrey Show."
Donahue was a combination of edgy with a hometown charm, serious and smart but somehow boyish and comical.
Just this past May, U.S. President Joe Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. At that time, Donahue admitted to missing his talk-show days, once in a while, saying: “I keep up with them and sometimes yell out a question hoping somehow they can hear me.”
He was the pioneer leading the way for Oprah Winfrey, Sally Jesse Raphael, Ricki Lake, Montel Williams, Geraldo Rivera, Dr. Phil and Maury Povich, to name a few.
Thank you, Mr. Donahue, for your curiosity that prompted questions and answers that enlightened a generation.
