Biography / Wiki

Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success, this line is very well proved by Phil Donahue who is an American media personality, writer, film producer, and host. Moreover, he gained huge popularity as the creator and host of the television talk show, “The Phil Donahue Show” which ran for 29 years.

In fact, his show became the first show that included audience participation in history. Apart from that, he is best known as a devoted philanthropist who supports many charitable organizations, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and most notably Peace Alliance. In his 6 decades-long career, this versatile personality became able to win 20 Emmy Awards.

Height / Weight / Age

Born on 21 December 1935. He seems tall with a height of 168 centimeters and 5’6” in feet & inches.

He possessed a fit and healthy personality with a weight of 75 kilograms and 165 lbs in pounds. His green eyes and grey hair enhance the charm of his personality.

Net Worth

Phil has gathered a very decent amount of net worth through his successful professional career as a media personality and host.

Moreover, he has managed to amass a million-worth fortune by working for the long-term show, “The Phil Donahue Show” for over 26 years. According to the sources, his estimated net worth is $25 million approximately.

Education / Family

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, Phil belongs to the Irish Catholic ethnicity. He was born in a middle-class, churchgoing, Irish Catholic family to Catherine(mother) and Phillip Donahue(father). His mother worked as a department store shoe clerk while his father was a furniture sales clerk. However, his parents got divorced soon.

Apart from that, Phil grew up in his hometown along with his siblings. He never disclosed any information about his siblings except his sister whose name Marry Ross.

Talking about his education, he studied at St. Edward High School run by the Congregation of Holy Cross, and became a graduate as one of the members of the first graduating class of the high school in 1953.

Furthermore, he enrolled at the University of Notre Dame which is also run by the Congregation of Holy Cross. Thus, in the year 1957, he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

Name	Phil Donahue
Nick Name	Phil
Birth Place	Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Profession	Media Personality
Sexual orientation	Straight
School	St. Edward High School
College	University of Notre Dame
Religion	Christianity
Nationality	American
Home town	Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Zodiac Sign	Sagittarius
Fathers name	Phillip Donahue
Mothers name	Catherine
Brothers	Not Known
Sisters	Marry Ross

Career / Fashion and Style

Talking about his career, Phil commenced his career by working as a production assistant at KYW radio. Later, he served as a program director for WABJ radio in Adrian, Michigan. Furthermore, Donahue worked as a stringer for the CBS Evening News and became an anchor of the morning newscast at WHIO-TV in Dayton, Ohio, from 1963 to 1967.

After that, he created and hosted the popular television talk show, “The Phil Donahue Show” which is also known as “Donahue” in the year 1970. In fact, it is the first talk show including audience participation in history. Moreover, on September 13, 1996, after 29-year run—26 years in syndication, the show came to an end with its final episode.

From 1979 until 1988, he also made his appearance on NBC’s “The Today Show” as a contributor. Besides this, during the Cold War period of openness by the USSR in the 1980s, Phil along with Soviet journalist, Vladimir Posner co-hosted a series of televised discussions, called “U.S.–Soviet Space Bridge”.

Apart from that, Phil and Posner also co-hosted a weekly program called “Posner/Donahue” which aired on CNBC in the year 1991. Other than this, in July 2002, after 7 years of retirement, Donahue made he came back to television to host a show called Donahue on MSNBC.

However, on February 25, 2003, the show was canceled. Additionally, he has also served as co-director with independent filmmaker Ellen Spiro for the feature documentary film, “Body of War” in the year 2006.

Girlfriend, Affairs, Wife, and More

Talking about his personal life, Phil has married twice to date. He first got married to Margaret Cooney in the year 1958. Later, the couple was blessed with five children named Michael, Kevin, Daniel, Mary Rose, and James. However, their relationship came to an end after 17 years long marriage as they got a divorce in 1975.

Unfortunately, in the year 2014, his youngest son James Donahue died suddenly from an aortic aneurysm. Furthermore, in the year 1977, Donahue met his future beloved a popular actress, and writer, Marlo Thomas when she appeared as a guest on his television talk show, “Donahue”.

After some time, Thomas also fell in love at first sight with Phil. Moreover, after dating for 3 years, the duo tied the sacred knot of marriage on May 21, 1980, in a beautiful wedding. Apart from that, the couple celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in May 2020 in the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19.

Girlfriend	Margaret Cooney, Marlo Thomas
Marital status	Married
Wife	Margaret Cooney (1958-1975)   Marlo Thomas
Children	Sons – Michael, Kevin, Daniel, Mary Rose, and James Daughter – Mary Rose Donahue

Favorite Things

Here we are providing the list of favorites of Phil Donahue:

Some Interesting Facts About Phil Donahue

• His Zodiac Sign is Sagittarius.

• In the year 1980, Phil won the Peabody Award.

• He is also very popular on Instagram having a huge fan following.

• On November 20, 1993, he Inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.

• Phil and Marlo decided their marriage date as per their birth date as Phil’s was December 21 and Marlo’s was November 21 so specifically on 5/21.

• Donahue was also ranked #42 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time in the year 1996.

• After his child’s death, Donahue ceased posting on Twitter.

• It was also stated by Oprah Winfrey that “If it weren’t for Phil Donahue, there would never have been an Oprah Show”.