Dead|Phil Donahue was a talk show pioneer in the United States.
American TV host Phil Donahue is dead, says the US news media Today.
Dubbed the king of talk shows, Donahue died at the age of 88 at his home on Sunday, his family confirmed to Today. According to the family’s statement, he died of a long-term illness.
Donahue was known for his US talk show The Phil Donahue Showwhich was made for almost 30 years in the 1960s and 1990s.
The show is remembered for its bold treatment of topics such as feminism, ethnic minorities and abuse in the Catholic Church. The program was also the first of its kind where the studio audience was allowed to ask questions to the guests.
Donahue (right) interviewed author Salman Rushdie on his titular program in 1995.
People-according to the magazine Donahue made TV reports about Ohio prisons and the Soviet Union, among other things. In 1990, he interviewed an activist in Zambia Nelson Mandelaa via satellite link, which was Mandela’s first visit to a talk show.
Over the years, Donahue’s program received 20 Emmy awards in the TV industry. The program served as a pioneer, among other things Oprah Winfreyn for talk show-like success stories.
“Free The Phil Donahue Show wouldn’t be Oprah Winfrey Show’ta,” Winfrey wrote in O, The Oprah Magazine in 2002.
Donahue received the Medal of Freedom from US President Joe Biden in May in Washington.
“He were the first [televisiossa]who recognized that women are interested in more than mascara and cake recipes – that we are smart, we care about the world, and we want the best possible life for ourselves.”
Donahue’s show was first made in Chicago and later in New York, where the last episode was filmed in September 1996.
In May, Donahue became the President of the United States Joe Biden awarded by the Medal of Freedom, which is the state’s highest civilian honor.