Without Phil Donahue there would be no Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Jerry Springer and many other daytime talk show hosts. Such shows are staple fare on TV these days but when the Cleveland-born Donahue launched his self-titled show in 1967 they were a rarity, and certainly none of them were using a single-guest format, complete with audience participation. Donahue confessed later that his innovative style was a matter of necessity: screening initially in Dayton, the regular taking heads who appeared on chat shows seldom came to town, so he had to keep the conversations with his sole guest rolling along. A business administration graduate, Donahue held down a series of jobs in radio and TV before discovering he was better in front of the camera than keeping the books behind the scenes. An early trademark of Donahue was not shying away from controversial topics: his very first show was on atheism, and he had guests on to discuss feminism, homosexuality and civil rights. A key component was the audience, either via a phone call to the studio or later through his walking out into the audience and asking for their reaction. In 1974 the show moved to Chicago, where it stayed for years, before ending up in New York, and syndicated across America. By now Donahue did not need to scrape around for guests — Muhammad Ali, Ronald Reagan, Gloria Steinem, Lee Iacocca, John Wayne and Farrah Fawcett were among those who appeared. Donahue ran on national television for 26 years and earned 20 Emmy Awards during that time. The show’s last episode aired in 1996. In May this year Joe Biden awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Donahue, who died on August 18 aged 88. — Agencies
