His family told Today that the television setter died Sunday night surrounded by loved ones after a long illness of unknown nature. That included his wife, actress Marlo Thomas, whom he married in 1980, three years after they met during a recording of his program “Donahue.”
The Donahue family asked fans who wanted to make donations in his honor to contribute to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or to the Donahue Scholarship Fund established at the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated in 1957.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Donahue receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Biden at the White House in May. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The Ohio native was a television pioneer who first created a format where it was important for the program to actively engage the audience. He was on the air for nearly 30 years before stepping down from “Donahue” in 1996.
Fellow TV personality Oprah Winfrey once praised Donahue for “opening the door… wide enough for me to walk through” and said her career might not have happened if not for the vision of her 20-time Emmy-winning predecessor.
Originally published: