St. Jude remembers Phil Donahue, husband of Marlo Thomas and legendary talk show host

Legendary talk show host Phil Donahue brought important social issues into American living rooms, using the power of television to help transform a nation.

Donahue was the first to include audiences in the conversation, bounding up and down studio aisles with a microphone taking questions and answering phone calls with his trademark catchline, “Is the caller there?”

The host of “The Phil Donahue Show,” later known as simply “Donahue,” changed the face of American daytime television, establishing the modern talk show format during his 29-year run which stands as the longest of its kind in U.S. television history.

One of the most powerful voices in America, Donahue spoke out in support of the lifesaving mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — and out of love for his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, the Emmy Award-winning actress, author and daughter of entertainer and St. Jude founder Danny Thomas.

Phillip John Donahue died Sunday, August 18, 2024, surrounded by his family at home. He was 88 years old.

“Phil Donahue’s pioneering work in his field and devotion to the mission of St. Jude has left a lasting legacy that impacted so many,” said Richard C. Shadyac, Jr., President and CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude. “We are deeply saddened by this profound loss. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Marlo, and the Donahue and Thomas families during this difficult time.”

Donahue met Marlo Thomas on the set of his talk show in 1977, spotting her for the first time in the green room. On air, the two clicked.

They married in a private ceremony at her parents’ home on May 21, 1980. At the wedding, Danny Thomas raised his glass: “Today, I haven’t lost a daughter — I gained a fundraiser!”   It was true.

The newlyweds appeared in public together for the first time two months after their wedding at a benefit for St. Jude in Los Angeles.

Donahue was relentless in his support of St. Jude, visiting patients, attending – and sometimes emceeing – galas and teeing up in the Pro-Am round at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

St. Jude cancer survivor Joel Alsup first met Donahue in January 1995, when he was 14. He was participating in a Country Cares for St. Jude Kids panel discussion.

Donahue was the moderator, and he’d done his homework, familiarizing himself with the patients’ stories. In his trademark interviewing style, Donahue prompted Alsup to tell how he was 7 when he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and though he lost his right arm to the bone cancer, he kept swimming — and took up golf and baseball.

“Is there anything you can’t do?” Donahue asked Alsup.

“Clap,” the teen responded.

Donahue dropped his head, thumping the microphone against his forehead, chuckling.

Alsup reconnected with Donahue at St. Jude events over the years. Each time, Donahue would call his name and ask about his life. When Alsup was a senior in high school and expressed interest in studying communications and media production, Donahue was delighted.

“He always seemed very interested in what I was doing and what was going on,” said Alsup, who is now a senior video producer and editor at ALSAC.

Donahue accompanied Thomas to countless other St. Jude events and, in 2004, to testify at the U.S. House of Representatives about needed funds for pediatric cancer research.

At an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of St. Jude in Beverly Hills, California, in 2012, Donahue marveled at St. Jude sharing its protocols and research worldwide.

“Nobody at St. Jude wants to covet whatever it is that they have discovered in the lab that will help a child who really is in a lethal situation,” Donahue said. “To see the pain and the terror on the faces of the parents who bring a child to this hospital and then to see the relief when they leave is a spiritual experience.”

Donahue had a warm relationship with Danny Thomas, telling stories and singing Irish ballads together. He introduced his father-in-law on his show in 1991 as “my favorite entertainer of all time.” Asked by an audience member about his daughter’s marriage, Danny Thomas said, “I know they love each other very much. I’m so happy he’s my son-in-law, and she’s my daughter.”

Donahue’s show went off the air in September 1996, having garnered 20 Emmy Awards. He received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award in 1980 and was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2024, he received the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

Donahue left a legacy to be proud of at St. Jude, too.

Alsup won’t ever forget how Donahue made him feel, as a kid and an adult.

On that patient panel moderated by Donahue in 1995 was another patient, Lindsey Wilkerson, who was 10 when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 1991.

When Alsup and Wilkerson married at St. Jude in 2018, they received a gift from Donahue and Thomas.

The clock sits on a bookcase in their living room, the first thing Alsup sees when he comes in their front door. It’s engraved with their names, wedding date and the words, “For all time. With love, Marlo & Phil.”

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund. Visit stjude.org to learn more about Donahue’s support or make a donation in his memory.