Phil Donahue Net Worth $100 Million

What Is Phil Donahue’s Net Worth?

Phil Donahue is an American film producer best known as the host of ”The Phil Donahue Show” and has a net worth of $100 million. He was born on December 21, 1935, in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, as Phillip John Donahue.

His mother, Catherine, was a department store shoe clerk, while his dad, Phillip, was a furniture sales clerk.

In 1953, he graduated from St. Edward High School, located in Lakewood, Ohio.

In 1957, Phil earned his degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame.

In 1958, Donahue started to work as news director of a local radio station in Adrian, Michigan.

In 1963, Phil became the host of a call-in radio talk show, Conversation Piece.

”Donahue”

His program, The Phil Donahue Show (also known as Donahue), first aired in 1967.

His first guest was activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair. 

”The show became a place where women discussed issues that didn’t naturally come up, and certainly not in mixed company,” Donahue told Oprah. He added: ”Much of what we talked about on the air is what women had been talking about in ladies’ rooms.”

His most frequent guest was a former perennial candidate for President of the US Ralph Nader.

The show was broadcast nationwide between 1970 and 1996.

In 1977, Donahue won his first Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host.

In 1979, he penned a book titled – “Donahue, My Own Story.”

In 1985, he left Chicago for NYC and began recording in Studio 8-G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

From 1991 to 1994, Donahue co-hosted the show – ”This Week with Pozner and Donahue.”

In November 1993, Phil was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.

In 1996, Donahue received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy.

In 1999, he portrayed Larry in three episodes of the sitcom ”Frasier.”

In 2006, he served as co-director for the documentary film ”Body of War.”

In 2008, Donahue made a guest appearance in the TV series ”Watching the Detectives.”

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Wife

In February 1958, Phil Donahue married Margaret Cooney.

The couple divorced in 1975. ”When I was a kid, people who got divorced were people who had no gumption,” he once said.

On May 21, 1980, Phil married Marlo Thomas, an American actress best known for her role in the sitcom ”That Girl.”

The two first met after Marlo was a guest on his show during the 70s.

It was love at first sight.

“The first look at a person is the most important one,” Donahue revealed in April 2021 for the show “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” That’s when — well, we found in the interviews, we did with couples for our book, many of those couples fell in love on the first date, the first look, the first anything.”

The pair dated for two years before getting married.

In 2020, Donahue and Thomas published a book titled – ”What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share with Us the Secrets to a Happy Life.” It features interviews with other couples discussing their long marriages.

”We aren’t experts or psychologists,” Thomas said in an interview. ”We just went out to find out what makes marriages last.”

”We often forget we’re at our best when we’re holding the hand – and having the back – of someone we care about,” Phil said.

Children

Donahue has five children with his first wife:

• Kevin;
• Mary Rose;
• Daniel;
• Jim;
• Michael.

In 2014, his son James died from an aortic aneurysm, a bulge or swelling in the aorta. He was 51.

Height

6′ (1.83 m)

Quotes

”In reality, the most important things happen when you don’t look for them.”

”I was proud of the waves I had made but wondered how many boats I was supposed to rock.”

”I believe celebrity spoils people – some worse than others.”

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Net Worth

So, how much is Phil Donahue worth? Donahue earned most of his wealth from serving as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show for nearly 7,000 shows. The final original episode of the show aired on September 13, 1996. Therefore, Phil Donahue has an estimated net worth of $100 million.

From 1963 to 1967, he hosted Conversation Piece, a phone-in afternoon talk show on WHIO radio.

He was also a host of a talk show on MSNBC for about six months. Erik Sorenson, MSNBC president, said in a statement: ”We’re proud of the program and we’re disappointed that the show was not able to attract the viewership we had hoped for and expected.”

Phil appeared on Watching the Detectives, Frasier, Who’s the Boss?, and Danny Thomas: Young & Foolish.

Donahue is an author and the producer/director of the documentary film Body of War.

He also made money from selling copies of his books – ”The Human Animal,” ”Donahue, My Own Story,” and ”What Makes a Marriage Last.”

In 2013, Phil and his wife sold a.5-acre waterfront estate located on the Long Island Sound in Westport, Connecticut, for $20 million.

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