Marlo Thomas Pays Touching Tribute to Husband Phil Donahue After His Death

Actress Mar­lo Thomas has paid trib­ute to her beloved hus­band, talk show icon Phil Don­ahue, who passed away at the age of 88 on Sunday.

In a poignant Insta­gram post, Thomas hon­ored the lega­cy of her hus­band of 44 years, shar­ing their cher­ished mem­o­ries and express­ing her pro­found grief.

Phil Donahue’s Celebrated Career in Television

Phil Don­ahue’s ground­break­ing talk show, “The Phil Don­ahue Show,” aired for an impres­sive 28 years, from 1968 to 1996. 

Broad­cast from the icon­ic 30 Rock­e­feller Plaza, the show wel­comed a diverse array of promi­nent guests, includ­ing Muham­mad Ali, Whoopi Gold­berg, Bil­ly Crys­tal, Steve Mar­tin, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Phil Don­ahue was also the first Amer­i­can talk show host to tape from the Sovi­et Union and the first to inter­view Nel­son Man­dela fol­low­ing his release from prison in 1990.

A Love Story for the Ages

Thomas and Don­ahue’s love sto­ry began when she appeared as a guest on his show in 1977. “It was kind of love at first sight,” Mar­lo Thomas recalled in a 2021 inter­view on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” 

The cou­ple mar­ried in 1980 and shared a deep con­nec­tion, with Thomas describ­ing their rela­tion­ship as “trust­ing our hearts and mak­ing the effort” despite their age difference.

Paying Tribute to a Beloved Husband

In her heart­felt Insta­gram trib­ute, Mar­lo Thomas expressed her pro­found grief, stat­ing, “I lost my sweetheart.” 

She thanked her fol­low­ers for the “beau­ti­ful mes­sages of love and sup­port” and for allow­ing them to share their “life adven­ture” over the years. 

Mar­lo Thomas also shared one of her “favorite pho­tos” of the cou­ple, cap­tur­ing their care­free spirit.

Honoring Donahue’s Legacy

Don­ahue’s lega­cy extends far beyond his suc­cess­ful tele­vi­sion career. As a recip­i­ent of the Pres­i­den­tial Medal of Free­dom, he was rec­og­nized for his sig­nif­i­cant con­tri­bu­tions to the media land­scape and his ded­i­ca­tion to giv­ing a voice to the voiceless.

Mar­lo Thomas’s touch­ing trib­ute serves as a last­ing tes­ta­ment to the love and part­ner­ship they shared, and the indeli­ble mark Don­ahue left on the hearts of his audi­ence and loved ones.