All About Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas’ 5 Children

Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas embraced their modern family.

Phil and his college sweetheart, Margaret Cooney, married right after the couple graduated in 1958. The couple then had five children – Michael, Kevin, Daniel, Mary Rose and James – and divorced in 1975 after 17 years of marriage. In the divorce settlement, Phil retained custody of his four sons, while Cooney received custody of their daughter.

Phil married Marlo on May 21, 1980. Marlo became the children’s stepmother – a role she gladly took on. In May 2011, Marlo told AARP.org that she never planned to be “a mother to Phil’s children in the traditional sense” because they already had a mom. She said she wanted to be “friends” instead.

“Growing up, my mother was always a friend to my siblings and me (besides being everything else a mom is), and I was always grateful for that because I knew she was someone I could talk to and joke with with them, argue with them and that nothing will ever harm that friendship”, she explained. “So I used that model with Phil’s kids, and I’m proud to say that the friendships I made with them are as strong today as they were 30 years ago—even stronger.”

From 1967 to 1996, Phil was the host The Phil Donahue Show. In January 1980 he said The Washington Post that he felt like his life was beginning to imitate the play.

Marlo Thomas Says ‘Love, Listening and Lust’ Keep Her 43-Year Marriage to Phil Donahue Strong (Exclusive)

“A light started going on in me. I noticed that my kids don’t really share feelings with me — and one of the reasons is that I don’t really share feelings with them very much in terms of feelings,” he explained. “And I started questioning why, listening to some of the psychiatrists and the people who do our show. I started to realize that the way we were brought up didn’t encourage that much.”

After The Phil Donahue Show When he finished, Phil returned to primetime in 2002 with an MSNBC show Donahue. That year Oprah Winfrey interviewed Phil for Oh, Oprah magazine and asked what his children thought of his return to television. “They are surprised. But they also said, ‘Go get them, Dad,'” he said. “I’m not 29 anymore, my wife isn’t pregnant, I’m not trying to raise kids, I don’t have a mortgage — so it takes less courage for me to speak up.”

Here’s what you need to know about Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas’ five children: Michael, Kevin, Daniel, Mary Rose and James.

Michael Phillip Donahue

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Phil and Cooney’s oldest child is a son, Michael Phillip Donahue, born in 1959. He graduated from New Trier East High School in Winnetka, Illinois, before attending the University of Colorado at Boulder, according to The New York Times. In 1986, he began working as an account executive at Katz American TV, according to TVNewsCheck. He also worked at other media outlets, including ABC at WTNH-TV in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to Boston to work again at Katz.

Michael married Martha Reed von Gal, known as Reed, on April 27, 1991, according to The The New York Times. The couple got married in the parish of St. Michael in Greenwich, Connecticut. Reed earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Saint Michael’s College and later a master’s degree in social work from Boston College. In 2020, Marlo shared on Facebook that Reed was the owner and director of Little Red Wagon PlaySchool for over 20 years.

Over the years, Reed has been an advocate for St. Mary’s Children’s Research Hospital. Jude, founded by Marlo’s father, comedian Danny Thomas. In September 2021, Marlo wrote on Instagram that Reed was “a true guardian angel” for St. Judas.

Michael and Reed are parents of two children: son Connor and daughter Kenzie. Marlo called her great-grandson – who is also her godson – her “soul mate” on Instagram.

Although Marlo and her grandchildren are not biologically related, she shows a lot of love and affection for them. In another post from 2015, Marlo wrote: “Kenzie is not mine [biological] grandchild. But I love her as I do all my biological nieces and nephews. She is my family and I love every moment of her precious life that we shared.”

Kevin John Donahue

Marlo Thomas Facebook

Phil and Cooney’s second child is their son Kevin John Donahue, born around 1959. After their parents divorced, Kevin and his three brothers stayed with their father in Ohio. Phil’s family lived outside of Dayton, Ohio, where the original site was The Phil Donahue Show until 1974, when the show moved to Chicago. The series moved to New York City in 1984 before ending in 1996.

Kevin began studying at the University of Kansas in 1979. As of 2013, he lived near his father and stepmother in NYC. According to Marlo, he ran marathons in his 30s, 40s and 50s, including Stockholm in 1996.

Over the years, he went on several trips with his father and stepmother. In 2011, Marlo posted a photo with Kevin on Facebook, sharing that the trio enjoyed a day on their boat in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

The family also made a special trip together to the Statue of Liberty pedestal, as documented on Marlo’s social media.

Daniel Timothy Donahue

Marlo Thomas Facebook

Phil and Cooney’s third child is a son, Daniel Timothy Donahue, born around 1961. Not much is known about Daniel, who lived in Connecticut as of 2013, according to Marlo.

Daniel visited his parents for the holidays, including Thanksgiving with his dad, stepmom and brother Kevin.

Mary Rose Donahue

Michael Ferguson/PHOTOlink/Alamy

Phil and Cooney have one daughter, Mary Rose Donahue, born around 1965. After the couple’s divorce, Cooney retained custody of Mary Rose and they moved to New Mexico, where Cooney grew up. Not much is known about Phil’s daughter, the unit, as she maintains a private life.

In August 2011, Marlo said that Mary Rose had recently started culinary school. She took her stepdaughter to visit Topper’s restaurant in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where they spoke with the restaurant’s chef, Tom Pearson.

Mary Rose and her siblings were a staple at family holiday gatherings. She celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas with her family and even helped her dad carve the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.

James “Jim” Patrick Donahue

Robin Platzer/Getty

Phil and Cooney’s youngest child is James “Jim” Patrick Donahue, born about 1963. For over 20 years, Jim worked as a researcher and writer at Essential Information, a non-profit organization founded by Ralph Nader. In his later years he lived and practiced law in Hawaii.

Jim died of an aortic aneurysm aged 51 in August 2014 Dayton Daily News reported. Donahue’s former Ohio neighbor, Maddi Breslin, described Jim as a thoughtful boy with lots of friends. “I loved him very much and considered him one of my children,” Breslin added.

In a message to friends, Marlo described her stepson as “a great light in our family, a funny character and an independent spirit.”

In an official statement, the family shared that Jim was cremated and his ashes “were scattered by his family in the beautiful, warm and calm waters of Honolulu that he loved and where he will rest forever.”

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Source: HIS Education