Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas had a real love story.
The legendary talk show host died on Sunday, August 18, at the age of 88, with his wife by his side. The couple had been married for 44 years after they tied the knot when Thomas, an actress, was a guest on The Phil Donahue Show (ie Donahue).
“I met Phil on the Donahue Show in 1977 – instant chemistry!” Thomas described the video episodes on her YouTube channel in 2012.
Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue reveal the secret of their 40-year marriage
During the segment where Thomas was promoting her film Thieves, the two seemed to hit it off immediately.
“You’re really fascinating,” Donahue told Thomas as he grabbed her arm.
“You are wonderful,” she replied. “I said that when we were off the show and I want to say that you are loving and generous and you love women and that is my pleasure.”
She added, not knowing they would be getting married just three years later, “Whoever the woman is in your life, they’re very lucky.”
Donahue pointed out in the book What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrity Couples Share Their Secrets to a Happy Life, which he and Thomas co-wrote in 2020, that her appearance on his show in 1977 was actually the second time they had met.
Thomas made his first guest appearance in 1972 when he taped his show in Dayton, Ohio.
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Just a month before his death, in May 2024, Thomas told PEOPLE that she and Donahue enjoyed a vacation after taking a break from their busy schedules.
“We’re determined to get back to a slower pace, and that means curling up on the couch in front of the TV with a big bowl of popcorn. I like to call it ‘Netflix and Phil,'” she cleverly captioned it.
Last year, when the couple celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary, the actress told PEOPLE about the “three L’s” that kept their romance alive: “Love, listening and lust.”
Phil Donahue (left) and Marlo Thomas (right).
Chelsea Lauren/Variety/Penske Media via Getty
“You have to listen and then you will know what the other person is really thinking and going through,” she explained. “You must love each other. And without lust, you have nothing.”
Marlo Thomas Celebrates Husband Phil Donahue’s 88th Birthday With Custom Cocktail Party With Friends (Exclusive)
In 2020, Thomas emphasized the importance of communication in maintaining a long marriage.
“You learn over the years that everything is not such a big deal and that this is not going to break us up no matter what, so you get used to saying, ‘Okay, let’s talk,'” she said. in a YouTube video for AARP.
“The secret to good communication? Screaming helps,” Donahue quipped. “Then at least you know if the person you’re screaming at is listening. Then go to the other room and count to 10.”
“A little humor in marriage certainly means a lot,” he concluded.
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Phil Donahue (left) and Marlo Thomas (right).
Sean Zanni/Getty Images for the National Arts Club
Tribute to celebrities who died in 2024
Donahue “passed away peacefully after a long illness” on August 18, accompanied by Thomas and “his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie,” and his family was first with Today.
They asked that if people wanted to pay their respects to him, instead of sending flowers, they would donate to the Children’s Research Hospital St. Jude or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund.
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Source: HIS Education