Who was Phil Donahue married to? All about his wife and kids as legendary talk show host dies aged 88

Renowned TV talk show host Phil Donahue recently passed away at the age of 88. Donahue's family confirmed to Today on Monday morning, August 19, that he passed away on Sunday night, August 18, after a protracted illness.

Phil Donahue died at home, surrounded by his family members, including his sister, his children, his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, and his devoted golden retriever, Charlie.

Marlo Thomas, aka Margaret Julia Thomas, is an actress, producer, writer, and social activist from the United States. She is best known for her roles in the sitcom That Girl and the children's book series Free to Be...You and Me.

For her work in television, she has been honored with three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Peabody Award, and induction into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame.

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Phil Donahue had five children with his ex-wife and later married Marlo Thomas

He was married twice and had 5 kids (Image via Steve Kagan/Getty Images)

On May 21, 1980, Phil Donahue married actress Marlo Thomas. Thomas has been honored with a Grammy Award for her children's album Marlo Thomas and Friends: Thanks & Giving All Year Long.

Thomas currently serves as the National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which was established by her father in 1962. In 2004, Thomas started the Thanks & Giving campaign.

Throughout her career, Thomas has appeared in several TV shows, including Bonanza, McHale's Navy, Ben Casey, Arrest and Trial, The Joey Bishop Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, My Favorite Martian, 77 Sunset Strip, and The Donna Reed Show.

Her major break came in 1965, when Mike Nichols cast her alongside Daniel Massey, Kurt Kasznar, and Mildred Natwick in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. Nichols cast her again for Andrew Bergman's Broadway production of Social Security in 1986, which also starred Ron Silver and Olympia Dukakis.

Despite being together for 44 years, Thomas and Phil Donahue never had children together. However, when Marlo married Phil, she became the stepmother to his five children from his previous marriage to Margaret Cooney. Phil and Margaret were married for almost 17 years, from 1958 to 1975, and had five children, Michael, Kevin, Daniel, Mary Rose, and James.

Michael Phillip Donahue, the eldest child of Phil Donahue and Cooney, was born in 1959. As reported by The New York Times in January 1991, he attended the University of Colorado at Boulder after graduating from New Trier East High School in Winnetka, Illinois. On April 27, 1991, Michael married Martha Reed von Gal. The couple had a son named Connor and a daughter named Kenzie.

Kevin John Donahue, Phil and Cooney's second kid, was born around 1959. Kevin and his three siblings lived with their father in Ohio following the divorce of their parents. In 1979, Kevin enrolled at the University of Kansas to study. In 2013, he resided in New York City, close to his father and stepmother.

Daniel Timothy Donahue, the third son of Phil and Cooney, was born in 1961. Not much is known about Daniel, except that, as of 2013, he was residing in Connecticut.

Mary Rose Donahue, Phil and Cooney's only daughter, was born in the early 1960s. Following their divorce, Cooney kept custody of Mary Rose, and the two of them relocated to Cooney's native country, New Mexico. In August 2011, Marlo announced on Facebook that Mary Rose had just started culinary school.

Born in 1963, James "Jim" Patrick Donahue was the youngest child of Phil and Cooney. Jim spent more than 20 years as a journalist and investigative researcher at Ralph Nader's nonprofit organization, Essential Information. He lived and practiced law in Hawaii in his final years. However, he died due to an abrupt aortic aneurysm burst in August 2014 at the age of 51.

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The cause of Phil Donahue’s death hasn’t been revealed yet. He is now survived by his wife and four children.