The Late Phil Donahue & Marlo Thomas Had a 40-Plus Year Marriage After Meeting on His Show
Legendary talk show host Phil Donahue recently passed away at the age of 88 following a long illness. He died at home surrounded by his loving family, including his wife of over 40 years, Marlo Thomas. With over four decades of experience, the couple often shared their secrets to marital success with others. They wrote a book together called What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share With Us the Secrets to a Happy Life as well as hosted a podcast called Double Date With Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue.
Donahue and Thomas met in 1977 when she was a guest on his long-running talk show. If you remember watching that episode (or you can catch the clip on YouTube below), you can clearly see the immediate chemistry between the two. At the end of the episode, Thomas was fishing to see if he was single and said, “You are wonderful! I said it when we were off the air, but I want to say you are loving and generous, and you like women, and it’s a pleasure! Whoever is the woman in your life is very lucky.”
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While they hit it off quite well, they lived across the country from each other at first. As they began dating and things got serious, they had to make a tough decision and settled on moving to New York. They got married on May 21, 1980, and began a beautiful life together. While they had no children, Donahue had five children from his first marriage and Thomas became their beloved stepmom. Thomas once said they follow the “three L’s” in their relationship: “Love, listening and lust.” She explained, “You have to listen and then you’ll know what the other person is really thinking and going through. You have to love each other. And without lust, you don’t have anything.”
Donahue added before he died that humor can also help a marriage and joked, “The secret of good communication? Screaming helps. At least then you know if whether the person you’re screaming at is listening. Then go in the other room and count to 10.”
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Sadly, the two did not really get to enjoy a full retirement together. Just a month ago, Thomas said that they were finally ready to stop working so much and just relax. “So 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 said in July 2024.
Marlo shared this sweet tribute to her late husband on Social Media.
Hollywoods Golden Couples
February 2022
Gaze back at the classic romances of old Hollywood, both onscreen and off.
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