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He nabbed nine Daytime Emmy Awards during its run and received a lifetime achievement award in 1996.
The host also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2024 from President Joe Biden.
“So about the third or fourth show, I went out in the audience and it saved us.
There would’ve been no ‘Donahue’ show without that studio audience.”
The show was a hit and saw national syndication in 1970.
In 1985, an episode focused on abortion rights was a lightning rod.
In 1967, he featured an openly gay man, one of the first TV shows to do so.
Male strippers on television.
Donahue told the Television Academy he wasn’t sure if such a show would work.
They screamed nonstop for 60 minutes," he said.
“We were naughty before Howard Stern, before anybody had even heard of shock jocks.”
“They were terrified of the antiwar voice,” Donahue toldDemocracy Now!in 2013.
“I do miss it occasionally,” Donahue toldPeoplein 2024 when reflecting on his career.
