Phil Donahue, often known as the “King of Daytime Talk,” passed away on Sunday, August 18, at the age of 88. He was the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Donahue’s family revealed that the pioneering television talk show journalist passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by his loved ones. This included his wife of 44 years, actress Marlo Thomas, as well as his sister, children, grandchildren, and his cherished golden retriever, Charlie.

The statement also mentioned that Donahue “passed away peacefully following a long illness.”

Donahue’s career in media began in the late 1950s, working in talk radio and television. Born on December 21, 1935, in Cleveland, he launched The Phil Donahue Show in Dayton, Ohio, in 1967. The show gained credibility and attention in 1971 with a weeklong series set inside an Ohio state prison, tackling controversial topics and giving viewers a rare glimpse behind bars.

The Phil Donahue Show was groundbreaking, being the first to allow audience members to ask questions of the guests and dedicating each hour-long episode to a single topic, such as child abuse in the Catholic Church, feminism, and race relations. In 1974, the show moved to Chicago and was renamed Donahue, where the format continued to evolve and gained widespread popularity.

Ron Weiner, a former director of Donahue, credited the show’s success to the Chicago studio audience. He shared with WGN-TV in 2023, “When Phil came to Chicago, he found his most important element — the Chicago studio audience. From that point, the program really took off.”

Donahue himself acknowledged the significance of the audience, stating, “One day, I just went out in the audience, and it’s clear there would be no Donahue show if I hadn’t somehow accidentally brought in the audience.”

In January 1985, the show moved to New York City, where Donahue continued to break new ground in daytime television by interviewing a wide range of guests, including politicians, activists, musicians, athletes, and actors, live from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. He was also the first U.S. talk show host to film in the Soviet Union in January 1987, and in March 1990, he interviewed Nelson Mandela via satellite from Lusaka, Zambia.

Over the years, Donahue featured a wide array of notable guests, including Sammy Davis Jr., Ralph Nader, Elton John, Gloria Steinem, Gregory Peck, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Dolly Parton, Muhammad Ali, Michael J. Fox, Roseanne Barr, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, and many more.

Donahue won a total of 20 Emmy Awards throughout his career, ten for best host and ten for the talk show itself. He paved the way for other daytime talk show hosts like Geraldo Rivera, Sally Jessy Raphael, Ricki Lake, Montel Williams, and Oprah Winfrey, many of whom based their shows in Chicago, following in Donahue’s footsteps.

Oprah Winfrey once wrote in the September 2002 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, “If there had been no Phil Donahue Show, there would have been no Oprah Winfrey Show. He was the first to acknowledge that women are interested in more than mascara tips and cake recipes — that we’re intelligent, we’re concerned about the world around us and we want the best possible lives for ourselves.”

Donahue continued airing from New York City until it was taped for the last time in September 1996 after 29 years on the air. After a six-year hiatus from primetime television, Donahue returned in 2002 to host an interview-based show called Donahue. However, according to The New York Times, MSNBC canceled the show in February 2003 due to low ratings. After the show ended, Donahue went on to write, co-direct, and produce the 2007 documentary Body of War.

In 1980, Donahue married actress Marlo Thomas, whom he had met in 1977 when she appeared as a guest on his show. This marked the second marriage for both. Reflecting on their relationship, Thomas shared in a nostalgic Facebook post, “It was instant chemistry.” The couple later co-authored the book What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share with Us the Secrets to a Happy Life in 2020.

In a May 2023 interview with PEOPLE, Thomas attributed the success of their marriage to “love, listening, and lust,” saying, “You have to listen, and then you will know what the other person is truly thinking and going through before you can understand them. You are required to love one another. And if you don’t have passion, you really don’t have anything.” She added, “He is the finest. I have a lot of good fortune.”

Donahue is survived by Thomas and his four children from his previous marriage: Michael, Kevin, Daniel, and Mary Rose. He was predeceased by his son James “Jim” Patrick, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 51 due to an aortic aneurysm.