Phil Donahue, the famed daytime talk show host, has died. He was eighty-eight years old.

Donahue died quietly on Sunday, August 18, at his home, after a long illness. According to a statement released to Today, he was accompanied by his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, “his sister, his children, grandchildren, and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie.”

After his birth in 1935, Donahue’s media career began in the late 1950s. Donahue started his talk show after working as a local journalist in his home state of Ohio. It began airing on a local CBS station in Dayton, Ohio, before switching to a local NBC network in the same city in 1967. They picked it for national syndication and aired it three years later.

His talk show was known for its contentious coverage of a wide range of topics, including the former grand leader of the Knights of the KKK and child abuse in the Catholic Church.

The Phil Donahue Show, also known as Donahue, laid the groundwork for the following daytime discussion shows.

Donahue’s program was the first to allow audience members to ask questions of visitors.

“In an interview with WGN, I simply walked out into the audience one day, and the Donahue show would not have existed if I had not inadvertently drawn in the audience.”