Phil Donahue

Acting

Phil Donahue

Born 1935-12-21 · Dayton, Ohio, USA

Phillip John Donahue (December 21, 1935 – August 18, 2024) was an American media personality, writer, film producer and the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, later known simply as Donahue, was the first talk show format that included audience participation. The show had a 29-year run on national television in America that began in Dayton, Ohio in 1967 and ended in New York City in 1996. His shows often focused on issues that divided liberals and conservatives in the United States, such as abortion, consumer protection, civil rights and war issues. His most frequent guest was Ralph Nader, for whom Donahue campaigned in 2000. Donahue also briefly hosted a talk show on MSNBC from July 2002 to March 2003. Donahue is one of the most influential talk show hosts and has been called the "king of daytime talk". Oprah Winfrey has stated, "If it weren't for Phil Donahue, there would never have been an Oprah Show." In 1996, Donahue was ranked #42 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time. Description above from the Wikipedia article Phil Donahue, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

BRATS poster
6.0

In the 1980s, Andrew McCarthy was part of a young generation of actors who were set to take over Hollywood after a string of successful teen movies. However, when the New York magazine cover story in 1985 dubs them the Brat Pack, stars in the making suddenly find themselves losing control over the trajectory of their careers. Now, almost forty years later, McCarthy looks to reconnect with peers and co-stars so that together they can reflect on their respective legacies.

BRATS

2024

Audrey Hepburn: Remembered poster
7.6

Audrey Hepburn was one of the movies' best-loved stars, blessed with beauty, talent, an elegant sophistication and an enduring aura of youthful innocence. As Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, she spoke for the world's suffering children and families, earning an affection and admiration that only increased with news of her untimely death. From the star herself we learn of her career and the family and friendships that were her priority.

Audrey Hepburn: Remembered

1993

First Steps poster
8.0

Teenage Nan Davis is left paralyzed in a car accident and has a tough time accepting her new wheelchair-bound life. One day she hears about new research by Dr. Jerrold Petrofsky, about using external electric stimulations to enable paralyzed people to use their frozen muscles. She enters the research as a test subject and gets her reward when she walks up to receive her college diploma.

First Steps

1985

First Steps poster
8.0

Teenage Nan Davis is left paralyzed in a car accident and has a tough time accepting her new wheelchair-bound life. One day she hears about new research by Dr. Jerrold Petrofsky, about using external electric stimulations to enable paralyzed people to use their frozen muscles. She enters the research as a test subject and gets her reward when she walks up to receive her college diploma.

First Steps

1985

Unity poster
7.5

Despite the advent of science, literature, technology, philosophy, religion, and so on -- none of these has assuaged humankind from killing one another, the animals, and nature. UNITY is a film about why we can't seem to get along, even after thousands and thousands of years.

Unity

2015

Happy Birthday, Bugs! 50 Looney Years poster
7.2

A 50th anniversary tribute to Bugs Bunny

Happy Birthday, Bugs! 50 Looney Years

1990

Sing! Sesame Street Remembers Joe Raposo and His Music poster
9.0

A television special broadcast in honor of composer, songwriter, pianist, television writer and lyricist Joe Raposo following his death in early 1989.

Sing! Sesame Street Remembers Joe Raposo and His Music

1990

Skum Rocks! poster
3.0

The unbelievable true story of the band that gained massive east coast popularity in the late 1980s despite having a complete lack of musical talent and ambition. A powerful PR machine built their fame, and soon their primary objective was to invent new and creative ways to get kicked off stage without actually playing. Narrated by 'Alice Cooper', Skum ROCKS!, is a genre-bending film described by some as a true-life 'This is Spinal Tap', and by others as an independent 'Rock of Ages'. 'Skum Rocks!' chronicles the rise, fall, and return of this infamous band, giving new life to the tale of 'The Emperor's New Clothes'.

Skum Rocks!

2013

Finding Vivian Maier poster
7.6

Vivian Maier's photos were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she'd collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shaken the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye. This film brings to life the interesting turns and travails of the improbable saga of John Maloof's discovery of Vivian Maier, unravelling this mysterious tale through her documentary films, photographs, odd collections and personal accounts from the people that knew her. What started as a blog to show her work quickly became a viral sensation in the photography world. Photos destined for the trash heap now line gallery exhibitions, a forthcoming book and this documentary film.

Finding Vivian Maier

2014

Sunshine Superman poster
6.5

Documentary portrait of Carl Boenish, the father of the BASE jumping movement, whose early passion for skydiving led him to ever more spectacular -and dangerous- feats of foot-launched human flight.

Sunshine Superman

2015

Bob Ross: The Happy Painter poster
7.2

A behind-the-scenes look at the beloved public television personality's journey from humble beginnings to an American pop-culture icon. "The Happy Painter" reveals the public and private sides of Bob Ross through loving accounts from close friends and family, childhood photographs and rare archival footage. Interviewees recount his gentle, mild-mannered demeanor and unwavering dedication to wildlife, and disclose little-known facts about his hair, his fascination with fast cars and more. Film clips feature Bob Ross with mentor William Alexander and the rough-cut of the first "Joy of Painting" episode from 1982. Famous Bob Ross enthusiasts, including talk-show pioneer Phil Donahue, film stars Jane Seymour and Terrence Howard, chef Duff Goldman and country music favorites Brad Paisley and Jerrod Niemann, provide fascinating insights into the man, the artist and his legacy.

Bob Ross: The Happy Painter

2011

Preventive Warriors poster
7.0

Preventive Warriors examines George W Bush's foreign policy -- specifically in the National Security Strategy of 2002. The NSS states that the US reserves the right to attack any nation that poses an imminent threat to the US or its interests. The film focuses on terrorism, rogue states, weapons of mass destruction, and how the United States' actions may impact the rest of the world.

Preventive Warriors

2004

An Empire of Reason poster
NR

Docudrama about the debate surrounding New York State's ratification of the United States Constitution. Historical figures wear modern dress and use familiar language to help today's audience understand firsthand the forces that shaped this country two hundred years ago. The argument, characters, passions and debating points are historically accurate, but the language and the medium of the debate is modern in form. Present day newscasters and commentators play themselves, reporting on the events of the 1780s as though they were occurring now.

An Empire of Reason

1988

Man of the Year poster
3.6

First-time director Dirk Shafer also penned this raucous "mockumentary," a blend of fact and fiction that re-creates his 1992 reign as Playgirl magazine's Centerfold of the Year. When Shafer chooses to keep the fact that he's gay a secret from the magazine's editors, he finds himself living the ultimate lie -- and incapable of giving female readers what they really want. Will he succumb to his lover's pressures to come out of the closet?

Man of the Year

1995

Sesame Street: Put Down the Duckie poster
6.8

The stars come out on Sesame Street in this fun-filled video featuring the show's most memorable moments. Sing-along in this star-studded celebration!

Sesame Street: Put Down the Duckie

1988

Free to Be... a Family poster
8.8

Seminal TV special about two groups of children, one in New York City and the other in Moscow, who befriend each other over a satellite connection and find common ground. The Muppets and several celebrities make a cameo.

Free to Be... a Family

1988

Stardust: The Bette Davis Story poster
6.6

Combining unprecedented access to Davis' vast personal archives with original interviews, this documentary reveals a startling portrait of one of Hollywood's most gifted and enigmatic stars.

Stardust: The Bette Davis Story

2006

Bella! poster
NR

Bella! tells the story of Bella Abzug, who first rose to prominence as a scrappy grassroots activist in New York's West Village, and then went on to champion everything from an end to the Vietnam War to the advancement of LGBTQ rights.

Bella!

2023

Traficant: The Congressman of Crimetown poster
9.2

"Traficant: The Congressman of Crimetown" is a documentary examining the rise and fall of Ohio congressman Jim Traficant, a populist political figure whose confrontational style and local support contrasted with his eventual conviction on federal corruption charges.

Traficant: The Congressman of Crimetown

2015

War Made Easy poster
7.2

War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war messages of successive presidential administrations.

War Made Easy

2007

The Billboard Boys poster
5.0

A documentary that tells the true story of three men who lived on a billboard for nearly nine months to win a modular home.

The Billboard Boys

2016

The Making of Trump poster
4.4

As every day of Donald Trump's presidential campaign seemingly generates new headlines, this two-hour special examines the increasingly polarizing candidate's past. Included is rarely seen footage from Trump's interviews with Phil Donahue and his comments about politics from the floor of the 1988 Republican convention. Additionally, celebrities, politicians, and people described as "close to The Donald" weigh in, including former US Senator Al D'Amato (R-N.Y.), former Atlantic City mayor Jim Whelen, boxer Mike Tyson, and notorious "Apprentice" contestant Omarosa.

The Making of Trump

2015

No artwork available
NR

'Project Censored: The Movie' explores media censorship in our society by exposing important stories that corporate media fails to report/under report. Using the media watchdog group, Project Censored, as their road map, two fathers from California decided to make a documentary film that will help to end the reign of Junk Food News that Corporate Media continues to feed the American people.

Project Censored the Movie

2013

The Swap poster
NR

The Swap is the third chapter of the PolEc Trilogy, comprising Wandering Marxwards (1998) and The Three Failures (2006). It features the same character as in the previous episodes, but now reduced to a lost, exhausted soul roaming Shanghai's cityscape from the remotest periphery to the financial district. Another narrative, spoken this one, takes us to September 2008, as gigantic bailouts put the financial system on life support instead of letting it collapse, thus seizing our reality and replacing it with a fiction tailored for the situation. These two streams end up meeting on a Shanghai dancefloor, where unresolved contradictions can finally be performed.

The Swap

2016

Behind the camera