Exclusive Portraits: Activist Couple Marlo Thomas, Phil Donahue

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CHICAGO – Being the daughter of comedian Danny Thomas, Marlo Thomas certainly was appropriate in naming her latest book, “Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny.” She and her husband Phil Donahue recently were in Chicago to promote the memoir.

Marlo Thomas broke out apart from her famous father, becoming a TV star with her sitcom “That Girl” from 1966 to 1971. She has continued to work as an actress since then, but has also focused on writing, activism (for children and feminist issues) and directing her late father’s prominent charity, the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Growing Up Laughing is her fifth book.

That Girl: Marlo Thomas at Borders Oakbrook, October 26th, 2010 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com.

Phil Donahue was a broadcaster that began in the late 1950s, and eventually started a talk show in 1967 called “The Phil Donahue Show.” 29 years and nearly 7,000 shows later, the show ended in 1996 as the longest running syndicated TV show in history and a major inspiration for Oprah. Donahue went on to a short-lived show on MSNBC in 2002 (where leaked internal memos indicated he was fired for his views on the Iraq War) and produced a documentary called “Body of War” in 2007.

Photographer Joe Arce captured the famous pair last October at Borders Books in Oakbrook, Illinois.

That Guy: Phil Donahue at Borders Oakbrook, October 26th, 2010 Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com