Legendary talk-show host Phil Donahue dead at 88

innovative TV host Phil Donahue, who rose to fame in the late 1960s, died Sunday, his family said.

He was 88.

Donahue was the first person to interact with a studio audience and bring new ideas into American living rooms, according to NBC News.com.

The cause of his death was not immediately disclosed, though his family said he'd been suffering from a "long illness," the news outlet also reports.