Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue literally wrote the book on marriage.
What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share with Us the Secrets contains intimate insights about the long-married couple’s marriage.
Marlo makes the most surprising revelation when she says that, despite being married to Phil for more than 40 years, she didn’t have much of an interest in marriage as a child.
In the book, the famous person expressed her formerly negative opinion of the institution: “Marriage is like a vacuum cleaner: you stick it to your ear, and it sucks out all your energy and ambition.”
She frequently conveys her feelings through Thomas, who likens marriage to having a prisoner that one must satisfy. Up until the time she met Donahue.
After Phil Donahue’s first marriage ended in divorce, he and Marlo Thomas met; they have since become lifelong friends.
The Phil Donahue Show, which was subsequently renamed merely “Donahue,” is where Phil Donahue first gained notoriety among the general public. For the first time ever, audience involvement was an element of the show, which ran for 29 years. One of the visitors to his show who fundamentally changed his life was Marlo Thomas.
The book claims that the two initially met in Chicago in 1977, and Phil brought four kids with him. His ex-wife and her mother lived somewhere else with a girl who was his sixth child.
Marlo and Phil dated for three years before tying the knot in 1980 in front of a modest wedding party of 35 guests.
The actress’s sudden change of heart surprised Marlo’s friends and family, as one might expect. In the couple’s book, a funny incident involving Marlo’s bridal shower is described, in which the bride-to-be’s guests hanged notes from the future bride that exposed her earlier views about marriage.
In the book, Marlo’s mother was the most shocked and reportedly questioned Donahue throughout the couple’s wedding, “How did you get her to do this?”.
Even total strangers apparently showed shock and other emotions at the famous social activist’s decision to get married. A passenger on the plane the couple took to Greece for their honeymoon expressed displeasure to Marlo while Phil was in the bathroom, evidently concerned that she had abandoned her earlier independent streak.
In the book, Thomas is honest and acknowledges that this interaction created some uncertainty. She had criticized marriage for so much of her life, was she now being a hypocrite by getting married? Had she let down those who admired her for being the model of independence?
Despite the regular ups and downs they mention in the book while discussing their protracted marriage, Donahue and Thomas still manage to make it work today. These problems are cited by them as teaching moments that improved their relationship.
The couple had to spend time apart even before they were married because Marlo had to travel for her acting profession and Phil had to film his show in Chicago.
When Thomas’ aunt said that the couple’s union was invalid since they weren’t fully cohabitating, Thomas was more able to see how different individuals define marriage.Despite their separation, Thomas and Donahue were still able to continue their marriage. Marlo married and had kids, which is significant.
In a 2012 interview with AARP, Thomas recalled what it was like to help Phil raise his kids. She said she went into the situation knowing that they already had a traditional mother and it would not be her role.
Instead, Marlo claims that she began to treat Phil’s kids more like friends in an effort to model her parenting after that of her own mother. She continues by saying she feels more connected to them today than she did when the marriage first started.
According to Donahue, Thomas did really spend as much time as she could throughout the conversation getting to know his sons and attempting to understand the boys from the novel.
Marlo and Phil believe that their long-lasting union is a result of her deep bond with his children as well as their shared faith in one another. “You build trust when you realize that this person always has your back,” Marlo explains.
After more than 40 years of marriage, they still have more memories to make.
Phil goes on to suggest that for a marriage to last, both parties need to want it to. He is supported by Marlo, who adds that she would never want to be anything other than hitched to her partner. She says Donohue has supported her in “every way possible.”
Marriage is a lovely partnership that is made even lovelier when two people really commit to it.
This team is an inspiration to us all and has much to teach us. Everyone of us should aspire to be in a relationship that is as satisfying as theirs!
