Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue on the secrets of permanent marriage
Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue are celebrating their 40th anniversary this spring. To mark the occasion, the actress and talk-show host wrote a book, What Max a Marriage Last, in which 40 famous couples share secrets on how their weddings have stood the test of time.
Behind COVID is the mask, and bundled up against a banged April chill, who would recognize Marlow Thomas and Phil Donahue, but for his signature gray hair? "If I go bald, this marriage is over," he said.
Behind COVID is the mask, and bundled up against a banged April chill, who would recognize Marlow Thomas and Phil Donahue, but for his signature gray hair? "If I go bald, this marriage is over," he said.
So far, so good! They are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this month.
If you ask Donahue their wedding date, he will offer, "This is the fifth of May, the fifth of May ...?"
"You're so funny," Thomas said. "You know very well what it is."
As she explained to "Sunday Morning" host Jane Pauly, "I am born on November 21. She is born on December 21. And we have decided to get married exclusively on 21. Therefore, 5/21! "
To mark the occasion, he wrote a book about marriage, featuring 40 famous couples who have stood the test of time - and many other trials. Like? Being a sick child, being a spoiled mother-in-law, losing all your money, Thomas said. All kinds of addiction, infidelity. On any issue you can imagine anyone can face marriage, in our book they face it.
How, Pauli asked, would they start these conversations?"We didn't start with a question, really," Thomas said. "It was like a double date."A double date that began with crackers and cheese, and eventually descended under a pile of brass. "We talked about how you fight, and how you get back from the fight?""Some people are championship fighters," Pauly said. "I'm thinking of Chip and Joanna Gaines, the 'fixer-upper' pair."
They fought a lot in the beginning of their marriage, because she is very cautious and she's crazy adventure, Thomas said. He said one time they were having an argument, and in the middle of the argument she banged her hand on a bucket of paint and it spilled all over, and white paint was dripping from her face and her clothes. But she didn't stop; she just kept screaming and yelling. He said he looked at her, he thought, You know, I love this woman, she is so passionate.
"I think they really believed in each other," Thomas said. "One of the things I was impressed with Janice and Billy, and Arlene and Alan Alda, these are guys that had careers that were really going nowhere."
At 17, Billy Crystal didn't even have a driver's license when he met Janice, his wife of 50 years.
"Why did he cling so ferociously to the teenage girl he fell in love with when he was a kid?" asked Pauley.
Billy Crystal was a substitute teacher; Alan Alda drove a taxi. But his wives never said to him - as many wives may - When are you going to get a real job?Phil and Marlowe's love affair began on television with an audience in 1977, when he appeared as a guest on the show Donahara.
"It really wasn't an interview," she said. "And he said to me, 'How come you've never married?' I said, I just don't believe it's for me. It seems like it's only a place for one-and-a-half persons, you know, the person that has the dream and the other person who supports the dream."Pauley asked, "Where'd you get that idea?"
Well, my parents for one.Her mother gave up a singing career to marry the star of TV s Danny Thomas Show, but within weeks, Marlowe was a regular guest at the home of single Dad Phil, a boy of four in Winnetka, Illinois Was raising
A revolutionary idea in 1966. But there were men in her life.
"Oh my, weren't there!" said Donahue.
And typically, two at a time. How? Thomas explained: "One was always a really smart guy, who I loved learning from, and the other one was the sexy guy with a little curl on his forehead. I never could put them together. I didn't think that it was possible to find a mate who would be so smart and be so exciting to my brain and also be exciting to my hormones."
"Well, I was on my schedule long before Gloria Steinem," he said. "All the feminists were featured on the 'Donahue' show, somehow, sooner or later. And we were thrilled with it, because they were good guests, including (pointing to Thomas).""I always say, I'm so lucky that I was married to a guy who used to watch the 'New' show every day!" Thomas said.And today, there is a "Donahue" show every day at his house. He has posted some of his adventures on Instagram
And they are learning a lot in "The Bunker", as they call it. Marlow's filling fill to make spaghetti sauce and cut your hair.Phil and Marlow, alone at home, and are having a wedding that lasts.Thomas said, "I believe marriage is a pillow of life, and it helps you get up and go to the other side of whatever the issue is. And every time you do it for each other, He is full of love. And faith and steel just get tighter and tighter, so that no one else can break it. "
Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue are celebrating their 40th anniversary this spring. To mark the occasion, the actress and talk-show host wrote a book, What Max a Marriage Last, in which 40 famous couples share secrets on how their weddings have stood the test of time.
Behind COVID is the mask, and bundled up against a banged April chill, who would recognize Marlow Thomas and Phil Donahue, but for his signature gray hair? "If I go bald, this marriage is over," he said.
Behind COVID is the mask, and bundled up against a banged April chill, who would recognize Marlow Thomas and Phil Donahue, but for his signature gray hair? "If I go bald, this marriage is over," he said.
So far, so good! They are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this month.
If you ask Donahue their wedding date, he will offer, "This is the fifth of May, the fifth of May ...?"
"You're so funny," Thomas said. "You know very well what it is."
As she explained to "Sunday Morning" host Jane Pauly, "I am born on November 21. She is born on December 21. And we have decided to get married exclusively on 21. Therefore, 5/21! "
To mark the occasion, he wrote a book about marriage, featuring 40 famous couples who have stood the test of time - and many other trials. Like? Being a sick child, being a spoiled mother-in-law, losing all your money, Thomas said. All kinds of addiction, infidelity. On any issue you can imagine anyone can face marriage, in our book they face it.
How, Pauli asked, would they start these conversations?"We didn't start with a question, really," Thomas said. "It was like a double date."A double date that began with crackers and cheese, and eventually descended under a pile of brass. "We talked about how you fight, and how you get back from the fight?""Some people are championship fighters," Pauly said. "I'm thinking of Chip and Joanna Gaines, the 'fixer-upper' pair."
They fought a lot in the beginning of their marriage, because she is very cautious and she's crazy adventure, Thomas said. He said one time they were having an argument, and in the middle of the argument she banged her hand on a bucket of paint and it spilled all over, and white paint was dripping from her face and her clothes. But she didn't stop; she just kept screaming and yelling. He said he looked at her, he thought, You know, I love this woman, she is so passionate.
"I think they really believed in each other," Thomas said. "One of the things I was impressed with Janice and Billy, and Arlene and Alan Alda, these are guys that had careers that were really going nowhere."
At 17, Billy Crystal didn't even have a driver's license when he met Janice, his wife of 50 years.
"Why did he cling so ferociously to the teenage girl he fell in love with when he was a kid?" asked Pauley.
Billy Crystal was a substitute teacher; Alan Alda drove a taxi. But his wives never said to him - as many wives may - When are you going to get a real job?Phil and Marlowe's love affair began on television with an audience in 1977, when he appeared as a guest on the show Donahara.
"It really wasn't an interview," she said. "And he said to me, 'How come you've never married?' I said, I just don't believe it's for me. It seems like it's only a place for one-and-a-half persons, you know, the person that has the dream and the other person who supports the dream."Pauley asked, "Where'd you get that idea?"
Well, my parents for one.Her mother gave up a singing career to marry the star of TV s Danny Thomas Show, but within weeks, Marlowe was a regular guest at the home of single Dad Phil, a boy of four in Winnetka, Illinois Was raising
A revolutionary idea in 1966. But there were men in her life.
"Oh my, weren't there!" said Donahue.
And typically, two at a time. How? Thomas explained: "One was always a really smart guy, who I loved learning from, and the other one was the sexy guy with a little curl on his forehead. I never could put them together. I didn't think that it was possible to find a mate who would be so smart and be so exciting to my brain and also be exciting to my hormones."
"Well, I was on my schedule long before Gloria Steinem," he said. "All the feminists were featured on the 'Donahue' show, somehow, sooner or later. And we were thrilled with it, because they were good guests, including (pointing to Thomas).""I always say, I'm so lucky that I was married to a guy who used to watch the 'New' show every day!" Thomas said.And today, there is a "Donahue" show every day at his house. He has posted some of his adventures on Instagram
And they are learning a lot in "The Bunker", as they call it. Marlow's filling fill to make spaghetti sauce and cut your hair.Phil and Marlow, alone at home, and are having a wedding that lasts.Thomas said, "I believe marriage is a pillow of life, and it helps you get up and go to the other side of whatever the issue is. And every time you do it for each other, He is full of love. And faith and steel just get tighter and tighter, so that no one else can break it. "
