TMZ is reporting that the longtime host of The Phil Donahue Show.

The report originated from The Today Show where hosts read a statement that said the 88-year-old Cleveland native died Sunday night in his home following a long illness.

According to Today, Donahue's family has requested donations to be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Phil Donahue/Notre Dame Scholarship Fund in lieu of flowers

The Phil Donahue show ran for nearly three decades airing between 1967 and 1996. 

In 1990, an episode of the was filmed in Stambaugh Auditorium in the Youngstown featuring then-Congressman James Traficant Jr.