Talk-Show Host Douglas Dies

Talk show host Mike Douglas died Friday August 11 in Florida, at a Palm Beach Gardens hospital, on his 81st birthday. At press time, cause of death had not yet been determined.

The daytime talk show began in Cleveland at what was then KYW, a Westinghouse station that moved to Philadelphia in 1965. Douglas did his show from there until 1978, when the program moved to Los Angeles until its end in 1982.

He was a fixture in the world of syndicated television, famous for his affable style. About 30,000 guests came on the show, including musicians, comedians, sports figures and political personalities, including seven former, sitting or future presidents.At his peak his show was seen in about 230 cities.

"Mike Douglas was one of the great television performers of the 20th century whose versatility is unmatched in today's entertainment world,” said Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO for Fox News and chairman of Fox Television Stations who once served as executive producer of the show. “Everyone who came into contact with Mike learned something from his immense talent. He loved show business and the audience loved him.”

"People still believe The Mike Douglas Show was a talk show, and I never correct them, but I don't think so," Douglas wrote in his 1999 memoir, I'll Be Right Back: Memories of TV's Greatest Talk Show. “It was really a music show, with a whole lot of talk and laughter in between numbers.”

Robert Edelstein

Rob has written for Broadcasting+Cable since 2006, starting with his work on the magazine’s award-winning 75th-anniversary issue. He was born a few blocks away from Yankee Stadium … so of course he’s published three books on NASCAR, most notably, Full Throttle: The Life and Fast Times of NASCAR Legend Curtis Turner. He’s currently the special projects editor at TV Guide Magazine. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post and his origami art has been in The Wall Street Journal. He lives with his family in New Jersey and is writing a novel about the Wild West.