"That Girl” MARLO THOMAS is heartbroken as her beloved husband Phil Donahue is fading, sources revealed to The National ENQUIRER.
“It’s like he’s losing his will to live,” said a family friend, adding that Phil was rocked last year by the death of his youngest son, James.
“Jim” was just 51 when he suffered a fatal aortic aneurysm. While Phil comes from a large family and has four surviving children, “It really hurt Phil … the tragedy stung bad,” explained the friend.
“On top of that, he’s appeared to have lost the bounce in his step as age has crept up on him.”
The couple still enjoys a combined fortune of more than $50 million, and Phil recently celebrated his 79th birthday with 77-yearold Marlo in Barbados.
Marlo’s publicist denied Phil is in poor health but acknowledged he was heartbroken over his son’s death and recently underwent successful shoulder surgery.
“In no way is he fading,” said the rep. “Marlo has a tough time keeping up with him.”
Phil’s daytime talk show ran on national TV for 26 years – with the final original episode on September 13, 1996, ending the longest continuous run of a syndicated talk show in U.S. TV history.
