THE TRUTH ABOUT PHIL & MARLO

Donahue died deep in debt to his wife

TV TALK icon Phil Donahue took a loving secret to the grave — his second wife, Marlo Thomas, helped heal his fractured family following his painful divorce!

Before the talk show pioneer died at 88 on Aug. 18 following a long illness, he praised Marlo, now 86, for saving the day following his 1975 divorce from first wife Margaret Cooney, who took custody of their daughter while leaving him to raise their four sons.

“Marlo made the family whole again after it had been torn apart,” says a source.

The bubbly star of the hit ’60s sitcom That Girl and daughter of TV legend Danny Thomas became close to his kids, Michael, Kevin, Daniel, Mary Rose and James, right from the start.