Regis Philbin

At 88 years old, Regis Philbin has this physical status:

Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (born August 25, 1931) is an American media actor, actor, and singer best known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s.

Since graduating from the University of Notre Dame, he served in the Navy and got his television debut as a page for the Tonight Show in the 1950s.

Philbin appeared on television for the first time in 1967 as Joey Bishop's sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show. Philbin holds the Guinness World Record for the longest time in front of a television camera, although alternatively attributed to James Brown.

His trademarks include his upbeat demeanor, his New York accent, his wit, and his irreverent ad-libs. Philbin is best known as the host of the nationally syndicated talk show Live in New York City. Regis and Kathie Lee appeared on Live in 1988, which later became Live! Regis and Kelly began in 2001, and after Philbin's departure in 2011, Philbin's departure in 2011 and hosted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Million Dollar Password, and the first season of America's Got Talent.

Early life

Philbin was born in New York City's Manhattan borough of August 25, 1931. Francis "Frank" Philbin, his father, was a U.S. Marine of Irish origins who served in the Pacific. Filomena ("Florence"), his mother, née Boscia, was a descendant of an Albanian-Italian immigrant family from Greci. Philbin was raised Catholic. Regis" was reportedly conceived because his father wanted him to attend his alma mater, the prestigious Regis High School. Frank, the first time believed to be a boy, appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly in February 2007, but he revealed it on Saturday morning that he had a brother named Frank (March 1, 1951 – January 27, 2007), who died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma several days before. Philbin said that although his brother was not to be on television or in the press while still alive to guard his privacy, he had asked not to be identified on television or in the press.

Philbin was born in the Bronx's Van Nest neighborhood. He attended Our Lady of Solace grammar school and graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School. He attended University of Notre Dame, where he lived in Fisher Hall, and graduated in 1953 with a degree in sociology after graduating high school. Lieutenant Junior Grade served in the United States Navy as a supply officer, then went through a few behind-the-scenes jobs in television and radio before moving to broadcasting.

Personal life

Before divorcing, Philbin was married to Catherine Faylen, the daughter of actor Frank Faylen. He married interior decorator Joy Senese in 1970; the couple's two children, Joanna and J. J. Senese, occasionally co-hosted with Philbin. On Live, he often spoke of Joy and, in a lesser degree, his children. He divided his time between his Manhattan apartment (near the WABC-TV studios) and his home in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Philbin followed sports, especially baseball and football. He was an avid fan of the New York Yankees and a passionate fan of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, one of the sports teams of his alma mater, and an avid follower of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He narrated the two audio CDs that came with Joe Garner's book, Echoes of Notre Dame Football: The Great and Memorable Moments of the Fighting Irish, and was unwilling to waver even as St. John's basketball coach Steve Lavin begged Regis to fork over his allegiance. Since graduating from Notre Dame in 1953, he returned to campus frequently for football games, concerts, pep rallies, banquets, and other activities, and he gave the university $2.75 million to rebuild the Philbin Studio Theatre for performance arts performances. Larry King had never visited Notre Dame Stadium before, so he welcomed him and insisted on giving him a tour of the country's "best college campus, ever," which he did in October 2002 with Tim Russert also attending.

Philbin was a member of the Notre Dame tennis team, putting doubt on charges that he learned to play tennis from Senese. On Live, Notre Dame football coaches such as Charlie Weis, Tyrone Willingham, and Lou Holtz have appeared. Philbins wasn't just a Yankees fan, he was also "keeping an eye on the Florida Marlins." He pitched the first pitch at a Marlins game on May 5, 2009. In his remaining years, he also supported the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Philbin opened a Ford dealership in Gilbert, Arizona, as a side investment during his television career. The dealership, Philbin Ford, was closing in late 1988 due to the locally overcrowded car market.

Philbin was known to have a hard time adapting new technology, and was often confused when it came to controlling electronics such as remote controls and DVD players. He did not use computers often (although he did use one for an episode of Live in 2008, revealing how to locate houses online) and did not have a cell phone until September 2008. However, it has been often stated that he did not completely reject technology; rather, Senese make calls and send emails for him.

In 1993, Philbin underwent an angioplasty. He underwent triple bypass surgery at Weill Cornell Medical Center on March 14, 2007 due to plaque in his arteries. Philbin spent time before the surgery with David Letterman, for whom he had substituted Late Show with David Letterman during Letterman's own quintuple bypass surgery. Following Philbin's resurgent heart transplant, he returned to the show on April 26. Philbin underwent hip replacement surgery on December 1, 2009. On January 4, 2010, he returned to his regular hosting duties. He underwent surgery to have a blood clot removed from his calf and returned to work the next day.

On July 24, 2020, Philbin died after a heart attack due to coronary artery disease at a hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut. His funeral took place at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, and he was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, both on the campus of his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame. His tombstone dates his death as July 25, 2020, triggering a discrepancy with what was announced in the media.

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Career

Philbin was a page at the Tonight Show in 1955, his first show business work. Later that night, he wrote for Los Angeles-based talk-show host Tom Duggan and tensely filled in one night after the hard-drinking Duggan failed to arrive. Philbin joined KCOP as assistant news editor to Baxter Ward shortly, and when the station's sportscaster didn't arrive one day, Philbin took over. Regis left his career at KCOP Los Angeles to start his fortune in New York City in 1957. George Van Valkenburg, his replacement at KCOP, was recalled. In 1962, he appeared on The Tonight Show as an announcer.

The Regis Philbin Show on KOGO-TV (now KGTV) in San Diego was his first talk show on the radio in 1961. After being a news anchor for the station, I returned to work. He had no writing staff, so he began each show with what became his signature, "host chat," where he involved his viewers (and later his co-host) in discussions about his life and the day's activities. In 1964, Westinghouse Broadcasting carried Philbin's talk show for national syndication in the late night time slot (replacing Steve Allen). The Regis Philbin exhibition attracted many viewers, but Westinghouse replaced Philbin with Merv Griffin in 1965.

After Steve Allen refused to renew his contract, Philbin hosted That Regis Philbin Show, a nationally syndicated show for Westinghouse Broadcasting. The audience did not accept Philbin as a replacement for Allen's zany antics, and his appearance lasted just more than four months, particularly in comparison to Johnny Carson in the same time slot. Nonetheless, Philbin has cited Carson as a source of influence.

Philbin made his first television appearance on television in 1967 as Joey Bishop's sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show (1967-1999). In a Johnny Carson-Ed McMahon vein, Bishop Benjamin will playfully tease Philbin and joke about the barbs, who will dismiss them in stride. But his feelings were hurt when he learned from the network grapevine that ABC executives were dissatisfied with his work and his thick accent, so he launched an unplanned diatribe about "not being wanted and letting down" the program and promptly dropped off on air. Philbin returned a few nights later, having been told by the Bishop that all was fine and the barbs were not personal. This was actually a publicity stunt planned by Bishop and Philbin ahead of time, as I'm Only One Man! In his 2011 book, How I Got This Way, he reiterates that it was supposed to reel in some of Johnny Carson's followers. When The Joey Bishop Show was cancelled, Bishop returned the gift and walked off the show unannounced, leaving Philbin to carry the evening on his own. "Who was Regis Philbin?" wrote Dan Carlinsky's book The Great 1960s Quiz, published by Harper & Row. (p. 7) "Joey Bishop's sidekick on his late night display," the answer was given. (p. 124) p.124).

Philbin co-hosted Tempo on Los Angeles' KHJ-TV (now KCAL-TV). He travelled on weekends to St. Louis, where he filmed Regis Philbin's Saturday Night on KMOX-TV (now KMOV).

He co-hosted A.M. Los Angeles, a local morning talk show on KABC-TV, where Philbin was still working on newscasts on the station from 1975 to 1981. He co-hosted first with Sarah Purcell (1975 to 1978), then with Cyndy Garvey (1978 to 1981). Philbin's appearance lifted the show from the bottom of the local ratings to No. 1. 1.

The Regis Philbin Show," a national morning variety series on NBC, aired from November 30, 1981 to April 9, 1982. Philbin was hoping to transition from KABC to a national network show, but the show was not fruitful and lasted only 18 weeks. Philbin appeared on Regis Philbin's show Health Styles and Lifestyles from 1982 to 1988 on the Cable Health Network and its successor, the Lifetime television network.

Philbin appeared on The Morning Show in Los Angeles in 1982 and 1981, after Garvey left Los Angeles and moved to New York City. The 9 a.m. time slot for WABC suffered from poor Nielsen ratings due to competition from WNBC-TV's Donahue and WCBS-TV's game show block starring The Joker's Wild and Tic Tac Dough. Philbin was partnered with Kathie Lee Johnson (later Gifford) in June 1985, after Garvey left and Ann Abernathy briefly shared co-hosting duties, and ratings increased dramatically. As Live! on September 5, 1988, the show became nationally syndicated. Regis and Kathie Lee were able to continue with the success. Following A.M. Los Angeles's demise in 1991, the program was eventually picked up by all ABC owned-and-operated stations except for WLS in Chicago, which aired The Oprah Winfrey Show in the Chicago time slot and had not seen it since the show's debut as A.M. Chicago.

The show was briefly called Live when Gifford left in 2000. Regis is a staged in the human race. Before a replacement was found, Philbin had guest co-hosts until they were contacted. In 2001, Philbin was a winner of the Outstanding Talk Show Host award at the Daytime Emmy Awards. In February 2001, Kelly Ripa was selected as the permanent co-host, and Live! was renamed! Regis and Kelly co-stars. Their chemistry remained to be lucrative as the show gained high ratings.

On August 20, 2004, live show "Most Hours on Camera" set a Guinness World Record (surpassing Hugh Downs), earning him a total of 15,188 hours on television.

Philbin's ABC contract was renewed through 2011 after he was signed in 2008. Philbin has reportedly earned more than US $21 million per annum under this arrangement. He was offered a similar deal by CBS for hosting Million Dollar Passwords.

After hosting his last show on November 18, 2011, Philbin left Live with Regis and Kelly.

Philbin was also a game show host. From late 1975 to early 1976, he hosted The Neighbors, a short-lived game show on ABC. Two female contestants chose which of her three female neighbors said gossipy things about her. It's a knockout that he was a "field reporter" for ABC's Almost Anything Goes, an American adaptation of the British game show.

Philbin was the first host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, an ABC game show that had its roots in the United Kingdom. Millionaire's debut in 1999 was a huge ratings success, when it was originally intended as an occasional special series. Millionaire was a regular series with regular episodes on ABC, but viewers gradually decreased. Since Millionaire was cancelled in 2002 as a syndicated series hosted by Meredith Vieira, it was revived. Philbin, a billionaire who wanted to be a Super Millionaire in 2004, was a reboot of ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, a similar series that was broadcast on a more limited basis. Philbin appeared in 11 episodes of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which debuted on August 9, 2009, the show's 10th anniversary. In this version, he was also a celebrity contestant. Millionaire uses guest hosts for selected weeks throughout the season, and Philbin hosted a week of episodes that aired in November 2009, coincident with his 2009 surgery.

In 2001, Philbin's Millionaire hosting duties earned him the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host. He was named as one of the top Game Show Hosts in History in a 2007 Time column. Philbin's tenure as the show's host was lauded when Millionaire was honoured on GSN's Gameshow Hall of Fame tribute. Leigh Hampton, the original product of the syndicated version, said he "knew" when to take over the film and when to sit back and let the contestant be the contestant, according to Jennifer Slater of twogirlsandatv.com. Philbin himself recalled his own Millionaire experience on this occasion with the following remark:

In November 2005, ABC announced that Philbin will host This Is Your Life, the network's revival. He reported in August 2006 that his option on the show had lapsed and he refused to renew it.

During the summer of 2006, Philbin appeared on NBC in the first season of America's Got Talent, a Simon Cowell-produced amateur talent search show. During that time, he travelled between New York City and Los Angeles to compete in both Live with Regis and Kelly and AGT. He was fired in 2007 by talk show host Jerry Springer due to his commuting around the world and his health issues. Springer said that "no one fills in for Regis." At this point, he's the best there has ever been, so you should pay tribute to him."

At this point, Philbin's relationship with Fremantle began to develop. Million Dollar Password, which debuted on June 1, 2008, concluded on June 14, 2009.

On ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve, Philbin filled in for Dick Clark as Clark was recovering from a stroke. Philbin, who was a year and a half younger than Clark, appeared to have postponed his long-awaited holiday to attend the performance. Following Clark's new co-host and eventual successor Ryan Seacrest, Philbin hosted a competing special for Fox next year.

On December 16, 2004, Philbin hosted The Apprentice 2 finale, as well as the official 30-minute red carpet arrivals at the 80th Academy Awards ceremony on February 24, 2008.

On June 27, 2010, Philbin hosted the 37th Daytime Emmy Awards.

Philbin appeared on Late Show with David Letterman on a regular basis. "Regis Lee Philbin," Letterman's play on Kathie Lee Gifford, was often introduced by him. Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon were among Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk shows.

Philbin appeared on Spin City, How I Met Your Mother, Mad About You, Hope & Faith, Seinfeld, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as well as the sketch-comedy programs The Dana Carvey Show, Mad TV, and The Larry Sanders Show on TV. He appeared in "The Challenge," a Big Valley episode, which first aired on March 18, 1968. In 1970, he appeared in an episode of ABC's The Silent Force and then in an episode of the film That Girl.

Philbin appeared as a celebrity guest at WrestleMania VII in Los Angeles in 1991, focusing on the main event between Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter.

Philbin appeared in Disney's Hercules in 1998 as the voice of Typhon's mythical creature; Kathie Lee Gifford was also present as the voice of Typhon's companion, Echidna.

Philbin appeared on panelists on the first season championship game of ESPN's show 2 Minute Drill on December 25, 2000.

Philbin appeared in a Lilo & Stitch episode called "Drowsy" on February 28, 2004.

On May 15, 2006, Philbin appeared as a special guest alongside Howie Mandel on NBC's two-hour special episode Deal or No Deal.

Philbin appeared on Celebrity Jeopardy three times, the most visible celebrities on the game show Jeopardy! He won his competition and raised $50,000 for Cardinal Hayes High School, his alma mater, in November 2006.

Is Philbin Smarter Than a 5th Grader? In November 2007, a large number of people were homeless in the United Kingdom. He played for Cardinal Hayes High School, his alma mater. He dropped out of the game and went home with $175,000 for the school.

Philbin guest appeared on How I Met Your Mother in September 2008, where he appeared in the search for New York's best hamburger. He worked out at Barney's gym, according to the show. His photo was found in the "Best Burger" restaurant and every other suspected best-burger establishment, such as Corner Bistro and Veggie Heaven, during the best-burger hunt. He hosted Million Dollar Heads or Tails, a "show within a show" that made reference to both Million Dollar Password and Millionaire in the program.

Philbin, the new Archbishop of New York, and Father Edward L. Beck and Timothy Dolan, who served as a Catholic, attended Christmas Mass on December 25, 2009, and gave a special interview addressing how being a Catholic influence his life.

Philbin appeared on Take Two with Phineas and Ferb in February 2011. On July 3, 2011, he and Tracy Morgan and Susie Essman appeared on The Marriage Ref.

In a 2020 episode of ABC sitcom Single Parents, which was created by his daughter, J.J. Philbin, he appeared as himself.

During the show's Guests Host Week on May 29, 2012, Philbin appeared on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight during CNN's Guest Host Week. David Letterman, Philbin's long-time friend and fellow television presenter, was among Philbin's guests.

Philbin was a regular monthly co-host on Rachael Ray from September 2012 to October 2017.

On August 17, 2013, Philbin co-hosting Crowd Goes Wild, a daily sports panel show on Fox Sports 1, 2013. He collaborated with his producer, Michael Davies, once more. He announced his resignation in February 2014. He returned from March to occasionally host until its cancellation on May 8.

In January 2015, Philbin hosted two episodes of The Late Late Show. He appeared on Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda in July. He returned to the program about every month and then joined Gifford as a guest host on Hoda Kotb's days off.

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