Regis Philbin, the genial host who shared his life with television viewers over morning coffee for decades and helped himself and some fans strike it rich with the game show B次元官网网址淲ho Wants to Be a Millionaire,B次元官网网址� has died at 88, People magazine reported.
Philbin died Friday, just over a month before his 89th birthday. He died of natural causes, according to a family statement to the magazine.
Celebrities routinely stopped by PhilbinB次元官网网址檚 eponymous syndicated morning show, but its heart was in the first 15 minutes, when he and co-host Kathie Lee Gifford B次元官网网址� on B次元官网网址淟ive! with Regis and Kathie LeeB次元官网网址� from 1985-2000 B次元官网网址� or Kelly Ripa B次元官网网址� on B次元官网网址淟ive! with Regis and KellyB次元官网网址� from 2001 until his 2011 retirement B次元官网网址� bantered about the events of the day. Viewers laughed at PhilbinB次元官网网址檚 mock indignation over not getting the best seat at a restaurant the night before, or being henpecked by his partner.
B次元官网网址淓ven I have a little trepidation,B次元官网网址� he told The Associated Press in 2008, when asked how he does a show every day. B次元官网网址淵ou wake up in the morning and you say, B次元官网网址榃hat did I do last night that I can talk about? WhatB次元官网网址檚 new in the paper? How are we gonna fill that 20 minutes?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not gonna say it always works out brilliantly, but somehow we connect more often than we donB次元官网网址檛,B次元官网网址� he added.
After hustling into an entertainment career by parking cars at a Los Angeles TV station, Philbin logged more than 15,000 hours on the air, earning him recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most broadcast hours logged by a TV personality, a record previously held by Hugh Downs.
B次元官网网址淓very day, you see the record shattered, pal!B次元官网网址� Philbin would tell viewers. B次元官网网址淥ne more hour!B次元官网网址�
He was host of the prime-time game show, B次元官网网址淲ho Wants to Be a Millionaire,B次元官网网址� briefly televisionB次元官网网址檚 most popular show at the turn of the century. ABC aired the family-friendly program as often as five times a week. It generated around $1 billion in revenue in its first two years B次元官网网址� ABC had said it was the more profitable show in TV history B次元官网网址� and helped make Philbin himself a millionaire many times over.
PhilbinB次元官网网址檚 question to contestants, B次元官网网址淚s that your final answer?B次元官网网址� became a national catchphrase. Philbin was even a fashion trendsetter; he put out a line of monochramactic shirts and ties to match what he wore on the set.
B次元官网网址淵ou wait a lifetime for something like that and sometimes it never happens,B次元官网网址� Philbin told the AP in 1999.
In 2008, he returned briefly to the quiz show format with B次元官网网址淢illion Dollar Password.B次元官网网址� He also picked up the Lifetime Achievement Award from the daytime Emmys.
He was the type of TV personality easy to make fun of, and easy to love.
When his son Danny first met his future wife, B次元官网网址渨e were talking about our families,B次元官网网址� Danny told USA Today. B次元官网网址淚 said, B次元官网网址榊ou know that show Regis and Kathie Lee?B次元官网网址� And she said, B次元官网网址業 hate that show.B次元官网网址� And I said, B次元官网网址楾hatB次元官网网址檚 my dad.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
Yet Philbin was a favourite of a younger generationB次元官网网址檚 ironic icon, David Letterman. When Letterman announced that he had to undergo heart surgery, it was on the air to Philbin, who was also there for LettermanB次元官网网址檚 first day back after his recovery.
Letterman returned the favour, appearing on PhilbinB次元官网网址檚 show when he went back on the air in April 2007 after undergoing heart bypass surgery.
In the 2008 AP interview, Philbin said he saw B次元官网网址済etting the best out of your guestsB次元官网网址� as B次元官网网址渁 specialty. B次元官网网址� The time constraints mean youB次元官网网址檝e got to get right to the point, youB次元官网网址檝e got to make it pay off, go to commercial, start again. Play that clip. Say goodbye.B次元官网网址� He gave his desktop a decisive rap.
B次元官网网址淎nd make it all conversational.B次元官网网址�
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin grew up in the New York borough of the Bronx, the son of Italian-Irish parents and named for the Roman Catholic boys high school his dad attended. He went to Notre Dame University, and was such an enthusiastic alum, he once said he wanted his ashes scattered there.
After leaving the Navy in 1955, Philbin talked his way into a meeting with the stationmaster at KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. He got a job parking cars, then progressed into work as a stagehand, courier, newswriter and producer of a sports telecast. When its sportscaster didnB次元官网网址檛 show up one day, Philbin filled in.
Philbin got far more on-air experience in San Diego in the early 1960s, when KOGO-TV began producing B次元官网网址淭he Regis Philbin ShowB次元官网网址� for a national audience. The program of music and celebrity interviews was taped two weeks before each airing. It was cancelled after four months.
In 1967, Philbin was hired as the announcer and sidekick to comic Joey Bishop on his network show. When he heard that he was going to be fired because of poor ratings, Philbin tearfully announced he was leaving on July 12, 1968, walking off during a live broadcast. He returned three days later after letters of support poured in.
He and Bishop had bad blood: Bishop called Philbin an B次元官网网址渋ngrateB次元官网网址� for walking off during a salary dispute and later badmouthing him.
PhilbinB次元官网网址檚 second wife, Joy, was BishopB次元官网网址檚 assistant.
After three years of commuting to St. Louis each week for a local Saturday night show, Philbin became a star in local morning television B次元官网网址� first in Los Angeles, then in New York. In 1985, he teamed with Kathie Lee Johnson, a year before she married former football star Frank Gifford, and the show went national in 1988.
PhilbinB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渟arcastic playfulnessB次元官网网址� endears him to fans, Good Housekeeping magazine wrote in 2000.
B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 the little guy protesting the injustices of life, from crime waves to paper cuts,B次元官网网址� the magazine wrote. B次元官网网址淭he ranting is punctuated with Kathie LeeB次元官网网址檚 familiar cry of B次元官网网址極h, Reege,B次元官网网址� uttered sometimes in sisterly sympathy and sometimes in teacherly admonishment.B次元官网网址�
The gentle bickering and eye-rolling exasperation in Philbin and GiffordB次元官网网址檚 onscreen relationship was familiar to anyone in a long-lasting relationship.
B次元官网网址淣o arguments, no harsh words in all this time,B次元官网网址� Philbin told a theatre audience in 2000. B次元官网网址淲ell, there was the time I didnB次元官网网址檛 talk to her for two weeks. DidnB次元官网网址檛 want to interrupt her.B次元官网网址�
Gifford left the show in 2000. After a tryout period for a replacement, soap star Ripa (B次元官网网址淎ll My ChildrenB次元官网网址�) filled the slot.
The same hustler who parked cars in Hollywood worked just as hard to land the job on B次元官网网址淲ho Wants to Be a Millionaire.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 begged my way on,B次元官网网址� he told People magazine. B次元官网网址淭here was a short list, and I wasnB次元官网网址檛 on it. I called my agent, and we made a full assault on ABC in L.A.B次元官网网址�
The audience responded to PhilbinB次元官网网址檚 warm, comic touch in the role. He later jokingly referred to himself as the man who saved ABC. It wasnB次元官网网址檛 complete hyperbole: ABC was suffering in the ratings before the game became a smash success. Forbes reported that two-thirds of ABCB次元官网网址檚 operating profit in 2000 was due to B次元官网网址淲ho Wants to Be a Millionaire.B次元官网网址�
Philbin appeared to love every minute of it. Even the ultimate arbiter of hip, the MTV B次元官网网址 Awards, asked him to make an appearance.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 better to be hot,B次元官网网址� he told the AP. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 fun. I know this business. I was perfectly content with my morning show. People would ask me, B次元官网网址榃hatB次元官网网址檚 next?B次元官网网址� There is nothing next. There are no more mountains for me to climb. Believe me when I tell you, all I wanted when I started this show in 1961 was to be a success nationally.B次元官网网址�
The prime-time game burned out quickly because of overuse and ended in 2002.
Philbin enjoyed a side career as a singer that began when he sang B次元官网网址淧ennies from HeavenB次元官网网址� to Bing Crosby on BishopB次元官网网址檚 show. He said a record company called him the next day, and he made an album.
Even though the series B次元官网网址淩egis PhilbinB次元官网网址檚 Health Styles,B次元官网网址� on Lifetime in the 1980s, was part of his lengthy resume, Philbin had health issues. Doctors performed an angioplasty to relieve a blocked artery in 1993. He underwent bypass surgery in 2007 at age 75.
HeB次元官网网址檚 survived by his wife, Joy, and their daughters J.J. and Joanna Philbin, as well as his daughter Amy Philbin with his first wife, Catherine Faylen, according to People.
David Bauder, The Associated Press
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