Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Host Regis Philbin Dies At 88
Regis Philbin, best known as a daytime television talk show host, has passed away at 88. According to a statement from his family, the legendary host died on Friday of natural causes.
Known for his upbeat personality, Philbin worked for more than 60 years in television, hosting live morning programs in Los Angeles and New York from the early 1970s through 2011. He also hosted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in primetime from 1999 to 2002, drawing audiences of 30 million each night of the week.
Born in New York, Philbin graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1953 with a degree in sociology. After serving in the US Navy, he became a sidekick to Joey Bishop on his late-night talk show in the 1960s. Philbin, who spent almost 17,000 hours on television, holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Hours on Camera." He was inducted into the Broadcast Hall of Fame in 2006.
Philbin co-hosted A.M. Los Angeles with Sarah Purcell from 1975 to 1978 and Cyndy Garvey from 1978 to 1981. In 1985, Live With Regis & Kathie Lee with Kathie Lee Gifford and Philbin debuted. The show, which was taped across the street from his apartment on the Upper West Side, was a ratings hit. Gifford left in July 2000 and was replaced by Kelly Ripa in February 2001. In November 2011, Philbin retired from the show after 28 years.
Aside from his career in daytime television, Philbin is also known for his cameos on The Larry Sanders Show, Seinfeld and How I Met Your Mother. He also appeared in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask in 1972, Night and the City in 1992 and Dudley Do-Right in 1999, and voiced Mabel, the stepsister of Cinderella, in two Shrek films.
Philbin was married to Kay Faylen from 1955 to 1968 and to Joy Senese from 1970 until his death. He had two children, Amy and Daniel, who was born with a spinal cord birth defect and died of natural causes in 2014, with his first wife, and two, Joanna and Jennifer, with his second.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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