- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRegis Francis Xavier Philbin
- Nicknames
- Reege
- Big Daddy
- Big Man
- Number One
- Height5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
- TV-talk show host, game-show host, singer, author, and TV personality, Regis Philbin became one of the most popular talk-show hosts in America and in Canada, especially. Growing up as an only child in The Bronx, New York, Philbin went to the University of Notre Dame and got a degree in sociology. Later, he would serve in the U.S. Navy and went through behind-the-scenes in radio and TV, before going into broadcasting.
After moving to California, Philin got his own show on KGTV in San Diego called That Regis Philbin Show (1964). However, with no writing team, for budget reasons, this led him to begin the show that would become his hallmark, where he engages his audience in discussions about his life and events of the day. It was then that he got his first big break as Joey Bishop's sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show (1961). Bishop liked to tease Philbin. But the teasing stopped when Philbin walked off the stage on a live broadcast and stayed away for several days. Philbin later hosted A.M. Los Angeles (1975), a local TV talk show on KABC-TV. With his presence, he brought the show to Number One in Los Angeles.
On the show, Sarah Purcell was his first co-host, followed by Cyndy Garvey. However, when Philbin moved to New York City, they both paired up on "The Morning Show". But due to low ratings, Garvey then left once again and Philbin was then joined by Kathie Lee Gifford on the show and the ratings improved and the show's name was changed to "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" (1988). Gifford left the show, which was called "Live with Regis" until a permanent replacement could be found.
During the search, Philbin won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host, his first only Daytime award. When Kelly Ripa was chosen the same year, the show was later changed to "Live with Regis and Kelly." The pairing became successful.
Besides being a successful TV host, Philbin was also a game show host on a short-lived game show called The Neighbors (1975), in which part of the game is that a contestant, usually a woman, would have to find out which one of her neighbors is gossiping about her. He then hosted Almost Anything Goes (1975). Despite both shows being failures, Philbin then hosted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (1999), which became one of the most popular shows on TV before it was canceled in 2002 and came back with Meredith Vieira replacing Philbin. For his work on the show, he won his second Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Game Show Host.
Philbin then signed a contract for "Millionaire's" spin-off: Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire (2004). But this time, instead of one million dollars, it's 10 million. However, the show was canceled within four months. However, Philbin's game show career didn't end there; he hosted the first season of America's Got Talent (2006), with Piers Morgan, Brandy Norwood and David Hasselhoff as the judges.
Besides TV, Philbin was also an author who wrote two books: "I'm Only One Man!" and "Who Wants To Be Me?". He was also a singer, in the style of a crooner, such as Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin.
Regis Philbin died on July 24, 2020, in Greenwich, Connecticut, of natural causes. He was 88.- IMDb Mini Biography By: rocknrollunderdawg
- SpousesJoy Philbin(March 1, 1970 - July 24, 2020) (his death, 2 children)Kay Faylen(September 8, 1956 - August 1968) (divorced, 2 children)
- Children
- RelativesKara DioGuardi(Cousin)
- Irreverent ad-libs
- Bronx accent
- Excited manner
- On Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (1999), he always asked - "Is that your final answer?" - to a contestant, before ever locking in a response.
- Known for his feud with Kelly Ripa, both on-stage as well as off-stage.
- He appeared for his 15,188 hour on national television, passing Hugh Downs to become the most filmed television personality of all-time.
- Served in the United States Navy as a supply officer.
- Very good friends with Academy Award winners Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro.
- Resided across the street from the studio where he taped his show.
- Guest-hosted for Dick Clark on New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005 (2004) in 2004, because Clark was still in the hospital, suffering a mild stroke. The doctors said he was expected to come back after recovering from a stroke, but he was not well enough to host the show.
- I had a blocked artery. The great thing about it was that all the people sitting at home, watching on the couch, feeling the same thing... got up and called the doctor. I still get letters thanking me for saving people's lives.
- [Of Mickey Rooney's 90th birthday in 2010] Celebrating his 90th birthday, after all these years. When I was a little kid, I used to watch him when he was in his heyday, and it was a great show tonight, it really was, it meant a lot to a lot of people.
- [of his heart surgery]: I guess I was a little unprepared for, you know, the first week and what they actually do to make this thing happen - and so, some of it came as quite a shock.
- I had my years of struggling. Some of my shows failed miserably, and I was upset by it and it dented my confidence. But I never stopped. I kept going for it.
- [before he made it big]: I missed so many opportunities along the way to do what I wanted to do because I didn't have the confidence to tell myself, much less anybody else, 'Yes, this is the business I wanted to be a part of,' and not feeling that I had the talent ... and letting it go all the way through [my college years at] Notre Dame and then through two years of Navy service.
- Live with Kelly and Mark (1988) - $21,000,000 (2006)
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content