Biography
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Born |
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Died |
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Birth
Name |
Regis Francis
Xavier Philbin |
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Nicknames |
Reege |
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Height |
5' 7" (1.7 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 New York, of natural causes. He was 88.
