Regis Philbin | |
|---|---|
 Philbin in 2009 | |
| Born | Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (1931-08-25)August 25, 1931 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | July 25, 2020(2020-07-25) (aged 88) Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Burial place | Cedar Grove Cemetery, Notre Dame, Indiana, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Notre Dame(BA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1955–2020 |
| Notable credits |
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| Spouses | |
| Children | 4, includingJ. J. Philbin |
| Military career | |
| Branch | United States Navy |
| Service years | 1953–1955 |
| Rank | Lieutenant (junior grade) |
| Unit | Navy Supply Corps |
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin[1][2] (/ˈriːdʒɪsˈfɪlbɪn/REE-jis; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020)[3][4][5] was an American television presenter, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest-working man in show business",[6] he held theGuinness World Record for the most hours spent on US television.[7]
Philbin was born and raised inNew York City. After graduating from theUniversity of Notre Dame, he served in theUS Navy and got his television start serving as a page forThe Tonight Show in the 1950s. Philbin got his first network television exposure in 1967 asJoey Bishop'ssidekick onThe Joey Bishop Show. He is most widely known as the co-host of the New York City–based nationally syndicated talk showLive! with Regis and Kathie Lee, starting in 1988, which becameLive! with Regis and Kelly in 2001, and continued asLive! with Kelly after Philbin's departure in 2011.[8] He is also well known as the original host of the American version ofWho Wants to Be a Millionaire, the most-watched prime-time series of the 1999–2000 US television season.[9]
Philbin also hostedMillion Dollar Password[10] and thefirst season ofAmerica's Got Talent. Regis Philbin, A game show network host died on July 25th, 2020 in Greenwich, Connecticut of natural causes related to coronary artery disease. Regis Philbin was 88 years old.[11]
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin was born on August 25, 1931,[12] in theManhattan borough ofNew York City. His father, Francis "Frank" Philbin, was aUS Marine of Irish descent who served in the Pacific,[13] and his mother, Filomena ("Florence"; née Boscia), was a member of anAlbanian-Italian immigrant family fromGreci.[2] Philbin had a Catholic upbringing.[13] He was supposedly named "Regis" because his father wanted him to attend his alma mater, the prestigiousRegis High School.[12] It was long believed that he was an only child, but he announced onLive with Regis and Kelly in February 2007 that he had a brother named Frank (March 1, 1951 – January 27, 2007), who had died fromnon-Hodgkin lymphoma several days earlier.[12][14] Philbin said his brother had asked not to be mentioned on television or in the press while still alive to protect his privacy.[15]
Philbin was raised in theVan Nest neighborhood ofthe Bronx.[16] He attended Our Lady of Solace grammar school andCardinal Hayes High School.[17][18] After graduating from high school, he attended theUniversity of Notre Dame, where he lived inFisher Hall,[19] and graduated in 1953 with a degree insociology.[14] He later served in theUS Navy as asupply officerLieutenant Junior Grade[20] and then went through a few behind-the-scenes jobs in television and radio before moving into broadcasting.[14]
In his earliest show business work, Philbin was a page atThe Tonight Show in 1955.[21] Later he wrote forLos Angeles–based talk-show hostTom Duggan and nervously filled in one night when the hard-drinking Duggan failed to arrive.[22] Philbin soon got a job atKCOP as assistant news editor toBaxter Ward, and when the station's sportscaster did not arrive one day, Philbin filled in.[23] In 1957, Regis left his job in Los Angeles and returned to New York City. His replacement at KCOP was George Van Valkenburg.[citation needed] He also was an announcer onThe Tonight Show in 1962.[citation needed]
His first talk show wasThe Regis Philbin Show in 1961 on KOGO-TV (nowKGTV) inSan Diego.[24][25][26] after serving as news anchor for the station. For budget reasons, he had no writing staff, so he began each show with what became his hallmark, the "host chat" segment influenced byJack Paar, where he engaged his audience (and later his co-host) in discussions about his life and the day's events.[24] In 1964,Westinghouse Broadcasting picked up Philbin's talk show for national syndication in the late night time slot (replacingSteve Allen).[24]That Regis Philbin Show failed to attract many stations and Westinghouse replaced Philbin withMerv Griffin in 1965.
In 1964, Philbin hostedThat Regis Philbin Show, a nationally syndicated show forWestinghouse Broadcasting replacingThe Steve Allen Show afterSteve Allen returned to New York to replace Garry Moore as host of CBS-TV'sI've Got a Secret.[27] The audience did not accept Philbin as a replacement for Allen's zany antics and the appearance lasted slightly more than four months because of dismal ratings, especially compared toJohnny Carson in the same time slot. Nevertheless, Philbin has cited Carson as an influence.[28]
Philbin gained his first network TV exposure in 1967 asJoey Bishop'ssidekick onThe Joey Bishop Show[24] on television (1967–1969). In aJohnny Carson-Ed McMahon vein, Bishop would playfully tease Philbin and he would take the barbs in stride. But his feelings were hurt when he learned from the networkgrapevine thatABC executives were dissatisfied with his work and his thick accent, so during the opening of one 1968 program, he launched an unplanned diatribe about "not being wanted and letting down" the program and abruptly quit on air. A few nights later, assured by Bishop that all was well and the barbs were not personal, Philbin returned. As revealed in his 1995 book,I'm Only One Man!, this was actually a publicity stunt planned by Bishop and Philbin beforehand.[29] He reiterates this assertion in his 2011 memoir,How I Got This Way, explaining that it was intended to draw in some ofJohnny Carson's viewers.[30] WhenThe Joey Bishop Show was canceled, Bishop returned the favor and walked off the show on air unannounced, leaving Philbin to carry the night on his own.[31] A 1978 book calledThe Great 1960s Quiz, authored by Dan Carlinsky (published byHarper & Row), asked: "Who was Regis Philbin?" (p. 7) The answer was "Joey Bishop's sidekick on his late night show." (p. 124)[32]
During the early 1970s, Philbin co-hostedTempo on Los Angeles station KHJ-TV (nowKCAL-TV). He also commuted on weekends toSt. Louis, where he filmedRegis Philbin's Saturday Night in St. Louis[33] on KMOX-TV (nowKMOV).
From 1975 to 1981, he co-hostedA.M. Los Angeles, a local morning talk show onKABC-TV,[33] where Philbin was already working reviewing movies for newscasts on the station. He co-hosted first withSarah Purcell (1975 to 1978), then withCyndy Garvey (1978 to 1981).[33] Philbin's presence brought the show from the bottom of the local ratings to No. 1.[34]
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From November 30, 1981, to April 9, 1982, Philbin andMary Hart co-hosted "The Regis Philbin Show," a national morningvariety series forNBC. Philbin was hoping to transfer his success from KABC to anational network show, but the show was not successful and lasted only 18 weeks.[35] During 1982 to 1988, Philbin hosted the showsHealth Styles andLifestyles with Regis Philbin on the Cable Health Network and its successor, theLifetime television network.[citation needed]
After Garvey left Los Angeles in 1982 and moved to New York City,[33] Philbin rejoined her onThe Morning Show,[33] onWABC-TV starting on April 4, 1983.[33] At the time, the 9 am time slot for WABC suffered from lowNielsen ratings because of competition fromWNBC-TV'sDonahue andWCBS-TV's game show block featuringThe Joker's Wild andTic Tac Dough. After Garvey left again and Ann Abernathy briefly shared co-hosting duties, Philbin was paired withKathie Lee Johnson (later Gifford), in June 1985, andratings improved significantly. The show became nationallysyndicated on September 5, 1988, asLive! with Regis and Kathie Lee[33] and the success continued. The program replacedA.M. Los Angeles upon itscancellation in 1991 and was eventually picked up by all of the ABC owned-and-operated stations except forWLS in Chicago, which airedThe Oprah Winfrey Show in that time slot and had done so since the show's debut asA.M. Chicago.[citation needed]
When Gifford departed in 2000,[36] the show was temporarily namedLive! with Regis.[36] Philbin had guest co-hosts until a replacement was found.[36] Philbin won aDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host in 2001.[36]Kelly Ripa was chosen as the permanent co-host in February 2001, and the show was renamedLive! with Regis and Kelly.[36] Their chemistry proved to be successful as the show continued to enjoy high ratings.[37] Later in the year, Philbin and Ripa's show went to air several minutes after the first plane hit the north tower of theWorld Trade Center (1973–2001) during theSeptember 11 terrorist attacks, with the two reacting in real time after the second plane crashed into the south tower and its subsequent collapse.
Philbin set aGuinness World Record for "Most Hours on Camera" on his August 20, 2004,Live show (surpassingHugh Downs), which gave him a total of 15,188 hours on television.[7]
In 2008, Philbin's contract with ABC was renewed through 2011.[38] Under this contract, Philbin reportedly earned more thanUS $21 million per annum. He received a similar contract with CBS for hostingMillion Dollar Password.[38]
Philbin departedLive with Regis and Kelly after hosting his final show on November 18, 2011.[39]
Philbin was also a game show host. He hostedThe Neighbors, a short-lived game show onABC from late 1975 to early 1976. The show had two female contestants guessing which of her three women neighbors said gossipy things about her. In 1976, he was a "field reporter" for ABC'sAlmost Anything Goes, an American adaptation of the British game show,It's a Knockout.[24]
Philbin was the original host of the US version ofWho Wants to Be a Millionaire, an ABC game show thatoriginated from the United Kingdom.Millionaire was a big ratings success in its 1999 debut, when it was intended as an occasional special series. ABC airedMillionaire as a regular series with frequent episodes, but its viewership slowly declined. AfterMillionaire was canceled, it was retooled in 2002 as a syndicated series hosted byMeredith Vieira. ABC brought backMillionaire in February 2004 with Philbin, retitledWho Wants to Be a Super Millionaire, a related series that was aired on a more limited basis.
In August 2009, Philbin hosted 11 episodes of a special edition ofWho Wants to Be a Millionaire, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the show.[40] He also was a celebrity contestant in this version on the final episode of the special. From 2007-12,Millionaire (in its syndicated format) used guest hosts for selected weeks while Meredith Vieira was on assignment for theToday Show, and Philbin guest-hosted a week of episodes that aired in November and December 2009, coinciding with his December 2009 surgery.[41]
Philbin'sMillionaire hosting duties won him aDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 2001. In a 2007Time article, he was listed among the 15 Best Game Show Hosts in History.[42] WhenMillionaire was honored onGSN'sGameshow Hall of Fame special, Philbin's tenure as the show's host was praised. Leigh Hampton, then executive producer of the syndicated version, said that he "[knew] when to take rein of it and when to sit back and let the contestant be the contestant,"[43] and Jennifer Slater of twogirlsandatv.com called him "the sweetest man on television."[43] Philbin himself recalled his ownMillionaire tenure on said special with the following statement:[43]
You could only have a minute or two with it before the questions began. I did everything I could to make them more available for the right answer.
In November 2005, ABC announced that Philbin would host the network's revival ofThis Is Your Life. In August 2006, he reported that his option on the contract for the show had lapsed and he declined to renew it.[44]
Philbin hostedthe first season ofAmerica's Got Talent, aSimon Cowell–produced amateur talent search show onNBC, during the summer of 2006. He flew between New York City and Los Angeles during that time period to participate in bothLive with Regis and Kelly andAGT. Because of his difficulty with commuting cross country and his health problems, he was replaced in 2007 by talk show hostJerry Springer.[45] With regard to filling Philbin's spot, Springer noted that "no one fills in for Regis. He's the best there ever was at this so you pay homage to him."[46]
Philbin's affiliation withFremantle started to develop at this time. He hosted a revival of thePassword franchise entitledMillion Dollar Password, which premiered on June 1, 2008, and ended on June 14, 2009.[47]
On December 31, 2004, Philbin filled in forDick Clark onABC'sDick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, as Clark was recovering from a stroke. Philbin (who was a year and a half younger than Clark) lightheartedly claimed to have interrupted his previously planned vacation to do the show.[48] The following year, Philbin hosted a competing special forFox, replacing Clark's new co-host and eventual successorRyan Seacrest.[49]
Philbin was also the host ofThe Apprentice 2 finale on December 16, 2004,[50] and the official 30-minute red carpet arrivals at the80th Academy Awards ceremony on February 24, 2008.[51]
Philbin hosted the37th Daytime Emmy Awards on June 27, 2010.[52]
Philbin made regular guest appearances onLate Show with David Letterman.[53] He was often introduced by Letterman as "Regis Lee Philbin", a play on his former morning co-host,Kathie Lee Gifford. He also appeared on other late-night talk shows; such asJimmy Kimmel Live!,Late Night with Conan O'Brien,The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, andLate Night with Jimmy Fallon.[54]
Philbin appeared on the sitcomsSpin City,How I Met Your Mother,Mad About You,Hope & Faith,Seinfeld, andThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as well as the sketch-comedy programsThe Dana Carvey Show,Mad TV, andThe Larry Sanders Show. He appeared in an episode ofThe Big Valley called "The Challenge" which first aired on March 18, 1968. In 1970, he appeared in an episode of the ABC crime dramaThe Silent Force, and also in an episode of the seriesThat Girl.[citation needed]
In 1991, Philbin was a celebrity guest atWrestleMania VII in Los Angeles, commenting on the main event betweenHulk Hogan andSgt. Slaughter.[55]
In 1998, Philbin made an appearance inDisney'sHercules as the voice of the mythical monsterTyphon; Kathie Lee Gifford was also present as the voice of Typhon's mate,Echidna.[citation needed]
On December 25, 2000, Philbin appeared as a panelist on the first season championship game of theESPN game show2 Minute Drill.[56]
On February 28, 2004, Philbin guest-starred in theLilo & Stitch: The Series episode "Drowsy".[57]
On May 15, 2006, Philbin appeared as a special guest, alongsideHowie Mandel, for a two-hour special episode ofDeal or No Deal onNBC.[citation needed]
Philbin appeared three times onCelebrity Jeopardy!, the most appearances for any competing celebrity on the game showJeopardy!. In November 2006, he won his competition and earned $50,000 forCardinal Hayes High School, hisalma mater.[58]
Philbin appeared as a contestant on CelebrityAre You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? in November 2007.[59] He again played for hisalma mater, Cardinal Hayes High School. He dropped out of the game and went home with $175,000 for the school.[60]
In September 2008, Philbin guest starred as himself onHow I Met Your Mother,[61] where he joined the cast in the search for New York's best hamburger. The show revealed that he worked out at Barney's gym. During the best-burger hunt, his picture hung in the "Best Burger" restaurant and every other suspected best-burger restaurant, such as Corner Bistro and Veggie Heaven. In the show, he hosted a "show within a show" calledMillion Dollar Heads or Tails, which made reference to bothMillion Dollar Password andMillionaire.
On December 25, 2009, Philbin attended Christmas Mass with FatherEdward L. Beck andTimothy Dolan, the currentArchbishop of New York, atThe Sunday Mass[62] and gave a special interview discussing how being a Catholic had influenced his life.[63]
In February 2011, Philbin made an appearance onTake Two with Phineas and Ferb. On July 3, 2011, he was a celebrity guest onThe Marriage Ref, along withTracy Morgan andSusie Essman.[citation needed]
He appeared as himself in a 2020 episode of the ABC sitcomSingle Parents, which was created by his daughter, J. J. Philbin.
On May 29, 2012, Philbin appeared on CNN'sPiers Morgan Tonight during the show's Guest Host Week. Philbin's guest was his long-time friend, fellow television hostDavid Letterman.[64]
From September 2012 to October 2017, Philbin was an official recurring monthly co-host onRachael Ray.[65]
OnFox Sports 1, Philbin began co-hostingCrowd Goes Wild, a daily sports panel show, on August 17, 2013. He once again partnered with his producer fromMillionaire,Michael Davies.[66][67] In February 2014, he announced his leaving. He returned to occasionally host from March until its cancellation on May 8.
Philbin guest-hosted two episodes ofThe Late Late Show in January 2015. That July, he appeared onToday with Kathie Lee and Hoda. He reappeared on the program roughly once a month, and sometimes joined Gifford as a guest host on Hoda Kotb's days off.[68]
Philbin's two autobiographies (with co-authorBill Zehme),I'm Only One Man! (1995) andWho Wants To Be Me? (2000), are written in the conversational or anecdotal style of his host chats. The first follows a year (1994–1995) in his life, his memories of celebrities, and work onLive with Regis and Kathie Lee, among other things. The next was a response to the success ofWho Wants to Be a Millionaire. In 2011, upon leavingLive!,HarperCollins released his final memoir,How I Got This Way.[69]
Philbin was acrooner in the styles of his favorite singers:Dean Martin,Perry Como, andFrank Sinatra.[70] He tested the musical waters with his 1968 pop vocal release,It's Time For Regis![71] After receiving poor reviews, he was reluctant to record another studio album, but he occasionally sang onLive, usuallyduets. In 2004, he recordedWhen You're Smiling, atraditional pop album.
The Regis Philbin Christmas Album was released in September 2005 byHollywood Records.[71] It features several duets, with friendDonald Trump ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"),Steve Tyrell ("Marshmallow World"), and wife Joy ("Baby, It's Cold Outside" and "Winter Wonderland").[72] A special edition was produced, including tracks sung with the Notre Dame Glee Club.[73][74]
Philbin was married to Catherine Faylen, the daughter of actorFrank Faylen, from 1955 to 1968; they had a daughter named Amy[75] and a son named Daniel before divorcing. He married interior decorator Joy Senese in 1970. Prior to their meeting, she had worked as an assistant for Joey Bishop.[12][76] They had two daughters: Joanna andJ. J.. Joy occasionally co-hosted with Philbin.[77] He split his time between hisManhattan apartment (near theWABC-TV studios) and his house inGreenwich, Connecticut.[12] Joy also appeared on episodes ofHope & Faith, and as herself inMiss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.
Philbin followed sports extensively, especially baseball and football.[78] He was an avid fan of theNew York Yankees and a proud supporter of theNotre Dame Fighting Irish, the sports teams of his alma mater.[79] He narrated the two audio CDs that accompaniedJoe Garner's bookEchoes of Notre Dame Football: Great and Memorable Moments of the Fighting Irish, and he was unwilling to waver even whenSt. John's basketball coachSteve Lavin asked Regis to trade his allegiance.[80]
After graduating from Notre Dame in 1953, he returned to campus often for football games, concerts, pep rallies, banquets, and other events, and donated $2.75 million to the university to build the Philbin Studio Theatre for performance arts productions. When he heard thatLarry King had never visitedNotre Dame Stadium, he invited King and insisted on giving him a tour of the "greatest college campus in the world", which he did in October 2002 withTim Russert also in attendance.[81]
Philbin played on the Notre Dame tennis team, casting doubt on claims he made in an ad that he had learned to play tennis from Joy. Notre Dame football coaches such asCharlie Weis,Tyrone Willingham, andLou Holtz have appeared onLive. Along with being a Yankees fan, Philbin was also "keeping an eye on theFlorida Marlins".[82] On May 5, 2009, he delivered the first pitch at a Marlins game. He also supported thePittsburgh Pirates in his final years.[83]
In March 1984, Philbin opened aFord dealership inGilbert, Arizona, as a side investment during his career in television. The dealership, Philbin Ford, suffered due to the already-saturated auto market in the area, and it was closed in late 1988.[84]
Philbin had anangioplasty in 1993.[85][86] On March 14, 2007, he underwenttriple bypass surgery atWeill Cornell Medical Center because of plaque in his arteries.[87] Before the surgery, Philbin talked withDavid Letterman, for whom he had substituted onLate Show with David Letterman during Letterman's own quintuple bypass surgery.[87] After Philbin's successful heart surgery, he returned to the show on April 26. On December 1, 2009, Philbin hadhip replacement surgery.[88][89] He returned to his regular hosting duties on January 4, 2010.[90] In May 2010, he underwent surgery to have a blood clot removed from his calf, and returned to work the next day.[91]
Philbin died from heart disease due tocoronary artery disease at a hospital inGreenwich, Connecticut, on July 25, 2020 at the age of 88.[92] His funeral was held at theBasilica of the Sacred Heart and he is buried inCedar Grove Cemetery,[93] both on the campus of his alma mater, theUniversity of Notre Dame.[94][95][96]
Philbin was cast as car salesman Handsome Hal on Kelly Ripa's sitcomHope & Faith.[97] He was chosen as the voice of Mabel, the sister of the Ugly Stepsister (played byLarry King), inShrek the Third.[98] His final film wasJack and Jill.
During the successful first run ofWho Wants to Be a Millionaire, Philbin popularized themonochromatic look in men's formal wear that emphasizes color rather than pattern in ties and dress shirts. His look was a suit, shirt and tie coordinated in solid, slightly varying shades of the same, usually dark or muted, color.[53] AVan Heusen clothing line based on this look, calledRegis, was short-lived.[99]
When Philbin hostedWho Wants to Be a Millionaire, he used the phrase "Is that your final answer?" whenever he had to confirm a contestant's answer. Adopted from the original UK hostChris Tarrant, this became Philbin'scatch phrase during his tenure with the show.[100]
In August 2009, Philbin returned to host a two-week miniseries of newMillionaire episodes celebrating the American primetime show's 10th anniversary. The eleven shows (Sunday-to-Thursday twice, plus one extra Sunday) started airing on August 9 onABC primetime.
Philbin (along withSteve Harvey andJohn Henson) were named the 2009–10 guest hosts of the dailyMillionaire. Philbin's episodes aired November 30 – December 4, 2009, and debuted new rules on the show.
In October 2007, Philbin was featured in the 100th anniversary issue of theNeiman Marcus Christmas Book. He was a host of theClassical Superstars Fantasy Concert, which included piano virtuosoLola Astanova with Russia'sKirov Orchestra led by conductorValery Gergiev. The super concert for 500 guests was offered for sale at $1.6 million.[101]
InVan Nest, Bronx, Cruger Avenue between Sagamore Street and Bronxdale Avenue was co-named Regis Philbin Avenue.[102]
The Regis Philbin Studio Theatre in theMarie P. DeBartolo Performing Arts Center was named after him. It is a 2,333-square-foot (216.7 m2)black box theater with configurable seating and staging and a system of fivecatwalks.[120]
Studio albums
| Holiday albums
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Singles
| Year | Single | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"(withDonald Trump) | The Regis Philbin Christmas Album |
| "Frosty the Snowman" |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
