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Regis Philbin, the legendary television presenter who started an iconic career with the successful hit Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, has died. She was 88 years old.
The family of the television presenter confirmed his death in a statement to People MagazineSaying, “We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Regis Philbin passed away last night from natural causes, a month before his 89th birthday.”
The statement continued: “His family and friends are eternally grateful for the time we spent with him, for his warmth, his legendary sense of humor, and his unique ability to make every day something worth talking about. We thank his fans and admirers for their incredible support during his 60-year career, and we ask for privacy as we mourn his loss. ”
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His career spanned decades, seeing him serve as host on a roster of classic shows including Who wants to be a millionaire?, Million Dollar Password and America has talent.
Philbin leaves behind Joy Philbin, his wife of 50 years, and their two daughters, Joanna and Jennifer.
Philbin’s question to the contestants, “Is that your final answer?” it became a national slogan. He was even a fashion pioneer; He pulled out a line of monochromatic shirts and ties to match what he was wearing on set.
“You wait a lifetime for something like that and sometimes it never happens,” Philbin told the Associated Press in 1999.
In 2008, he briefly returned to the quiz contest format with Million Dollar Password. He also collected the Lifetime Achievement Award for Daytime Emmy Awards.
He was the kind of television personality easy to tease and easy to love.
When his son Danny met his future wife, “we were talking about our families,” Danny told USA Today. “I said, ‘Do you know that Regis and Kathie Lee show?’ And she said, ‘I hate that show.’ And I said, ‘That’s my dad.’
However, Philbin was the favorite of the ironic icon of a younger generation, David Letterman. When Letterman announced that he had to have heart surgery, he was on the air for Philbin, who was also there for Letterman’s first day back after his recovery.
Letterman returned the favor, appearing on the Philbin show when he returned to the air in April 2007 after undergoing heart bypass surgery.
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin grew up in the Bronx district of New York, the son of Italian-Irish parents and named after the Roman Catholic boys’ high school his father attended. He went to the University of Notre Dame and was such an enthusiastic alum that he once said he wanted his ashes to be scattered there.
After leaving the Navy in 1955, Philbin headed for a meeting with the stationmaster at KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. He got a job parking cars, then went on to work as a set designer, messenger, journalist, and producer of a sports broadcast. When his sports presenter didn’t show up one day, Philbin completed it.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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