Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (born August 25, 1931) is an
American media personality and occasional
actor, known for fronting various
talk and
game shows. Appearing on
television since the late 1950s, Philbin is often called (somewhat
tongue-in-cheek and alternately attributed to
James Brown) "the hardest working man in
show business"
and holds the
Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a
television camera.
His trademarks include his excited manner, his
New York Bronx accent, his
wit, and irreverent ad-libs. He is most widely known for
Live with Regis and Kelly,
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,
Million Dollar Password, and for hosting the first season of
America's Got Talent. He is a distant cousin of singer-songwriter and
American Idol judge
Kara DioGuardi.
Early life and career
Regis was born in 1931. His father was Francis "Frank" Philbin, a U.S. Marine who served in the Pacific, who was of
Irish heritage. His mother, Filomena "Florence" Boscia, was of
Albanian heritage, her ancestors from
Greci,
Italy. They lived at 1990 Cruger Avenue in the
Van Nest section of
The Bronx.
[www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/Regis/regis.html] It was long believed that Philbin grew up an only child, but on the February 1, 2007, broadcast of
Live with Regis and Kelly, Philbin announced that he did have a brother, Frank M. Philbin, who had died from
non-Hodgkin lymphoma several days earlier. He said that his brother, 20 years younger than he, had asked him to not speak of him on television or in the press.
[HE'S MY BROTHER - New York Post]
Regis attended Our Lady of Solace grammar school in the Bronx. He went on to graduate from
Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx in 1949 before attending the
University of Notre Dame, where he graduated in 1953 with a
sociology degree. He later served in the
United States Navy and went through a few behind-the-scenes jobs in television and
radio before moving into the
broadcasting arena.
His first talk show was
The Regis Philbin Show on
KGTV in
San Diego,
California. For budgetary reasons, he had no writing staff, leading him to begin each show with what has become his hallmark, the "host chat" segment (influenced by
Jack Paar), where he engages his audience (and later on, his co-host) in discussions about his life and the day's events.
Philbin gained his first national exposure in 1967 as
Joey Bishop's
sidekick on
The Joey Bishop Show on television (1967–1969). In
a Johnny Carson-Ed McMahon vein, Bishop would playfully tease Philbin and Philbin
would take the barbs in stride. Philbin, however, got his feelings wounded when he learned
from the network grapevine that ABC executives were dissatisfied with his work. When
The Joey Bishop Show was canceled, Bishop walked off the show on the air unannounced, leaving Philbin to successfully carry the show on his own.
Talk show career
In 1964, Philbin took over hosting the late night
Westinghouse Tonight Show from Hollywood when
Steve Allen left the show. The audience did not accept Philbin as a replacement for the zany antics of Allen and the appearance lasted only a few weeks due to dismal ratings.
Johnny Carson was too strong in the ratings for the same time slot. Carson was an inspiration for Philbin, according to his own words (PBS, 2008,
Pioneers of Television).
From 1975–83, he co-hosted
A.M. Los Angeles, a local morning talk show on
KABC-TV, first with
Sarah Purcell, then with
Cyndy Garvey. Philbin's presence brought the show from the bottom of the local ratings to No. 1.
During the early 1970s, Philbin also commuted each weekend to St. Louis, where he filmed
Regis Philbin’s Saturday Night in St. Louis on KMOX-TV (now
KMOV).
In 1981, Philbin and
Mary Hart co-hosted a national morning variety series for
NBC. The show lasted 18 weeks.
Garvey left Los Angeles and moved to
New York City in 1983. Philbin rejoined Garvey on
The Morning Show, another locally-produced morning talk show, this time on
WABC-TV. At the time, the 9 am time slot for WABC-TV suffered from low
Nielsen Ratings. After Garvey left again, and Ann Abernathy briefly shared co-hosting duties, Philbin was paired with
Kathie Lee Johnson (later Gifford), in June 1985, and ratings improved significantly. The show became nationally
syndicated in September 1988 as
Live with Regis and Kathie Lee and the success continued. The program would replace
A.M. Los Angeles upon its cancellation in 1991.
In the 1980s, Philbin hosted
Lifestyles with Regis Philbin on the
Lifetime television network.
When Gifford departed in 2000, the show was temporarily named
Live with Regis. Philbin would always have a guest co-host until an official replacement was found. Philbin won a
Daytime Emmy Award in 2001 for "Outstanding Talk Show Host".
Kelly Ripa was chosen as the permanent co-host in 2001, and the show was renamed
Live with Regis and Kelly. Their chemistry has proven successful, as the show continues to enjoy high ratings.
Philbin set a
Guinness World Record for "Most Hours on Camera" on his August 20, 2004
Live show (replacing
Hugh Downs), which gave him a total of 15,188 hours on television.
On the September 14, 2006 episode of
Live, his record was updated to 15,662 hours.
His on-air time continues to accumulate.
It was announced on the September 17th, 2009 episode of "Live with Regis and Kelly" during their World Record Breaker week, that Regis' Guinness Book World Record for most time spent in front of a TV camera had reached 16,343 hours.
Recently, Philbin's contract with ABC was renewed through to 2011.
Under this new contract, Philbin reportedly earns more than
US$21 million, but the terms and conditions significantly restrict his ability to negotiate deals with networks other than ABC. He, however, received a similar contract with CBS (due to Regis's hosting of
Million Dollar Password).
Game show career
Philbin was also a
game show host. He hosted
The Neighbors, a short-lived game show on
ABC in 1975. The premise of 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's
Almost Anything Goes, an American adaptation of the British game show,
It's a Knockout. Both shows suffered from poor ratings.
Philbin's more recent game show hosting duties have been much more successful. He was the original host of the U.S. version of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, another ABC game show that
had its roots in Britain.
Millionaire was a big ratings success in its 1999 debut, when it was intended as an occasional special series. ABC aired
Millionaire as a regular series with frequent episodes, but its viewership slowly declined. After
Millionaire was canceled, it was retooled in 2002 as a syndicated series hosted by
Meredith Vieira, which continues today. ABC brought back
Millionaire in 2004 with Philbin, retitled
Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire, a related series that was aired on a more limited basis. Philbin had appeared in 11 episodes of a special edition of
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, which started on August 9, 2009, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the show
[buzzerblog.flashgameshows.com/details-on-abcs-millionaire-10th-anniversary/]. He also was a celebrity contestant in this version.
Philbin won a
Daytime Emmy for "Outstanding Game Show Host" in 2003, as host of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
In November 2005, ABC announced that Philbin would host the network's revival of
This Is Your Life. Yet in August 2006, he reported that his option on the contract for the show had lapsed and he declined to renew it.
["ABC Contemplates Life Without Regis", Broadcasting & Cable, August 30, 2006.]
Philbin hosted
the first season of
America's Got Talent, a
Simon Cowell-produced amateur search show on
NBC, during the summer of 2006. He flew between New York City and Los Angeles many times during that time period, in order to participate in both
Live with Regis and Kelly and
AGT. His difficulty with commuting between both cities was an issue, as well as his health problems he suffered a few years ago. Therefore, he was replaced in 2007 by talk show host
Jerry Springer.
[[1], Retrieved on 2007-03-05] In regards 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."
[Jerry Springer has talent?]
However, Philbin's affiliation with
FremantleMedia started to develop. He hosted a revival of the
Password franchise entitled
Million Dollar Password, (which FremantleMedia owns) which premiered June 1, 2008 and ended in 2009.
[www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/12/entertainment/main3359960.shtml?source=RSSattr=Entertainment_3359960 ABCNews: Regis To Host "Million Dollar Password"]
Other television appearances
On December 31, 2004, Philbin filled in for
Dick Clark on
ABC's
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, as Clark was recovering from a minor
stroke. Philbin (who is a year and a half younger than Clark), lightheartedly claimed to have interrupted his previously planned vacation to perform to do the show. During
CNN's
New Year's Eve special, hosted by
Anderson Cooper, and broadcast on both CNN and
CNN International, revelers in
Times Square told CNN reporter
Jason Carroll that Philbin was "all right" filling in for Clark, though they had Cooper and Carroll.
[CNN.com - Transcripts]
The following year, Philbin hosted
FOX's
New Year's Eve Live special with
Jillian Barberie, which put him in direct competition with Dick Clark (who co-hosted with
Ryan Seacrest). Later that evening, after hosting FOX's New Year's Eve special, he appeared on
Fox News Channel's
U Party With Fox News, hosted by FNC anchors
Mike Jerrick and
Juliet Huddy, and shared his thoughts about hosting the special on Fox.
Philbin was also the host of the finale of
The Apprentice 2 on December 16, 2004.
Philbin hosted the official 30-minute red carpet arrivals at the
80th Academy Awards ceremony on February 24, 2008.
Guest appearances
Philbin makes regular guest appearances on
Late Show with David Letterman where he gives
David Letterman no great help in controlling the show — being simultaneously his usual urbane self and the "guest from hell" (being a fellow TV host) — though they show a heartfelt respect for each other.
He is often introduced by Letterman as "Regis Lee Philbin," a play on his former morning co-host,
Kathie Lee Gifford. He also appears on other late night talk shows, such as
Jimmy Kimmel Live!,
Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
Philbin has appeared on the sitcoms
How I Met Your Mother,
Mad About You,
Hope and Faith,
Seinfeld, and
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as well as the sketch comedy program
The Dana Carvey Show.
Perhaps to bring good luck, some premiering talk shows, such as
The View and
The Tony Danza Show, had signed Philbin to be their first guest.
Philbin was a celebrity guest at
WrestleMania VII in Los Angeles in 1991, commentating on the main event between
Hulk Hogan and
Sgt. Slaughter.
On December 25, 2000, Philbin appeared as a panelist on the 1st season championship game of the
ESPN game show
2 Minute Drill.
On February 28, 2004, Philbin also guest starred in a
Lilo and Stitch: The Series episode called
Drowsy.
On May 15, 2006, Philbin appeared as a special guest alongside
Howie Mandel for a 2-hour special episode of
Deal or No Deal on
NBC.
Philbin has appeared three times on
Celebrity Jeopardy!, the most appearances for any competing celebrity on the game show
Jeopardy!. He played for
Cardinal Hayes High School, his alma mater. In November 2006, he won his competition and earned $50,000 for the school.
Philbin has appeared as a contestant on Celebrity
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? in November 2007. He played for his alma mater, Cardinal Hayes High School. He dropped out of the game and went home with $175,000 for the school.
In August 2008 Philbin guest starred on
How I Met Your Mother and
Ugly Betty as himself in the fall of 2008. On
Mother, Philbin joined the cast of the show in the search for New York's best
hamburger. He was revealed to work out at Barney's
gym, and has his picture hung in the "Best Burger" restaurant, and also in every other suspected best burger restaurant, such as Corner Bistro and Veggie Heaven; this was most likely for irony, as the Regis Philbin picture was the only detail Marshall remembered about the restaurant besides the neon burger sign and green door. In the show, he hosted a "
show within a show" called
Million Dollar Heads or Tails, which referenced both
Million Dollar Password in name and
Millionaire (in that a game element features "polling the audience," which came out evenly split, "50/50," the names of two of the
lifelines in that game).
Written and musical works
In addition to being a
television personality, Philbin is also an
author and
singer, drawing on the success of his talk show.
Philbin's two autobiographies (with co-author Bill Zehme),
I'm Only One Man! (1995) and
Who Wants To Be Me? (2000), are written in the conversational or anecdotal style of his host chats. The former book follows a year (1994–1995) in his life recalling, among other things, his personal life, his memories with celebrities, and work on
Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. The latter book is a response to the success of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and deals with more antics about the show and his life.
As a singer, Philbin can best be described as a
crooner in the style of his favorite singers:
Dean Martin,
Perry Como, and
Frank Sinatra. He tested the musical waters with his 1968 pop vocal release,
It's Time For Regis! After receiving poor reviews, Philbin was reluctant to record another studio album, but he occasionally sang on
Live, usually duetting with another person. After 36 years, he recorded
When You're Smiling (2004), a more
mature-sounding
pop standards album.
The Regis Philbin Christmas Album was released September 2005 according to
Amazon.com but was made widely available that November in time for the holiday season. This album features several duets, with close friend
Donald Trump ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"),
Steve Tyrell ("Marshmallow World"), and wife Joy ("
Baby, It's Cold Outside" and "Winter Wonderland"). A special edition of the album was produced with tracks recorded with the Notre Dame Glee Club.
He is said to enjoy the music recording experience more now than on his first recording. Philbin is signed on to
Hollywood Records.
Personal life
[
Philbin and Joy Philbin in 2009.jpg|thumb|Philbin and his wife [[Joy Philbin|Joy] in New York City, 2009.]]
Philbin has been married twice and has four children. He was married to Kay Faylan from 1955–1968, and he has been married to interior decorator
Joy Senese since 1970. His children are Amy, Daniel (both with Faylan), Joanna, and
Jennifer "J. J." (both with Senese). Joy Philbin occasionally co-hosts with her husband Regis. On
Live, he often mentions Joy, and to a lesser degree, Joanna, J.J. and Danny. When Danny was born, he didn't have some vertebrae and he was missing some muscles in his leg. He had to spend his childhood at the Angel View Crippled Children's Foundation in California. During the
September 11 attacks, Philbin noted on air that he was very worried about Danny who worked at
The Pentagon and is wheelchair bound. Danny emerged from the terrorist attack safe, and since the tragedy Regis has joined Danny at
Walter Reed Army Medical Center to visit injured troops. In August 2007, Regis and Joy Philbin announced that their daughter J. J. and her husband,
Michael, were expecting their first child in February 2008. William Xavier Schur was born on February 18, 2008. He weighed 6 lbs. 5 oz, and was 19 inches in length. William Xavier is named after Regis, Xavier being his confirmation name. He is also nicknamed "Mr. Trouble" by Regis and often referred to as such on
Live.
Philbin spends his time between his new home in
Greenwich, Connecticut, and his apartment on the
Upper West Side of
Manhattan near the WABC-TV studios.
He had a strong bond to his family cat Ashley, which was blind in its final years.
Philbin follows the professional sports world extensively, enjoying
baseball as well as
football. He is an avid fan of the
New York Yankees and a proud supporter of his alma mater, the
Notre Dame Fighting Irish – so proud, in fact, that Philbin narrated the two audio CDs that accompanied
Joe Garner's book,
Echoes of Notre Dame Football: Great and Memorable Moments of the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame football coaches, such as
Charlie Weis,
Tyrone Willingham, and
Lou Holtz have appeared on
Live. Along with being a Yankees fan, Regis is also "keeping an eye on the
Florida Marlins."
[mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080612&content_id=2901048&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb] On May 5, 2009 he delivered the first pitch at a Marlins game.
He is known to have trouble handling new
technology and is frequently confused when operating electronics (such as
remote controls and
DVD players). He does not usually use
computers (although he did use one for an episode of
Live during summer 2008, demonstrating how to find homes online) and only got a
cell phone on Sept. 10, 2008. It is often noted, however, that Philbin does not completely reject the technology; he simply has Joy make calls and send e-mails for him.
[Noted in a late-2005 broadcast episode of Live, by Joy Philbin.]
On March 12, 2007, during an episode of
Live with Regis and Kelly, Philbin announced that he would undergo
triple bypass surgery later that week, as he had experienced chest pains and shortness of breath the previous two weeks and doctors found plaque in his arteries.
He said, "Darn it, I don't want to do it. Nobody wants to do it, I guess. But they tell me. And I had a second opinion, I did all those things
for heart disease, and so they're
doctors are all in agreement that it should be the bypass. And so that's what I'm going to do."
In addition, Philbin talked with
David Letterman, for whom Philbin substituted for on the
Late Show with David Letterman during Letterman's own quintuple bypass surgery.
Philbin's heart surgery at
Weill Cornell Medical Center on March 14 was successful and he returned to the show on April 26. He previously had an
angioplasty in 1993.
Regis Philbin in popular culture
Personal
Philbin has a distinctive avuncular voice with a
strong New York accent that is often imitated by others, usually in
parodies involving him. Notable impersonators include
Ben Affleck,
Frank Caliendo,
Dana Carvey,
Darrell Hammond,
Alex Borstein,
Tom Hanks,
Artie Lange,
Conan O'Brien,
Mike O'Meara,
Eric McCormack,
Jimmy Fallon, and even
Kelly Ripa. Carvey and Hammond performed their impressions of him on
Saturday Night Live. Fans voted for Hammond and Carvey to receive the "Best Regis" award during
Live with Regis and Kelly's "Relly Awards."
He was cast as car salesman, Handsome Hal on
Hope & Faith, because of his voice and mannerisms (
Hope & Faith being Kelly Ripa's sitcom).
He was chosen as the voice of a minor female character in
Shrek the Third: Mabel, the sister of the Ugly Stepsister (played by
Larry King).
In the
Animaniacs episode "Pigeon on a Roof" (a
Goodfeathers musical parody of
Fiddler on the Roof), a key plot element involves toppling a statue of
Martin Scorsese—and replacing it with one of Philbin.
Also, several
Hey Arnold! episodes would feature a talk show that parodied
Regis and Kathie Lee. The male host, in addition, would always get extremely excited in a parody of Philbin.
He is mentioned in Christian artist
Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Live Out Loud."
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
During the successful first run of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Philbin popularized the
monochromatic look in men's formalwear 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.
A
Van Heusen clothing line based on this look, called
Regis, was short-lived.
When Philbin hosted
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, he used the phrase "
Is that your final answer?" whenever he had to verify a contestant's answer. Adopted from
Chris Tarrant, this became Philbin's
catch phrase during his tenure with the show.
In August 2009, Philbin returned for a 2-week stint as host of
Millionaire. The 11 shows (Sunday-to-Thursday twice, plus one extra Sunday) started airing August 9 on
ABC primetime.
2007 Neiman Marcus Christmas Book
In October 2007, Philbin was featured in the 100th anniversary issue of the
Neiman Marcus Christmas Book. He was a host of the
Classical Superstars Fantasy Concert, which included piano virtuoso
Lola Astanova with Russia's
Kirov Orchestra led by conductor
Valery Gergiev. The super concert for 500 guests was offered for sale at $1.6 million.
Awards and recognition
Television work
Filmography
Discography
Studio albums
| Year
| Album details
| Peak positions
|
| US
|
| 1968
| It's Time for Regis!
|
—
|
| 2004
| When You're Smiling
| 54
|
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart
|
Holiday albums
| rowspan="2"| Year |
| rowspan="2"| Album details |
| colspan="3"| Peak positions |
| width="40"| US |
| width="40"| US Holiday |
| width="40"| UK |
| 2005
| The Regis Philbin Christmas Album
|
- Released: September 27, 2005
- Label: Hollywood Records
74
| 9
| 163
|
Singles
Books
- (Foreword by Regis Philbin) The Spirit of Notre Dame: Legends, Traditions, and Inspiration from One of America's Most Beloved Universities by Jim Langford and Jeremy Langford, Doubleday, 2005. ISBN 978-0-385-52327-1
