78 Facts About Regis Philbin

Regis Francis Xavier Philbin was an American television presenter, talk show host, game show host, comedian, actor, and musician.

Regis Philbin got his first network television exposure in 1967 as Joey Bishop's sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show.

Regis Philbin hosted Million Dollar Password and the first season of America's Got Talent.

Regis Philbin was born in the Manhattan borough of New York City on August 25,1931.

Regis Philbin's father, Francis "Frank" Philbin, was a US Marine of Irish descent who served in the Pacific.

Regis Philbin's mother, Filomena, was a member of an Albanian-Italian immigrant family from Greci.

Regis Philbin was supposedly named "Regis" because his father wanted him to attend his alma mater, the prestigious Regis High School.

Regis Philbin said his brother had asked not to be mentioned on television or in the press while still alive to protect his privacy.

Regis Philbin was raised in the Van Nest neighborhood of the Bronx.

Regis Philbin later served in the US Navy as a supply officer Lieutenant Junior Grade and then went through a few behind-the-scenes jobs in television and radio before moving into broadcasting.

Regis Philbin soon got a job at KCOP as assistant news editor to Baxter Ward, and when the station's sportscaster did not arrive one day, Regis Philbin filled in.

In 1957, Regis Philbin left his job at KCOP, Los Angeles, to make his fortune in New York City.

Regis Philbin was an announcer on The Tonight Show in 1962.

Regis Philbin's first talk show was The Regis Philbin Show in 1961 on KOGO-TV in San Diego.

In 1964, Westinghouse Broadcasting picked up Regis Philbin's talk show for national syndication in the late night time slot.

That Regis Philbin Show failed to attract many stations and Westinghouse replaced Philbin with Merv Griffin in 1965.

In 1964, Philbin hosted That Regis Philbin Show, a nationally syndicated show for Westinghouse Broadcasting replacing The Steve Allen Show after Steve Allen refused to renew his contract.

Regis Philbin gained his first network TV exposure in 1967 as Joey Bishop's sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show on television.

Regis Philbin reiterates this assertion in his 2011 memoir, How I Got This Way, explaining that it was intended to draw in some of Johnny Carson's viewers.

Regis Philbin commuted on weekends to St Louis, where he filmed Regis Philbin's Saturday Night in St Louis on KMOX-TV.

From 1975 to 1981, he co-hosted AM Los Angeles, a local morning talk show on KABC-TV, where Regis Philbin was already working reviewing movies for newscasts on the station.

Regis Philbin co-hosted first with Sarah Purcell, then with Cyndy Garvey.

Regis Philbin's presence brought the show from the bottom of the local ratings to No 1.

From November 30,1981 to April 9,1982, Philbin and Mary Hart co-hosted "The Regis Philbin Show," a national morning variety series for NBC.

Regis Philbin was hoping to transfer his success from KABC to a national network show, but the show was not successful and lasted only 18 weeks.

Regis Philbin won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host in 2001.

Regis Philbin set a Guinness World Record for "Most Hours on Camera" on his August 20,2004, Live show, which gave him a total of 15,188 hours on television.

Regis Philbin received a similar contract with CBS for hosting Million Dollar Password.

Regis Philbin hosted The Neighbors, a short-lived game show on ABC from late 1975 to early 1976.

Regis Philbin was the original host of the US version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, an ABC game show that had its roots in Britain.

ABC brought back Millionaire in 2004 with Regis Philbin, retitled Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire, a related series that was aired on a more limited basis.

Regis Philbin had appeared in 11 episodes of a special edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which started on August 9,2009,10th anniversary of the show.

Millionaire, in its syndicated format, uses guest hosts for selected weeks during the season and Regis Philbin hosted a week of episodes that aired in November 2009, coinciding with his 2009 surgery.

Regis Philbin's Millionaire hosting duties won him a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 2001.

Regis Philbin hosted the first season of America's Got Talent, a Simon Cowell-produced amateur talent search show on NBC, during the summer of 2006.

Regis Philbin flew between New York City and Los Angeles during that time period to participate in both Live with Regis and Kelly and AGT.

Regis Philbin hosted a revival of the Password franchise entitled Million Dollar Password, which premiered June 1,2008, and ended on June 14,2009.

Regis Philbin lightheartedly claimed to have interrupted his previously planned vacation to do the show.

Regis Philbin was the host of The Apprentice 2 finale on December 16,2004, and the official 30-minute red carpet arrivals at the 80th Academy Awards ceremony on February 24,2008.

Regis Philbin hosted the 37th Daytime Emmy Awards on June 27,2010.

Regis Philbin made regular guest appearances on Late Show with David Letterman.

Regis Philbin was often introduced by Letterman as "Regis Lee Philbin", a play on his former morning co-host, Kathie Lee Gifford.

Regis Philbin appeared in an episode of The Big Valley called "The Challenge" which first aired on March 18,1968.

In 1991, Regis Philbin was a celebrity guest at WrestleMania VII in Los Angeles, commenting on the main event between Hulk Hogan and Sgt.

In 1998, Regis Philbin made an appearance in Disney's Hercules as the voice of the mythical monster Typhon; Kathie Lee Gifford was present as the voice of Typhon's mate, Echidna.

On December 25,2000, Regis Philbin appeared as a panelist on the first season championship game of the ESPN game show 2 Minute Drill.

On May 15,2006, Regis Philbin appeared as a special guest, alongside Howie Mandel, for a two-hour special episode of Deal or No Deal on NBC.

Regis Philbin again played for his alma mater, Cardinal Hayes High School.

Regis Philbin dropped out of the game and went home with $175,000 for the school.

In September 2008, Regis Philbin guest starred as himself on How I Met Your Mother, where he joined the cast in the search for New York's best hamburger.

On December 25,2009, Philbin attended Christmas Mass with Father Edward L Beck and Timothy Dolan, the current Archbishop of New York, at The Sunday Mass and gave a special interview discussing how being a Catholic had influenced his life.

In February 2011, Regis Philbin made an appearance on Take Two with Phineas and Ferb.

Regis Philbin appeared as himself in a 2020 episode of the ABC sitcom Single Parents, which was created by his daughter, JJ Philbin.

On May 29,2012, Regis Philbin appeared on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight during the show's Guest Host Week.

Regis Philbin's guest was his long-time friend, fellow television host David Letterman.

From September 2012 to October 2017, Regis Philbin was an official recurring monthly co-host on Rachael Ray.

On Fox Sports 1, Regis Philbin began co-hosting Crowd Goes Wild, a daily sports panel show, on August 17,2013.

Regis Philbin partnered with his producer from Millionaire, Michael Davies.

Regis Philbin guest-hosted two episodes of The Late Late Show in January 2015.

Regis Philbin reappeared on the program roughly once a month, and sometimes joined Gifford as a guest host on Hoda Kotb's days off.

Regis Philbin was a crooner in the styles of his favorite singers: Dean Martin, Perry Como, and Frank Sinatra.

Regis Philbin was married to Catherine Faylen, the daughter of actor Frank Faylen, from 1955 to 1968; they had a daughter named Amy and a son named Daniel before divorcing.

Regis Philbin married interior decorator Joy Senese in 1970; they had two daughters: Joanna and JJ Joy occasionally co-hosted with Philbin.

Regis Philbin was an avid fan of the New York Yankees and a proud supporter of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the sports teams of his alma mater.

Regis 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, and he was unwilling to waver even when St John's basketball coach Steve Lavin asked Regis to trade his allegiance.

Regis 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.

Regis Philbin supported the Pittsburgh Pirates in his final years.

In March 1984, Regis Philbin opened a Ford dealership in Gilbert, Arizona, as a side investment during his career in television.

The dealership, Regis Philbin Ford, suffered due to the already-saturated auto market in the area, and it was closed in late 1988.

Regis Philbin was known to have trouble handling new technology, and was frequently confused when operating electronics such as remote controls and DVD players.

Regis Philbin did not usually use computers and did not own a cell phone until September 2008.

Regis Philbin returned to his regular hosting duties on January 4,2010.

Regis Philbin died from a heart attack due to coronary artery disease on July 25,2020, one month shy of his 89th birthday as noted in a statement released by his family announcing his death at the age of 88 at a hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Regis Philbin's funeral was held at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and he was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, both on the campus of his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame.

Regis Philbin was chosen as the voice of Mabel, the sister of the Ugly Stepsister, in Shrek the Third.

Regis Philbin's look was a suit, shirt and tie coordinated in solid, slightly varying shades of the same, usually dark or muted, color.

In October 2007, Regis Philbin was featured in the 100th anniversary issue of the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book.

Regis Philbin 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.