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Regis Philbin

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Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (born August 25, 1931) is an experienced American talk show host whose career has included stints as a game show host and all-purpose television personality. Appearing on television since at least the 1960s and confirmed by his Guinness World Record, he is consistently called (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) "the hardest working man in show business." Regis's nicknames include Reege (with spelling variants Rege or Reeg), Big Daddy,[link] Big Man, and #1;6 July 2006 broadcast of LIVE. the latter three popularized by his Live with Regis and Kelly co-host Kelly Ripa.

Contents

Early life and career

Philbin was named after his father's alma mater Regis High School, a Manhattan Jesuit private school, and Jesuit Saint Francis Xavier. His father was Irish and his mother Arbëreshë. Philbin grew up as an only child in the Van Nest/Morris Park section of the Bronx. He attended The University of Notre Dame until graduating in 1953 with a degree in sociology. He later served in the Navy and went through a few behind-the-scenes jobs in television and radio before moving into broadcasting.

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, where he engages his audience (and later on, his cohost) in discussions about his life and the events of the day.

Philbin gained his first national exposure in 1967 as Joey Bishop's sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show (1967-1969). Bishop liked to tease Philbin, but the teasing stopped after Philbin walked off the set during a live broadcast, and stayed away for several days.

Talk show success

Philbin continued in several hosting and other television roles; by the late 1970s Philbin was a fixture on morning television in Los Angeles. From 1975 to 1983, 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 number one.

Garvey left Los Angeles and relocated to New York City in 1983. Philbin rejoined Garvey on The Morning Show, another locally-produced morning talk show, on WABC-TV. At the time, the 9:00am time slot for WABC suffered from low ratings. After Garvey departed 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. Ironically, Regis and Kathie Lee would replace A.M. Los Angeles when the latter was cancelled in 1991.

In the 1980s, Philbin hosted Lifestyles with Regis Philbin on the Lifetime television network.

When Gifford departed in 2000, the show was named Live with Regis. Philbin would always have a guest co-host until an official replacement was found. Philbin won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host, in 2001; as of 2006 his only such award.

When Kelly Ripa was chosen as the permanent co-host in 2001, the show was renamed Live with Regis and Kelly. Philbin's and Ripa's chemistry has been proven successful, as the show continues today and enjoys high ratings.

Philbin set a Guinness World Record on his August 20 2004 show, which gave him a total of 15,188 hours on television. The previous record holder for Most Hours on Camera was Hugh Downs.

The National Enquirer has published stories that fuel rumors of feuds between Philbin and Ripa, often casting Ripa as an aggressor of Philbin's displeasure. The tabloid has a bias in favor of Philbin in these stories, as they put him at odds with Ripa, co-executive producer Michael Gelman, and the upper management of The Walt Disney Company. The Enquirer even has a "Keep Regis" campaign purported to help him. After a first round of rumors in 2002, Philbin told Larry King on Larry King Live, "I think Kelly is terrific. I get along with her fine. But you know, the gossip thing is so big these days. And it happens, I guess, to every show business duo, Martin and Lewis, to go back a long time."[link] In 2005, a new round of rumors surfaced, including rumors that Ripa's appearance and personality are affecting Live and her relationship with Philbin. One rumor in July 2005, stated that Philbin was fired because he had asked to be let out of his contract. In actuality, when his contract ran out in September, he signed a new contract immediately. That new four-year contract would allow for him to have one day off per week (Fridays) and an option to leave Live after two years. The contract also stipulates that Philbin give Disney one year's notice before he decides to quit.[link]

During his time as a talk show host, Regis Philbin has interviewed many celebrities, including now-dead celebrities, such as Selena, a Mexican singer who was killed when the president of her fan club shot her in 1995, Dale Earnhardt, who was a NASCAR driver who was killed in the 2001 Daytona 500, and Christa McAuliffe, who was scheduled to become the first teacher in space, but was killed in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Regis Philbin has also done several things to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Game show success

Philbin was also a game show host. He hosted The Neighbors, a short-lived game show on ABC in 1975, where a contestant (a female) had to guess which of her neighbors (other women) said gossipy things about her. He was also a field reporter for Almost Anything Goes, also on ABC, which was an American adaptation of the British game show It's a Knockout. Both shows suffered from poor ratings.

Not to be doomed by failure, Philbin's most 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 at its debut in 1999, when it was meant to be an occasional special series. As ABC aired Millionaire as a regular series with frequent episodes, its viewership slowly declined. After Millionaire was cancelled for its excessiveness that dragged the ABC network down, it was retooled in 2002 as a syndicated series hosted by Meredith Vieira, which continues today. ABC brought back Millionaire in 2004 with Philbin; this time as Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire, a related series that was aired for restrictive periods of time. If ABC will produce more Super Millionaire specials, Philbin is expected to remain as its host.

Philbin won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Game Show Host in 2001.

In November 2005, ABC announced that Regis will host the network's revival of This Is Your Life, the announcement coming days before the death of its original host, Ralph Edwards. As of May 2006, the show is in development.

Philbin is currently the host of America's Got Talent, a talent search show executive produced by Simon Cowell that premiered June 21, 2006 on NBC. In the earlier episodes, Regis appeared ineffectual and stiff while hosting his first reality contest show, but as the show progressed, he appeared more natural and comfortable.

Other television appearances

Regis Philbin appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman, although he would be unseen by viewers without HDTV or who live too far away from an affiliate's transmitter to get a digital, high-definition CBS signal
Enlarge
Regis Philbin appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman, although he would be unseen by viewers without HDTV or who live too far away from an affiliate's transmitter to get a digital, high-definition CBS signal

Philbin makes regular guest appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman where he gives David Letterman no great help in controlling the show, being at the same time his usual urbane self and the "guest from hell" (being a fellow TV host), as they show a heartfelt respect for each other.

Perhaps to bring good luck, some talk shows that were newly created had signed Philbin to be their first guest, such as The View, and The Tony Danza Show.

Philbin was a celebrity guest at WrestleMania VII in Los Angeles in 1991, and was a commentator during the main event between Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter.

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

On December 31 2004, Regis 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 said he interrupted his previously planned vacation to perform his hosting duties. During CNN's New Year's Eve special, hosted by Anderson Cooper, revelers in Times Square told CNN's Jason Carroll that Philbin was all right filling in for Clark, even though they had Cooper and Carroll, as well as Erica Hill and Deborah Feyerick.

Philbin was the host of FOX's 2006 New Year's Eve Live special, which put him in direct competition with Dick Clark (who cohosted with American Idol's Ryan Seacrest). Philbin's co-host was LA personality Jillian Barberie. Later that evening, after hosting FOX's New Year's Eve special, he appeared on Fox News Channel's New Year's Eve special, hosted by FNC anchors Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy, and shared his thoughts about hosting the special on Fox.

Philbin hosted The Apprentice 2 finale (December 16, 2004), has co-hosted the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade with Kelly Ripa (2002—) and Kathie Lee (much of the 1990s), and hosted the Walt Disney World Easter Parade with Joan Lunden for many years.

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.

Written and musical works

In addition to being a television personality, Philbin is also an author and a 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 style of his host chats: conversational and anecdotal. The former 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 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 for his musical career, Philbin's style can be best described as a crooner, with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. 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 in a duet 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 in 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.[link] He is said to enjoy the music recording experience more now than with his first time. Philbin is signed on to Hollywood Records.

Personal life

Philbin has been married twice and has four children. He was married to Kay Faylan from 1955 to 1968, and remarried to interior designer Joy Senese in 1970. His children are Amy, Daniel (both with Kay), Joanna, and Jennifer (J.J.) (both with Joy). Joy Philbin occasionally cohosts with Regis. On Live, he often mentions Joy, and to a lesser degree, Joanna, J.J. and Danny. His ex-wife and Amy are rarely or never mentioned.

It has been rumored that Philbin once dated Barbara Walters in the 1960s, but that has yet to be proven.

Regis Philbin in popular culture and other trivia

Voice

Philbin has a distinctive and excitable 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, Jimmy Fallon, Darrell Hammond, Tom Hanks, Conan O'Brien, Mike O'Meara, and even Kelly Ripa. Carvey and Hammond performed their impressions of him on Saturday Night Live. Fans voted for Hammond and Fallon 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, in part, because of his voice and mannerisms.

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).

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

During the successful first run of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Philbin started a fashion fad when he wore dark shirts with dark ties—both in the same color—and dark suits, in a darker color, usually black. He even had a short-lived clothing line based on this look, called Regis.

In Millionaire, the phrase, "Is that your final answer?" is said repeatedly by the host, as it is required to verify a contestant's answer. As a result, that phrase has become Philbin's catch phrase which he adopted from Chris Tarrant.

Miscellaneous

Philbin follows the professional sports world extensively, especially baseball and 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 came with Joe Garner's book, Echoes of Notre Dame Football: Great and Memorable Moments of the Fighting Irish.

Philbin rather frequently mentions a duck that he would concide with, when a student at Notre Dame. He strongly asserts that when he visits the school, the duck immediately comes out of the water and visits with him.8 May 2006 broadcast of LIVE. Ducks rarely live more than 20 years.

He is known to have trouble handling new technologies. He doesn't own a cell phone, use computers, and is frequently confused with operating electronics (such as remote controls and DVD players). It is often noted, however, that Regis doesn't 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.

The Philbin family had a cat named Ashley, who was blind in her final years.

In the Animaniacs episode "West Side Pigeons" (a Goodfeathers musical sendoff on West Side Story) one of the key elements of the plot involves tearing down the city's statue of Martin Scorsese and replacing it with one of Philbin.

He is a huge fan of late singer Dean Martin.

Awards and recognition

Selected filmography

Philbin has made brief appearances in several films where he plays himself or his own character, except as noted.

Discography

Album

Singles

References

External links

 

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