The LuLac Edition #4,361, July 27th, 2020

REGIS PHILBIN

(Photo: BBC America)

My first memories of Regis Philbin was when he was the co host of the Joey Bishop late night show. I was at the age when my parents were letting me stay up to see the show. One of the most memorable things I saw was when Philbin walked off the show. I was stunned, no one did that, right? Well, he did.

Philbin, the iconic television personality best-known for his hosting duties on "Live!" with co-hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa, and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," has died at the age of 88.
President Trump tweeted about Philbin's death on Saturday, calling him "one of the greats."
"One of the greats in the history of television, Regis Philbin has passed on to even greater airwaves, at 88," the president wrote. "He was a fantastic person, and my friend. He kept telling me to run for President. Holds the record for “most live television”, and he did it well. Regis, we love you...."
A New York native, Regis Francis Xavier Philbin was born on Aug. 25, 1931. He was named after his father's alma mater, Manhattan's Regis High School. Philbin graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx before going on to Notre Dame, where he majored in sociology.
After college, Philbin joined the U.S. Navy. He then embarked on his decades-long career in television as a stagehand and a delivery boy for a station in Los Angeles, Calif. Quickly after, he became a news writer and was offered a job as a sportscaster.
Phlbin went on to San Diego as a news anchor for KOGO-TV. His first shot at national exposure came a few years later as the sidekick to Joey Bishop on ABC's "The Joey Bishop Show." Philbin then moved on to KHJ-TV in Los Ageles where he hosted "That Regis Philbin Show." The show was canceled due to ratings powerhouse Johnny Carson, but it brought Philbin to the midwest for "Regis Philbin's Saturday Night in St. Louis."
After three years of commuting to St. Louis each week for a local Saturday night show, Philbin became a star in local morning television -- first in Los Angeles, then in New York. In 1985, he teamed with Kathie Lee Johnson, a year before she married former football star Frank Gifford, and the show went national in 1988.
Celebrities routinely stopped by Philbin’s eponymous syndicated morning show, but its heart was in the first 15 minutes, when he and co-host Kathie Lee Gifford -- on “Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee” from 1985 to 2000 -- or Kelly Ripa -- on “Live! with Regis and Kelly” from 2001 until his 2011 retirement -- bantered about the events of the day. Viewers laughed at Philbin’s mock indignation over not getting the best seat at a restaurant the night before or being henpecked by his partner.
He was the host of the prime-time game show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” briefly television’s most popular show at the turn of the century. ABC aired the family-friendly program as often as five times a week. It generated around $1 billion in revenue in its first two years -- ABC had said it was the more profitable show in TV history -- and helped make Philbin himself a millionaire many times over.
Philbin’s question to contestants, “Is that your final answer?” became a national catchphrase. He was even a fashion trendsetter; he put out a line of monochromatic shirts and ties to match what he wore on the set.
After hustling into an entertainment career, Philbin logged more than 15,000 hours on the air, earning him recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most broadcast hours logged by a TV personality, a record previously held by Hugh Downs.
Yet Philbin was a favorite of a younger generation’s ironic icon, David Letterman. When Letterman announced that he had to undergo heart surgery, it was on the air to Philbin, who was also there for Letterman’s first day back after his recovery.

Regis was good t everything he did. He excelled at being pretty good at a lot of things. That’s a lost art, perhaps because there’s not much call for it anymore. Philbin occupied the dwindling middle shelf of fame – it’s up there a little, but it doesn’t seem unreachable.

Philbin was the consummate utility infielder. He was an institution when we once revered them in entertainment. (AP, USA Today, ABC.com, LuLac)