Beloved television host and consummate New Yorker Regis Philbin, the long-running host of “Live!” and “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” has died at the age of 88.
Philbin, who was not recently sick, died in his sleep Friday, police sources told The Post.
“We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Regis Philbin passed away last night of natural causes, one month shy of his 89th birthday,” his family wrote in an exclusive statement to People magazine Saturday.
Kelly Ripa, his Jersey-born co-host on “Live with Regis and Kelly” from 2001 to 2011, when he stepped down at age 80, posted a picture of her and Regis on Instagram.
“We are beyond saddened to learn about the loss of Regis Philbin,” she wrote. “He was the ultimate class act, bringing his laughter and joy into our homes everyday on Live for more than 23 years. We were beyond lucky to have him as a mentor in our careers and aspire everyday to fill his shoes on the show. We send our deepest love and condolences to his family and hope they can find some comfort in knowing he left the world a better place.”
Kathie Lee Gifford, his first co-host on “Live,” shared her love for Philbin.
“There are no words to fully express the love I have for my precious friend, Regis,” she posted on Instagram. “I simply adored him and every day with him was a gift. We spent 15 years together bantering and bickering and laughing ourselves silly—a tradition and a friendship we shared up to this very day. I smile knowing somewhere in Heaven, at this very moment, he’s making someone laugh. … There has never been anyone like him. And there never will be.”
Tributes poured in for the Bronx-born star, who TV critic David Bianculli considered “one of the most natural and conversational broadcasters in TV history.”
“Regis was a great broadcaster, a good friend and a tremendous amount of fun,” tweeted Jimmy Kimmel. “He leaves behind a beautiful family and a TV legacy that will likely go unmatched. Regis, I hope our friend [Don] Rickles met you at the pearly gates with open arms and a slew of the insults you loved so much”
President Trump layered on love for the broadcaster, tweeting: “One of the greats in the history of television, Regis Philbin has passed on to even greater airwaves, at 88. 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….”
Philbin holds the Guinness Book of World Records mark for most hours on US television with a staggering 16,746.50 hours logged in a career that spanned more than five decades.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo tweeted his admiration for the host: “New York lost a TV legend today. … Regis Philbin greeted us for years with our morning coffee and at night after dinner. His humor and enthusiasm touched millions of Americans. My heart goes out to Joy and his loved ones.”
“Billy on the Street” host Billy Eichner screamed his admiration for Philbin, tweeting, “”RIP REGIS!!! A real icon. Nothing will ever top Regis and @KathieLGifford as a morning show. Nothing!”
The man his co-hosts fondly called “Reege” was born Regis Francis Xavier Philbin to Francis Philbin, a US Marine, and Filomena on Aug. 25, 1931. He was raised Irish Catholic, attending Our Lady of Solace grammar school and Cardinal Hayes High School in his native Bronx, before attending Notre Dame. He loved the “Fighting Irish” football team of his alma mater and often talked about them on the air.
“This is my favorite place in the world,” Philbin told People magazine en route to a Fighting Irish game, The Post reported in 2011. “The more I travel, the more I love Notre Dame.”
Philbin served as supply officer in the US Navy.
He got his start on television as a page on “The Tonight Show” in 1955 when Steve Allen hosted. He had his first show in San Diego with the short-lived “The Regis Philbin Show,” but he really found fame as the sidekick to Rat Pack actor and comedian Joey Bishop on his talk show.
Philbin bounced around the networks with various morning and evening talk shows, not to mention a few game shows in the mid-1970s, including “The Neighbors” and “Almost Anything Goes.”
In 1975, Philbin joined the morning talk show “A.M. Los Angeles,” which he co-hosted with Sarah Purcell and later Cyndy Garvey. He followed Garvey to New York City, where they launched “The Morning Show” on April 4, 1983 locally on ABC. Kathie Lee Johnson, (later Gifford) took over co-hosting duties in 1985 and by 1988, it was top in the market. On Sept. 5, 1988, the show was retitled “Live With Regis and Kathie Lee,” and it became a syndicated blockbuster.
When Gifford left the show in 2000, Regis tapped Ripa to be his new co-host.
Philbin was nominated for 37 Daytime Emmy Awards, and took home the prize six times. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award Emmy and inducted into the Television Academy Hall Fame.
Philbin, with his instantly recognizable voice, was known for his breezy interviews and friendly demeanor.
“I have turned away from that kind of an interview to something that would put them in a better light, something that’s not going to make them feel as badly as they do about what’s happened in their real life,” he told Bianculli in a 2011 NPR interview, after stepping down as host of “Live.”
“And I think it’s come back, not to haunt me but to bless me because a lot of the people that I have interviewed over the years have no qualms about coming back and do it again and again and again.”
But he was no sap, the late Joan Rivers told The Post in 2011.
“If someone is an a–hole, he knows they’re an a–hole and he lets the audience know he knows,” Rivers said.
Philbin got a late-career surge when he began hosting the game-show sensation “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” in 1999.
“I never expected it. I never really wanted any more than what we have in the morning, never really dreamed of it,” he told Larry King in 2001. “I thought, you know, I climbed all my mountains and then suddenly this comes along and never dreamed it would be this big. And all of a sudden, it’s another mountain and we’re on top. And it’s a great feeling. And I love it.”
Despite his celebrity, Philbin was never a snob. At Meatpacking hot spot Valbella, owner David Ghatan said Philbin made everyone in the room feel like part of his posse. “Every time he walks in, there isn’t a table he doesn’t stop by and say hello to and joke around with,” Ghatan told The Post in 2011 “He makes people’s evenings.”
A Brooklyn hardhat once told the story of how Philbin, walking by as he and his steamfitter partner struggled to loosen a sprinkler cap on a Manhattan sidewalk, grabbed the wrench and started pulling with them.
Author Bill Zehme, who co-wrote Philbin’s autobiographies “I’m Only One Man” in 1996 and “Who Wants To Be Me” in 2000, said, “I write about an awful lot of famous people, and very rarely do you meet the same person off-camera as on, and love the person off-camera even more. He wants everyone’s life to be going well. He loves crawling into your life.”
Footballer-turned-TV host Michael Strahan, who replaced Philbin on “Live” in 2012, tweeted his adoration for his predecessor.
“I’m absolutely heartbroken. Regis was an incredible man who could light up any room. He always made me feel special no matter if I saw him in the studio or ran into him on the street. Legend and Icon aren’t strong enough words to describe him. He will never be forgotten!!” he wrote.
Philbin is survived by his second wife of 50 years, Joy Senese, and his two daughters Joanna and J.J., as well as his daughter Amy, his son Daniel having passed away back in 2014, from his first marriage to Kay Faylen.