Television icon and chat show host, Regis Philbin, who grew up in the Bronx, died at the age of 88 on Friday, July 24. A spokesperson for the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Farmington, CT told E! News that the TV and game show legend died from a myocardial infarction (more commonly known as a heart attack) due to coronary artery disease.

 

Up Hayes & All Its Loyal Men!
Watch “Channel H News interviews Regis Philbin” on #Vimeo https://t.co/3Qxxw4c4O1

— Cardinal Hayes (@CardinalHayes) July 26, 2020

 

It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of our loyal Hayesman, Mr. Regis F. Philbin '49. Our condolences remain with Joy and the Philbin Family, his classmates, friends, and the world that he touched through his remarkable work.
Up Hayes & All Its Loyal Men! https://t.co/bvd53gQYyh

— Cardinal Hayes (@CardinalHayes) July 25, 2020

 

Born in Manhattan, and raised in the Van Nest section of the Bronx, Philbin attended both Our Lady of Solace and Cardinal Hayes High School, before attending and graduating from Notre Dame. On receiving the news of his death, Cardinal Hayes tweeted, “It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of our loyal Hayesman, Mr. Regis F. Philbin, ’49. Our condolences remain with Joy and the Philbin Family, his classmates, friends, and the world that he touched through his remarkable work. Up Hayes and All Its Loyal Men!”

 

REGIS. There will never be another.

— Kathie Lee Gifford (@KathieLGifford) July 25, 2020

According to Wikipedia, after serving in the U.S. Navy in his early years, Philbin worked on the set of “The Tonight Show,” in the 1950s, and got his first on-air TV exposure as a sidekick on “The Joey Bishop Show” in 1967. He began hosting “Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee” in 1988, outlasting his co-host Kathie Lee Gifford in the role.

 

 

On receiving the news of his death, Gifford tweeted, “REGIS. There will never be another.” She was later interviewed for an article in Today, in which she reflected on the last time she saw Philbin before his passing.

 

Meanwhile, Kelly Ripa, who joined the show in 2001, also issued a statement following his death, saying in part, “He was the ultimate class act”. Philbin left the “Live!” show in 2011.

A health aid and police officer gently separate Regis Philbin from a fan as he greets the crowds while visiting Will Smith on the set of “Men in Black III” in Morris Park on April 14, 2011.
Photo by David GreenePhilbin closed out his 60-year television career in the early 2000s hosting the popular, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” show, and he also co-hosted the first season of “America’s Got Talent”.

He was known to visit bakeries in Van Nest and Belmont, but his last known public appearance in the Bronx was on April 14, 2011, when he visited Will Smith on the set of “Men In Black III” in Morris Park. Before leaving the set, Philbin crossed the street to say hello to some of the 200 fans who had shown up to the location.

On greeting Philbin, and overcome with the emotion of seeing him in the flesh, one fan, who was an intellectually challenged woman, hugged and kissed Philbin for a while, refusing to let him go until the woman’s health aid and a police officer finally, gently separated the two.

 

The Guinness Book of World Records currently lists Regis Philbin as the presenter with the most hours clocked up on U.S. television – a staggering 16,746,050 hours.

The Philbin family released a statement following his death which read in part, “His family and friends are forever grateful for the time we got to spend with him — for his warmth, his legendary sense of humor, and his singular ability to make every day into something worth talking about”. Fox News reported that the Philbin family said for anyone who may wish to honor Philbin, donations are being accepted at Food Bank NYC.

 

*Síle Moloney provided additional reporting to this story.