TV Icon & Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Host Regis Philbin Dead At 88

People reports that TV icon, talk show host and host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Regis Philbin, has passed away at the age of 88. He passed away last night due to natural causes, only a month away from his 89th birthday.

His family said in a statement: “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. We thank his fans and admirers for their incredible support over his 60-year career and ask for privacy as we mourn his loss.”

Philbin is perhaps most famous for his run as the host of Millionaire from 1999 to 2002, returning in 2004 and 2009. That won him a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show host for that in 2001. He’s also known for his time as a morning talk show host with Kathie Lee Gifford, and later Kelly Ripa, for Live with Regis and Kathie Lee and Live with Regis and Kelly, respectively. He was a part of that franchise, in one form or another, from 1983 until 2011. He also hosted the first season of America’s Got Talent in 2006.

He’s also made a variety of TV and movie appearances over the years, usually as himself, in everything from Seinfeld and The Simpsons to 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother. He also has ties to wrestling, as he appeared at Wrestlemania VII and an episode of WWE RAW in 2011. His final television appearance was an episode of Single Parents back in April. He was also in a commercial to help promote Jimmy Kimmel as the host of Millionaire, which started this year and ran until the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Philbin survived a variety of health issues and surgeries over the years, including an angioplasty in 1993, triple bypass surgery in March 2007 and a hip replacement in December 2009. He was married twice, first to Catherine Faylen, who gave birth to his daughter Amy and son Daniel (who died in 2014). His second wife Joy, who was with him for fifty years, gave him two more daughters, J.J. and Joanna.

411 would like to give our condolences to his family, friends and fans.