Regis Philbin Announces Retirement

By Brian Scott
Jan 19 2011

Regis Philbin, the star of Live with Regis and Kelly, announced yesterday in New York that he would retire this year from his 28 year career on the daytime talk show.

Philbin has been a fixture of the daytime television world for over 30 years. He started out in radio and was given a shot at a news program when he was discovered as a hot personality on the small screen.

He was then paired with Kathy Lee Gifford for Live with Regis and Kathy Lee, a coupling that lasted for some 19 years. Gifford left the program after it was discovered that her husband, Frank of football fame, was having an affair.

Gifford was replaced by soap star Kelly Ripa and for nearly 10 years she has sat beside Regis Philbin and greeted America when they wake in the morning.

Philbin gained additional fame when he hosted the hit game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire. For five seasons he was the host of the hot prime time show, a trivia based program, but left the series when it was switched to a daytime syndicated version.

Philbin is a graduate of Notre Dame and attends every football game played by the team. He has a hall named after him in the drama department and is a regular speaker at the college for classes and other events.

There is much speculation about who will replace Philbin if anyone. Early rumors say that the show will be retired with the colorful host