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Regis Philbin

American television personality (1931–2020)

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ463673
Source-derived summary

Regis Francis Xavier Philbin ( REE-jis; August 25, 1931 – July 25, 2020) was an American television presenter, comedian, actor, and singer. Once called "the hardest-working man in show business", he continues to hold the Guinness World Record for the most hours spent on US television (posthumously).

Philbin was born and raised in New York City. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, he served in the US Navy and got his television start serving as a page for The Tonight Show in the 1950s. Philbin got his first network television exposure in 1967 as Joey Bishop's sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show. He is most widely known as the co-host of the New York City–based nationally syndicated talk show Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, starting in 1988, which became Live! with Regis and Kelly in 2001, and continued as Live! with Kelly after Philbin's departure in 2011. He is also well known as the original host of the American version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, the most-watched prime-time series of the 1999–2000 US television season.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Regis Philbin” as american television personality (1931–2020). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Regis, Philbin and American.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1931, 2020, 1967, 1988—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1931-08-25. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Regis, Philbin and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Regis Philbin”, the useful work is to connect “american television personality (1931–2020)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q463673. VIAF identifies the subject as 55827337. The Library of Congress control number is n93073151. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1931, 2020, 1967 and 1988.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Regis Philbin”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Regis Philbin primary sources, Regis Philbin archive and Regis research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Regis Philbin”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Regis Philbin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.