Web Desk
Regis Philbin, an award-winning fixture of American talk show culture, has died at the age of 88, media reports said Saturday. Philbin, a playful and self-deprecating New Yorker with a thick Bronx accent, died Friday of natural causes, People magazine reported on Saturday, quoting a statement from the family. Philbin was best known to many Americans as co-host of a daytime talk show that began in 1988 called Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee. Working with Kathie Lee Gifford and later with another co-host, Philbin appeared on the show for 23 years. Part of his popular shtick was to spend a few minutes at the beginning of each show talking about banalities like where he had dinner the night before. Philbin also hosted the wildly popular Who Wants to be a Millionaire game show, which ran from 1999 to 2002.
