Talk:Regis Philbin

Needs work

This article needs work?

I think a lot of work has been done.  :) --Tinlinkin 12:23, 25 August 2005 (UTC)

It looks pretty good now :) -Wikitoddia 06:15, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

I think that....

Philbin gained his first national exposure in 1967 as Joey Bishop's sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show[19] on television (1967–1969). In a Johnny Carson-Ed McMahon vein, Bishop would playfully tease Philbin and Philbin would take the barbs in stride. Philbin, however, got his feelings wounded when he learned from the network grapevine that ABC executives were dissatisfied with his work. When The Joey Bishop Show was canceled, Bishop walked off the show on the air unannounced, leaving Philbin to successfully carry the show on his own.

...should really read...

Philbin gained his first national exposure in 1967 as Joey Bishop's sidekick on The Joey Bishop Show[19] on television (1967–1969). In a Johnny Carson-Ed McMahon vein, Bishop would playfully tease Philbin and Philbin would take the barbs in stride. Philbin, however, got his feelings wounded when he learned from the network grapevine that ABC executives were dissatisfied with his work. Philbin walked off the show on the air unannounced, leaving Bishop to successfully carry the show on his own.

See...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joey_Bishop_Show_%28talk_show%29

If there was a time when Bishop did the same thing, it needs to be mentioned separately. As a teen at the time (and the son of a boyhood friend of Bishop's), I remember Philbin's walk off, not one by Bishop that may or may not have happened upon the program's cancellation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.249.91.14 (talk) 17:26, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Why no mention of his daughter in law blackmailing him? It was in all the papers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.207.116.55 (talk) 18:12, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

Regis and Sarah?

I removed the line: "From 1975 to 1983, he co-hosted what was then known as A.M. Los Angeles and what became "Live with Regis and Sarah" on KABC-TV with Sarah Purcell."

I did not see a mention of "Live with Regis and Sarah" in IMDB, and a Google search only showed entries that mirrored the Wikipedia article. --Tinlinkin 12:29, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

Albanian

he's listed as being albanian american is that right

Probably not. Anyone care to cite a source for it? He says he's half - Italian here.[1] Mad Jack O'Lantern 02:52, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Wow, and I always thought Regis was Jewish! --M.Neko 09:02, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

here is a video that he admitt that his Albanian... he supposedly half Arbereshe, Albanians of Italy. --Albanau 12:46, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

I faintly recall that on Live, he said that he has heard Albanian from his mother, and either he cannot speak it or only knows one or two phrases in Albanian. I don't know if I have a tape of that episode, so I can't verify that. --Tinlinkin 03:31, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

His mother was Italian-Albania. She was from Greci, Italy, in which ethnic Albanians lived. Note that I believe her name was Florence, not Julia, as the entry says (many sources also say his father's name was Frank). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.86.152.42 (talk) 15:03, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

His NNDB profile states that he has Albanian ancestry on his mother's side.Werdnawerdna (talk) 03:46, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Age and birth year

The subject of Regis's age and year of birth always seems to be debatable. A majority of sources I see say 1931, some (including the first version of this Wikipedia article) say 1933, and I have seen the year 1934. The profile of Regis from the website of A&E's Biography has a birth year of 1933. I believe, with what I have observed, that Regis's birth year is 1931. Here's why:

• Regis graduated from Notre Dame in 1953 (supposedly). Assuming that he didn't skip grades in elementary and high school, unless he was very bright or enrolled in some sort of accelerated program, if he was born in 1933, he would have been 20 when he got his bachelor's.
• On Live with Regis and Kelly, there was a recent episode where Vanessa Minnillo was the guest co-host with Regis. She mentioned some facts about Regis (that she said she got from her father, and the bulk of which seemed to come from Wikipedia), and one of them was that Regis was born in 1931. He responded, something to the effect of "That's right." I have a videotape of that episode, but I have to fish it out of my collection.

Feel free to discuss this, as I will revert Reege's birth year to 1931. --Tinlinkin 03:32, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

The infobox and the beginning of the article state that he was born in 1933, yet he is in the 1931 births category. NNDB state 1931, www.aveleyman.com states 1934. Biography.com states 1933. Does anyone have actual proof of which year he was born in?Werdnawerdna (talk) 03:46, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Birthplace

Regis grew up and was raised in the Bronx, that is well-known. But he was born in Manhattan's West Side. He often references that on Live with Regis and Kelly.

From I'm Only One Man! (by Regis Philbin), page 4:

"When I first arrived at WABC-TV in New York, I remember looking down Columbus Avenue and beyond—where it becomes Ninth Avenue at St. Paul's on 59th Street. I remembered my mother telling me that I was baptized there. And I was born only a few blocks farther—at Childs Hospital, which was torn down to become Power High School, which was torn down to make way for a high-rise apartment house. But that church remains as it has for over a hundred years. I see it every day. A reminder that my life began on the West Side of Manhattan."

--Tinlinkin 08:20, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Philbin's nicknames

An editor removed the nicknames paragraph with the reason "Philbin's nicknames are not releveant, especially because they are just short forms of his name." The passage in question is:

Philbin is frequently addressed by his first name, which means "king" (a nickname of his). His other nicknames include "Reege" (spelling variants "Rege" or "Reeg"), "Big Daddy", "Big Man", and "#1"; the first of the latter three popularized by his former Live co-host Kathie Lee Gifford, the last two by current co-host Kelly Ripa .

I was never happy with the way the paragraph was written. But I feel the nicknames should be included because Philbin is noted for these nicknames. And people refer to him more often by his first name (in casual usage, at least) than his last. What do others think? Tinlinkin 10:38, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

A Big Accomplishment

Hasn't Regis been on television for more hours (overall) than anyone else in the world? I think I saw that fact in the Guiness Book of World Records, but I can't remember, so I didn't write it. Can anyone else verify the fact that he's been on TV more than anyone else? --Rebelkass 20:04, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Isn't that stated in the article? Quote from Regis Philbin#Talk show career:

Philbin set a Guinness World Record for "Most Hours on Camera" on his August 20, 2004 Live show (replacing Hugh Downs), which gave him a total of 15,188 hours on television. On the September 14, 2006 episode of Live, his record was updated to 15,662 hours. His on-air time continues to accumulate.

I will include a citation within the week unless someone beats me to it. And if this needs to be stated clearer in the article, feel free to improve it. Tinlinkin 02:02, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Parents names?

Many sources say his parents' names were Florence and Frank (not Jacob and Julia, as the entry says). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.86.152.42 (talk) 15:05, 15 May 2008 (UTC) His NNDB profile states his parents names as Frank and Florence.Werdnawerdna (talk) 03:51, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Died on May 10 2009?

unless it's vandalism--71.177.165.192 (talk) 09:46, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

Is Regis Philbin Jewish?

The following sentence appears in the article:

"He later converted to Judaism, and was circumsized at age 24."

The pronoun "he" is ambiguous here, because the assertion that Regis Philbin is Jewish is so peculiar that it is hard to believe that the pronoun refers to him and not somebody else, his father. This assertion requires a citation and the pronoun needs to be disambiguated.

I am tempted to delete this sentence because the fact that it asserts appears absurd on the face of it, but I wanted to post this first to give the editors of the article the opportunity to confirm this fact, since if it is true, it is very interesting. --SLMarcus (talk) 15:45, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

Nikki Minaj

I remove the Nikki Minaj claim. is there any truth to it b/c i cant find any verific sources that i can use tos upport it, so i hae redacted it forthwith until further evidence is bourne out. User:Smith Jones 18:49, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Joey Bishop Show

That paragraph is confusing. It says Philbin was aggravated, but Bishop walked out. I thought Philbin walked out.

Also, it says he gained his first national exposure with the Bishop show in 1967, but the article earlier says he replaced Steve Allen on a show in 1964. Glkanter (talk) 15:05, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Early Regis TV

All of the biography information I have seen says that Regis started his career as a talk show host in San Diego in the mid-60's. When I first moved to LA in Feb 1963, Regis was on a local channel in the early afternoon. After a few weeks, he vanished. In March or April I moved to San Diego County and there he was! Perhaps his local LA show wasn't considered a talk show... 98.219.100.103 (talk) 14:37, 4 April 2011 (UTC) jingles 4/4/11 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.219.100.103 (talk) 14:34, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Neutral Desription of Political Beliefs

"While coming from a somewhat liberal Bronx upbringing, he has transformed into a barely cloaked right wing Republican..." - This clearly fails the neutral point of view which must be the guiding force in an encyclopedia. A more neutral approach would be "While coming from a somewhat liberal Bronx upbringing, he has become a conservative Republican". Of course, allowing the pendulum to swing the other direction would have the description "While coming from a somewhat liberal Bronx upbringing, he has matured as a conservative Republican..." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.64.0.252 (talk) 17:10, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

It's not cited in any case - it's just some editor's opinion. So it's gone. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:41, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks - NPOV tag removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.64.0.252 (talk) 21:33, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

Early Regis TV

Regis received another award from the Guinness people on today's LIVE! with Regis and Kelly, which indicated his total hours on tv covers 52 years. This would mean he first appeared on local tv in southern California sometime in 1959, which isn't actually stated in your thorough and interesting bio. Prwhitmey (talk) 19:17, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

God Speed Big Reeg !

Wishing Big Reeg all the best ... CINCG jr IXth 24.45.45.30 (talk) 15:15, 19 November 2011 (UTC)