US TV personality Regis Philbin dies at 88

Regis Philbin, the genial host who shared his life with American television viewers over morning coffee for decades and host to game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” has died at 88. Philbin died of natural causes Friday night, just over a month before his 89th birthday, according to a statement from his family provided by manager Lewis Kay.

Celebrities routinely stopped by Philbin’s eponymous syndicated morning show, but its heart was in the first 15 minutes, when he and co-host Kathie Lee Gifford - on “Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee” from 1985-2000 - or Kelly Ripa - on “Live! with Regis and Kelly” from 2001 until his 2011 retirement - bantered about the events of the day.

He was host of the prime-time game show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” briefly television’s most popular show at the turn of the century. Philbin’s question to contestants, “Is that your final answer?” became a national catchphrase. “You wait a lifetime for something like that and sometimes it never happens,” Philbin told the AP in 1999.

In 2008, he returned briefly to the quiz show format with “Million Dollar Password.” He also picked up the Lifetime Achievement Award from the daytime Emmys. He's survived by his wife, Joy, and their daughters J.J. and Joanna Philbin, as well as his daughter Amy Philbin with his first wife, Catherine Faylen, according to People.