'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' host Regis Philbin passes away at 88

Regis Philbin, the talk- and game-show host who regaled America over morning coffee with Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa for decades, and who made television history in 1999 by introducing the runaway hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, died on Friday night. He was 88.

His death was announced by his family in a statement. It did not say where he died or specify the cause.

Regis, as he was universally known, was a TV personality for nearly six decades and an ABC superstar since 1988, when his New York talk show went national. 

But he also wrote five books, appeared in movies, made records as a singer, gave concerts and was a one-man industry of spinoffs, from shirts and ties to medical advice and computer games. 

Near the end of his career, Forbes put his net worth at $150 million, and Guinness World Records said he was the most-watched person in TV history, with more than 17,000 hours of airtime — equivalent to two full years, night and day.