Top 33 Regis Philbin Quotes

I couldn’t deliver a joke if you asked me to. It would have to be live and spontaneous. And that’s what I was able to have in New York, at 9 o’clock in the morning, and people all over the country seemed to respond to it.

What’s so wonderful about being 6’3″. What is this mythical edge tall men have over average and short men?

I take a week here. Maybe 10 days there. I never took a longer vacation than that.

I never knew if I had any talent when I started in this business.

Is that your final answer?

I made it a morning show. We have the coffee cup, we have the morning papers. It’s got that feel to it, that’s what I wanted.

I’m involved in the stock market, which is fun and, sometimes, very painful.

I tried to make a distinct point that I wasn’t retiring – that I was moving on.

When are four women ever happy for another woman getting something they’d love to have? Tell me that.

I’ve worked for 55 years. I’m going to take a little time off, to tell you the truth. It’s just that now in the last couple of weeks, Gelman is pouring it on. ‘Farewell to Regis!’ It’s getting embarrassing.

It’s almost seems as though there’s a battle going on between the public and all the fast-food establishments, and, believe me, I think it’s very tasty food.

Three coaches at Notre Dame made a big difference in my life, not that I played any football when I attended Notre Dame. But Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, and Lou Holtz – they all made a difference to me, and I respected them for their attitudes about life and how they handled loss.

As a matter of fact I don’t like politics. I really don’t. I think it’s so jaded now and everybody has to follow the party line.

The Raiders moved from Oakland to Los Angeles, didn’t like it, didn’t get along. Whatever it was, moved back to Oakland.

My first job was being a page at ‘The Tonight Show.’ I saw Jack Paar come out one night and sit on the edge of his desk and talk about what he’d done the night before. I thought, ‘I can do that!’ I used to do that on a street corner in the Bronx with all my buddies.

When you’re a co-host, you’ve got to consider what the other person is saying and take the next step and get the laugh or get to the end of the story. You’ve got to make it happen and then move on to the next story.

I realized there was a difference between a syndicated morning show and prime time. ‘Regis saved the network!’ I used to walk around saying that. I was a big man! I was a giant!

I think there’s a little bit of sizzling here. Honestly, I can feel it. The ions are flying back and forth.

Spontaneity is everything to me, working without a net.

I guess I’m afraid to retire because I don’t know what I would do. I don’t know what my talent is. So I don’t know. So maybe I’m afraid to stop, but I’ve got to stop.

I have a thing against reality shows. I think they are so fake. I think they are produced before they begin. I think people know where they’re going, what they’re going to say, what the situation is. These things just don’t happen and you know that.

Anderson Cooper every night dreams about getting my job permanently really.

I’m moving on. I should have made that clear when I made the announcement. I guess I wasn’t clear. If people think you’re leaving a show after all these years, you might be retiring. So I understand where they’re coming from, but I should have impressed the fact that I hope I’m just moving on right now.

A great listener – that was my talent!

I like Strahan a lot. I’ve known him for years. He was a Giant here – in many ways. Had a big following with the New York Giants. He’s very funny. He’s got a great sense of humor.

I was a dog man. I love dogs. I had a cat in my later years and fell in love with this little cat, but every kid should have a dog. There’s no doubt about it. We’ve had a lot of fun with them.

Is that your final answer? Here in New York garbage men, bus drivers, taxi cab drivers, bus drivers, whoever, you know, people just yell it out to me. So that was a lot of fun.

I had my years of struggling. Some of my shows failed miserably, and I was upset by it and it dented my confidence. But I never stopped. I kept going for it.

It means a lot in my business and its a wonderful feeling to be recognized for what you have done over a lifetime, but I didn’t go crazy. I still eat my cereal in the morning, have a sandwich in the afternoon, go to bed at night. You know, nothing really different.

I majored in sociology and never took a single music-related course, much less any kind of class in public speaking – no confidence for it, none – yet I still had a passion for it that burned inside me.

I guess people wonder if I’m the same on camera as I am off, and I’m pretty much the same, I really am. But that’s always asked of me.

We play a lot of tennis, and we work out at the gym three or four times a week. As you get older, you feel those aches and pains, so Advil’s become a friend in the house.

It was a thrill for me to work with Pete Fountain.