One is a lawyer working as the Deputy Counsel to the President, and the other was a longtime figure in the entertainment industry. Do these Philbins have any relation, other than the same last name?
Patrick Philbin and Regis Philbin appear to share nothing more than a surname, as there is no evidence that the two are related. Patrick is not one of Regis’ 4 children, nor is he listed as his nephew, cousin, or any other type of relation.
Continue reading as we explore the lives of both Patrick and Regis Philbin.
What Did Patrick Philbin Do Before Assuming Office?
Let’s begin by breaking down the career of Patrick. He was a graduate of Boston’s Roxbury’s Latin School in Massachusetts and also has a B.A in History after graduating from Yale University in 1989.
Following Yale, Patrick wasn’t finished with his studies. At Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he gained his J.D. in 1992, as well as the title of executive editor for the Harvard Law Review.
From there, he managed to get a Diploma of Legal Studies in 1995 from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
Once all these years of hard work and study were completed, Patrick began his journey as a law clerk.
First, he served for Laurence Silberman, a Federal Appeals Court Judge in the Columbia Circuit. Then, he achieved a spot in the Supreme Court – the highest ranking in the federal judiciary of the US – working for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas.
At the time of George W. Bush’s administration, Patrick was a political delegate for the Department of Justice from 2001 to 2005.
During these roles, it was reported that he had looked over the Torture Memos. These were a set of notes developed by John Yoo that brought enhanced interrogation techniques to the attention of US intelligence.
Patrick challenged some parts of these memos, stating that they did not provide ‘useful, concrete guidance concerning what amounts to ‘severe pain,’” because “there is no readily identifiable level of pain that precedes medical events such as organ failure.”
After returning to legal private practice for Kirkland and Ellis in 2005, Patrick went on to be appointed as the Deputy Counsel to President Trump in 2019, as well as the Deputy Assistant in the Office of White House Counsel among the Trump Administration.
The Rise of a Legendary TV Personality
Regis Philbin’s story differs quite a lot to Patrick’s rise among the legal and political ranks. Regis grew up in a working-class part of the Bronx, after being born in Manhattan in 1931.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 1953 with a sociology degree, and serving in the US Navy, he started working a few odd jobs in the world of radio and TV.
Although, his first close taste of showbiz came when he signed up for the NBC page program in 1955. It was a fellowship that gave him up-close-and-personal exposure to the inner workings of The Tonight Show, where Steve Allen was host at the time.
In ‘61, he managed to land himself his own talk show called The Regis Philbin Show. “I got in front of an audience and, man that was it!” he once said when talking about his first taste of being the frontman.
Several other jobs came and went, including his co-host position on A.M. Los Angeles, another co-host part on an NBC variety series in ‘81, and The Morning Show with Kathie Lee Gifford.
This eventually turned into his most well-known show, Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee, which achieved massive success across America. When Kathie left in 2000, she was replaced with Kelly Ripa the following year.
Throughout his career, Regis has 4 children: Amy, Daniel, Joanna, and J.J. Philbin.
Regis’ Passing
Sadly, Regis passed away from natural causes in July 2020. See Kelly Ripa’s Instagram post announcing the news below:
“As people get older, you always know that certain things are inevitable, and passing away is one of those things,” Ripa said when asked about her feelings towards the news that her beloved friend had passed on.
She continued, “But Regis is one of the people that we all believed, I think, would somehow figure out a way around the inevitable. And it was not in the cards, I suppose.”
Below you can watch the full segment of Live with Kelly and Ryan where the hosts remember the late legend: