Less than a week since his passing, Regis Philbin's cause of death has been revealed by a medical examiner.
On Wednesday (July 29), a spokesperson for the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Farmington, Connecticut told Us Weekly that the beloved TV icon died from a myocardial infarction at 88 due to coronary artery disease. He had been battling heart disease and even had an angioplasty done in the '90s, with a triple bypass surgery in 2007. Philbin is survived by his wife of 50 years, Joy Philbin, and their two daughters, Jennifer and Joanna.
"We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Regis Philbin passed away last night of natural causes, one month shy of his 89th birthday,” his family said in a statement after his passing on Friday night. “His family and friends are forever grateful for the time we got to spend with him — for his warmth, his legendary sense of humor, and his singular ability to make every day into something worth talking about.”
Additionally, Philbin's family asked mourners to donate in his memory to the New York City food bank in a follow-up statement. "Regis’s family is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love we’ve received. If you’d like to honor Regis’s memory, we kindly ask that you make a donation to http://foodbanknyc.org/, to help people in need in his beloved New York, especially his home borough of The Bronx. Thank you," the statement read. Both his talk show co-stars Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa also paid tribute to the icon in recent days. Click here for more on that!
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