Legendary presenter Regis Philbin passed away on Friday (July 24) at the age of 88

A statement from his family told CNN:

"We are very sad to tell you that our boyfriend Regis Philbin passed away last night for natural causes, near his 89th birthday. His family and friends are forever grateful for the time we spent with him, for his warmth, his legendary sense of humor and his ability to turn every day into something worth talking about. We thank his fans and admirers for their tremendous support during his 60-year career and ask for privacy to mourn his loss.

Philbin has been the presenter of a series of TV shows, among them "Who wants to be a millionaire", a program that was once broadcast in Albania. He has been nominated for 37 Daytime Emmy Awards, of which he won 6, and in 2008, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Philbin holds the world record for being the most-watched presenter on American television, according to Guinness World Records, with more than 16,700 live hours.

For a decade, while interviewing Kara DioGuardi, the Albanian-American musician, Philbin talks about his origins on the show. He states:

As I told you for years (addressed to his colleague), on my mother's side my origin is Albanian. We were expelled from Albania, crossed the Adriatic and settled in Italy, in a small village called Greci. So it all started so long ago and one day, suddenly, this beautiful girl (referring to DioGuardi) tells me that we are cousins. He then says that his mother's name is Filomina Basha (Florence Filomena Boscia). Filomina married Frank Philbin, who passed away in 1978. She died in 1987 in La Hoja, California.