Kathie Lee Gifford

Born Kathryn Lee Epstein in 1953, Kathie Lee Gifford is a singer and television personality best-known for co-hosting Live with Regis and Kathie Lee with Regis Philbin.Throughout the 1970s, as Kathie Lee Johnson, Gifford gained notoriety as a singer on the game show Name That Tune, and in the early '80s, she could be seen as a correspondent on ABC's Good Morning America. In 1984, her profile was raised significantly when she became the spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Lines in a number of TV ads. In 1985, she began co-hosting a New York morning show with Regis Philbin that would eventually become Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. The show began airing nationally on ABC in 1989, and Gifford remained as host until 2000. She was eventually replaced by Kelly Ripa. In addition to her television and recording career, Gifford received a good deal of press for her long and sometimes rocky marriage to sportscaster Frank Gifford. - Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide