Regis Philbin holds court at North Central College

Like the spontaneous conversations opening many of the live broadcasts in his record-breaking television career, Regis Philbin told his fans Thursday night a story about what he did in Naperville.

He ate an Italian dinner at La Sorella di Francesca before speaking to fans at a nearly sold-out Wentz Hall at North Central Central.

"I went to the men's room, and there's a rattle at the door," Philbin, 80, told the crowd. "This guy is trying to get in. Well, I locked it all right?"

Turns out this "big tall guy" was the owner of the downtown restaurant. And the Reege wanted to point out a flaw with the sign outside.

"He didn't like to hear that at all," Philbin said.

The entertainer was there to discuss his New York Times best-seller, "How I Got This Way," during a national book tour following his last appearance on "Live with Regis and Kelly" Nov. 18. It's filled with lessons from the likes of comedians, actors and University of Notre Dame football coaches. But before Philbin began his 17,000 hours on television - the most in history - he wasn't sure if he had any talent.

"I was so, believe it or not, shy and unconfident in high school," Philbin said.

But he always loved listening to Bing Crosby croon classics on the radio. So two weeks before he graduated from Notre Dame, he rehearsed with his buddy Gus to perform "Pennies from Heaven." That was Philbin's plan to tell his parents about his dreams for showbiz. He finished the song and noticed his father, "a tough guy," was making a fist.

"I said to myself, this is not good," Philbin said.

Stories like that inspired Ellen Ahern, of Naperville, to wait in line for the author to sign her copy of his book.

"I've been watching Regis since I was a little kid," Ahern, 50, said. "It's nice to just laugh. Life is hard enough."

Joan Callahan, whose 18-year-old daughter watched "Live" during her summer vacation from St. Francis High School, praised Philbin's wholesome celebrity.

"He's just Regis," Callahan, of Naperville, said. "He makes everything funny."

And he concluded his talk with another story, this one about his fall off a motorbike on the "Late Show with David Letterman."

Letterman gave him a "beautiful watch" after the spill.

"He said, 'we're taking the motor scooter away from you,'" Philbin recalled. "'Hope you don't hurt yourself on the watch.'"

Three questions with Regis

Regis Philbin spoke with the Daily Herald about some of the lessons he's learned and what's next for the entertainer:

Q. You end each chapter with “what you took away from it all,” lessons learned from icons like Cary Grant and Jerry Seinfeld. What lessons would you want your television audience to take away from your time in front of the camera?

A. I can only tell them what it was for me. There are certain things that happen in your life that you only have maybe one occasion to take care of. For example, I was, as a little boy, crazy about the voice of Bing Crosby. I wanted to be Bing Crosby. So one night, years later, Bing was a guest on this show I was the announcer for, “The Joey Bishop Show,” and I couldn't believe it. He was sitting right next to me, and I was totally crazy about him, and I never got a chance, or I didn't take the opportunity to tell him what he meant to me. That's one lesson that I can highly recommend. Thank the person that you've learned from because once they die you feel terrible that you didn't.

Q. What's next after your book tour? You're considering hosting a prime-time family entertainment program?

A. It's just one of the many things that have been presented to me that I'm not sure about. But I thought it had a cute idea to it, seeing one family pitted against the other in the various categories of fitness and what they give back to the community and how they get along.

Q. What motivates you in your career?

A. The fact that I didn't I mention this to anybody and took a chance and went after it myself finally. Then things slowly developed on different levels. I used to write little critiques of the TV show that was airing on our TV station and thumbtack it up on the wall at midnight. The whole station was talking about these. They were kind of funny but also kind of sarcastic. The guy who hired me finally tracked it down and found out it was me and chewed me out. But then he said, “You can write. So I'm going to turn you over to the newsroom.” That's how I got started. You have to take advantage of these little breaks.