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Revision as of 21:34, 16 August 2005 by StockMail (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Kathie Lee Gifford (born Kathryn Lee Epstein on August 16, 1953 in Paris, France) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress most famous for her stint on the talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, which she co-hosted with Regis Philbin. When she left the show and was replaced with Kelly Ripa, the show was renamed Live with Regis and Kelly. Kathie Lee is the wife of Frank Gifford, a former football player and television commentator.
Her career took off in the 1970s (during her first marriage to Paul Johnson) co-hosting the game show Name That Tune with Tom Kennedy (she did the "sing a tune" segment). Shortly thereafter in 1978, she joined the cast of the short-lived Hee Haw sitcom spinoff, Hee Haw Honeys.
Following her divorce from Johnson, Kathie Lee met television commentator Frank Gifford during an episode of ABC's Good Morning America. Their romance clicked, and in 1986 they married. Four years later, Kathie Lee's career would reach its pinnacle with the popular daytime talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. Kathie Lee left that show in 2000 to pursue other interests. She has since made guest appearances in numerous films and television shows, and has several independently released albums on CD.
From her current marriage to Gifford, Kathie Lee has two children: son Cody Newton Gifford (born in 1990) and Cassidy Erin Gifford (born in 1993). She has been gently ridiculed for constantly talking about her children on the air.
In 1996, a human-rights group discovered that sweatshop labor was used to make clothes for the Kathie Lee line, sold at Wal-Mart. She tearfully apologized on air for the situation, and her husband visited the Manhattan sweatshop to give money to the underpaid workers.
She also was embarrassed in 1997 when it was revealed that her husband had an affair (that was photographed and audiotaped) with a former TWA flight attendant, Suzen Johnson. However, the couple went into counseling, she forgave him, and they are still together today.
Her brother is Rev. David Paul Epstein, an evangelical preacher and pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Manhattan.
Beginning in September 2005, Gifford will begin making appearances as a special correspondent on The Insider, a syndicated entertainment-magazine show.