Phil Regan (actor)

Regan died on 11 February 1996, aged 89, and is interred in Santa Barbara's Calvary Cemetery.

In 1972, he became involved with a developer named Halimi, who had created successful developments at Lake Tahoe and elsewhere. Halimi had purchased the option to develop a large coastal property on More Mesa in Santa Barbara, California, which required a permit from Santa Barbara County. He was aware that three of the five supervisors were in favor, but he wanted to find a fourth vote for Halimi to avoid an appeal. He approached Frank Frost in December 1972. Frost had just been elected to the Board of Supervisors and would take office in January. Frost perceived that an attempt at bribery was being arranged and reported his suspicions to the county district attorney and sheriff. A "sting" was planned and Regan passed $1000 to a friend of Frost's who posed as a go-between.

He supported Adlai Stevenson's Democratic campaign during the 1952 presidential election.

In 1951, he was the host of "The Phil Regan Armed Forces Show" on the radio. He left show business in the early 1950's for a new career in public relations, drawing on his contacts.

Regan retired in the mid-1950s. After retiring, Regan spent his time in his Palm Springs and Santa Barbara houses. Regan dabbled in politics, endorsing Ronald Reagan for governor of California in 1966 against incumbent Pat Brown.

William Gilmore, in a review of the film Laughing Irish Eyes in the Brooklyn Eagle, described Regan as having "astonishing good looks and an extraordinarily pleasing tenor voice." He performed the National Anthem at the 1949 inauguration of President Harry S Truman.

Born in Brooklyn on May 28, 1908, Regan was the oldest of five children of an Irish immigrant couple who lived in Brooklyn, New York. When he was 13 years old, Regan "had to quit school and drive a team of horses in Brooklyn." Before venturing into a career in entertainment, he went on to work as a boatman, a court clerk, a clerk for an oil company, and a policeman.

Philip Joseph Christopher Aloysius Regan (May 28, 1906 – February 11, 1996) was an American actor and singer who later served time for bribery in a real estate scandal.