Kathie Lee Gifford is a 72-year-old Emmy-winning TV host, singer, and author. Explore her career on Live! with Regis, Today, her net worth, family, and legacy.
Kathie Lee Gifford is one of the most enduring personalities in American daytime television. Born Kathryn Lee Epstein on August 16, 1953, she spent more than three decades as a fixture in living rooms across the country — first alongside Regis Philbin on Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, and later with Hoda Kotb on the fourth hour of NBC’s Today. Her warmth, candor, and ability to make audiences feel like close friends defined a style of morning television that countless shows have since tried to replicate.
But television is only one chapter of her story. Gifford is also a singer, songwriter, playwright, author, actress, producer, and devoted philanthropist. At 72, she remains creatively active — writing books, making films, and embracing a new chapter in Nashville — all while navigating life’s harder passages with the same faith and resilience she has always put on display.
Quick Facts About Kathie Lee Gifford
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Kathryn Lee Epstein Gifford |
| Date of birth | August 16, 1953 |
| Age (2026) | 72 years old |
| Birthplace | Paris, France |
| Raised in | Bowie, Maryland, USA |
| Profession | TV host, singer, songwriter, author, actress, producer |
| Net worth (2026) | Approximately $60 million |
| Late husband | Frank Gifford (m. 1986–2015, his death) |
| Children | Cody Gifford (b. 1990), Cassidy Gifford (b. 1993) |
| Grandchildren | Five, as of late 2025 |
| Education | Oral Roberts University (music and drama) |
| Famous for | Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda |
Early Life and Family Background
Kathie Lee Gifford was born in Paris, France, while her father, Aaron Epstein, was stationed there as a U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer and musician. Her mother, Joan Epstein, was a singer — a household filled with music that would shape the course of her life. The family returned to the United States in 1957 and settled in Bowie, Maryland, where Kathie Lee attended Bowie High School. Her heritage is richly mixed: her paternal grandfather was a Russian Jewish immigrant from Saint Petersburg, her paternal grandmother had Native American ancestry, and her mother — reportedly a distant relative of author Rudyard Kipling — was of French Canadian, German, and English descent.
A defining moment came at age 12, when she saw the Billy Graham-produced film The Restless Ones and became a born-again Christian. That faith would become the bedrock of her public and private life, shaping her music, her philanthropy, her books, and her way of navigating personal crisis. During high school, she performed in a folk music group and competed in the Maryland Junior Miss pageant, which she won. She was Maryland’s representative for the national America’s Junior Miss competition.
Education and Early Ambitions
After graduating from Bowie High School, Gifford enrolled at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she studied music and drama — the two disciplines that had always defined her. She did not complete her degree, leaving early to pursue entertainment opportunities as they emerged. The decision proved well-timed. Her performing instincts and musical training gave her the tools she needed to make an impression quickly, and by the mid-1970s she was already on television.
The Television Career That Made Her Famous
Gifford’s first TV break came in the 1974–1978 seasons of the syndicated game show Name That Tune, where she served as singer and sidekick to host Tom Kennedy. From there she joined the cast of Hee Haw Honeys in 1978, a short-lived spinoff of the country variety show Hee Haw. These were valuable apprenticeships, but her real breakthrough was still ahead.
On June 24, 1985, she replaced Ann Abernathy as co-host of The Morning Show on WABC-TV alongside Regis Philbin. The chemistry between the two was immediate and genuine. When the show went into national syndication in 1988 — rebranded as Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee — it became one of the most-watched programs in daytime television. Their unscripted opening banter, personal storytelling, and playful dynamic felt unlike anything else on morning TV. Gifford stayed for 15 years, leaving in 2000 to focus on family, music, and theater. During her run, she and Philbin received eight consecutive Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Talk Show Host.
Her return to morning television came in 2008, when NBC announced she would join Hoda Kotb as co-host of Today‘s fourth hour. Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda quickly became one of the most beloved segments on the show, described by Entertainment Weekly as “appointment television.” Their pairing boosted the fourth hour’s ratings by 13 percent within six years. She departed the Today show in April 2019 after 11 years, citing a desire to pursue creative projects on her own terms. Over the course of her television career, she received 11 Daytime Emmy nominations and won her first Emmy in 2010 as part of the Today team.
Broadway, Music, and Life Beyond the Morning Shows
Gifford’s creative ambitions were never confined to the morning show desk. She pursued a parallel life in music and theater throughout her career, releasing albums rooted in Christian and inspirational themes, writing musicals, and performing on stage. Her most ambitious theatrical project was Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson, a Broadway musical she spent 13 years developing. It opened on Broadway in November 2012, and while it closed within weeks, its lead actress Carolee Carmello received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress. The experience was, by Gifford’s own account, the most professionally devastating of her life — and also among the most meaningful.
She has written and produced films, including Then Came You (2020), which she co-wrote and starred in alongside Craig Ferguson. In 2019, she made her directorial debut with The God Who Sees, a short film shot in Israel. Her book output includes memoirs, children’s books, and faith-based works co-authored with scholars and rabbis — among them The Rock, the Road and the Rabbi (2018), It’s Never Too Late (2020), and Herod and Mary (2024). In 2026, she published Nero and Paul: How the Gospel of Grace Defeated the Ruler of Rome.
Personal Life: Love, Loss, and Resilience
Gifford’s first marriage was to Paul Johnson, a Christian music composer and producer, whom she wed in 1976. The marriage struggled from early on and ended in divorce in 1982. She met Frank Gifford — Pro Football Hall of Famer, New York Giants legend, and longtime Monday Night Football broadcaster — while working on a segment of Good Morning America. They married on October 18, 1986. She was 23 years his junior.
Their marriage became part of her public identity. She spoke openly about Frank, their children, and their life together on air for years. The relationship survived a painful public scandal in 1997, when a tabloid orchestrated a sting operation that exposed Frank in an affair. They remained together. Frank Gifford died on August 9, 2015, at age 84, from natural causes. Their shared birthday — both born on August 16 — made the loss particularly acute for Gifford.
In the years after Frank’s death, she relocated from the family’s longtime Greenwich, Connecticut home to Nashville, Tennessee, seeking a fresh start. She has spoken about a close Nashville friendship that helped her “come back to life” emotionally, and has referenced a relationship with Randy Cronk, a financial advisor, which began around 2019. As of 2026, she is enjoying a full grandmothering chapter — her son Cody and daughter Cassidy have given her five grandchildren: Frankie (May 2022), Finn (June 2023), Ford (November 2023), Rosie Mae (June 2025), and Faith (September 2025).
Philanthropy and Public Controversies
Gifford’s philanthropic record is substantial and spans decades. She and Frank funded and helped build two shelters in New York City for babies born with HIV or addicted to crack cocaine at birth — named Cody House and Cassidy’s Place after their children. She has served as a celebrity ambassador for Childhelp, and has supported the International Justice Mission and the Association to Benefit Children. She successfully advocated for unblinding HIV testing so that at-risk women could receive treatment before giving birth.
Her career was not without controversy. In 1996, labor activist Charles Kernaghan publicly alleged that her Walmart clothing line — which was earning her roughly $9 million annually in licensing fees — was being produced using child labor in Honduran sweatshops. Gifford denied knowledge of the conditions and responded with a mix of public emotion and defensiveness. The controversy led to meaningful reforms: she worked with the Clinton administration and labor groups to improve factory oversight, and eventually channeled clothing line proceeds to children’s charities.
Net Worth and Finances
As of 2026, Kathie Lee Gifford’s net worth is estimated at approximately $60 million, accumulated through decades of television hosting, music, book royalties, acting, producing, and real estate. Her most notable property is Cedar Cliff, a sprawling 15,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style estate on the waterfront in Greenwich, Connecticut, originally purchased with Frank in 1994 for $7.8 million. Having relocated to Nashville, she listed Cedar Cliff in May 2026 at an asking price of $100 million — one of the most significant residential listings in Connecticut history.
Awards, Honors, and Legacy
Gifford’s accolades reflect the breadth of a career that resists easy categorization. She received 11 Daytime Emmy nominations over her career and won her first Emmy in 2010 as part of the Today team. She was inducted into the Broadcast & Cable Hall of Fame in 2015. On April 28, 2021, she was honored with the 2,695th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — in the Television category, at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard, just five stars from the star of her longtime co-host Regis Philbin. Dolly Parton, Hoda Kotb, and Craig Ferguson spoke at the ceremony.
Her Broadway musical Scandalous earned a Tony nomination for its lead actress. She received an honorary degree from Marymount University for her humanitarian work in labor relations.
Final Thoughts
What Kathie Lee Gifford has built over five decades is harder to define than a career — it is closer to a vocation. She came to television not as a product of Hollywood ambition but as someone who simply had too much life to keep off screen: her faith, her grief, her enthusiasm, her humor, and her willingness to be known. That authenticity kept audiences loyal across two landmark television partnerships and countless creative reinventions.
At 72, she is more prolific as a writer than she has ever been, more settled in her faith, and fully absorbed in the joys of being a grandmother. The Greenwich estate she once shared with Frank is going on the market. Nashville is home. The next book is already written. For Gifford, the idea that the best chapter might still lie ahead has never seemed like bravado — it has always seemed like conviction.
People Also Ask
What is Kathie Lee Gifford best known for?
She is best known for co-hosting Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee alongside Regis Philbin from 1985 to 2000, and for her 11-year run with Hoda Kotb on the fourth hour of NBC’s Today show (2008–2019). She has also built a parallel career as a singer, author, playwright, and film producer.
How many Emmy nominations has Kathie Lee Gifford received?
She received 11 Daytime Emmy nominations across her career. She won her first Daytime Emmy in 2010 as part of the Today team, and she and Regis Philbin were jointly nominated for Outstanding Talk Show Host eight consecutive years from 1993 to 2000.
Who was Kathie Lee Gifford married to?
She was first married to Christian music composer Paul Johnson from 1976 to 1982. She then married NFL Hall of Famer and broadcaster Frank Gifford in 1986; they remained married until his death in August 2015.
Does Kathie Lee Gifford have children and grandchildren?
Yes. She has two children with Frank Gifford — son Cody (born 1990) and daughter Cassidy (born 1993). As of late 2025, she has five grandchildren: Frankie, Ford, and Faith (Cody’s children) and Finn and Rosie Mae (Cassidy’s children).
Where does Kathie Lee Gifford live now?
She relocated from Greenwich, Connecticut, to Nashville, Tennessee, following Frank Gifford’s death in 2015. In May 2026, she listed her longtime Greenwich estate, Cedar Cliff, for $100 million.
