Looking Like a Million Bucls' Fans swooned when America's biggest TV star hit town yesterday. It's not his money, they say. It's his magnetism.

The big black Lincoln glides to a stop in front of the Montgomery Wards store in Towson. A well-baked man clad in autumn tones, with star power to spare, emerges.

The women take notice.

Is it:

A. Leonardo di Caprio?

B. Jude Law?

C. David Hasselhoff?

Close, but not quite.

The answer is Regis Philbin, sexagenarian sex symbol and host of game-show phenomenon "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire."

The ladies love Regis.

"I think he has gotten more sexy," said Connie George, 70. "He seems so much more sure of himself."

George, from Parkville, wasn't the only one smitten with the tiny, tanned icon.

"Why do they always put him in dark suits [on `Millionaire']?" asked Theresa Taylor, 43, from Pikesville. "He looks good anyway, don't get me wrong."

About 20 mostly mature women were drawn in by Philbin magnetism at the Towson Marketplace store. The prime-time Santa Claus was taking a few moments from his frenetic TV schedule to plug Wards' new "Win a Fortune" promotion, for which he is spokesman and check-presenter.

"Let's face it, he's a pro at what he does," said Wards Chief Executive Officer Roger Goddu, who was also on hand to greet Philbin. "We just want to get a little piece of it."

Who doesn't?

Philbin arrived to a throng, well, a group of about 20 fans (the appearance wasn't announced).

He shook hands, gravitated to the microphones, caught every camera flash, and endured an infinite battery of television and radio spots as if he'd been doing it forever. Which he has.

"Hi, everyone, Regis is here," he said, rather obviously. "I didn't bring any money with me."

Ever since he made "Is that your final answer?" into the last word in TV catch phrases, Philbin has gone from entertainment cubic zirconium to Hollywood gold.

Still, "he's not the president or anything. He doesn't need the Secret Service," said Cockeysville resident Terry Wilson, 42, who vigorously took her dose of Regis along with daughter Lauren, 6, and mother Elaine Denmyer, 64, from Lutherville.

But apparently he's important enough for Wilson to watch every morning (on his daytime talk show, "Live With Regis and Kathie Lee") and evening (when "Millionaire" airs).

Onlookers yesterday learned that importance and height do not always coincide. Regis Philbin is short.