[thelist] Stripping characters from string

[CDitty]

Hello all,

Does anyone have any PHP snippets of code that will strip several
characters from a string? I am trying to figure out how to do this without
using 3 different if statement blocks. This is what I am looking for.

ie....User email address is "Chris Ditty" <mail at redhotsweeps.com> or Chris
Ditty <mail at redhotsweeps.com>

I need to be able to strip the quotes and everything between them and the
< > signs from the first one and then the name and the < > signs from the
second.
Does anyone know how to do this quickly and easily?

Thanks
CDitty