R.I.P Charles Nelson Reilly
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Charles Nelson Reilly
mtv_1983-1 — 18 years ago(May 27, 2007 08:38 PM)
Charles Nelson Reilly, who acted and directed on Broadway but came to be best known for his campy television appearances on talk shows and Match Game, died on Friday in Los Angeles. He was 76 and lived in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The cause was complications of pneumonia, said his partner, Patrick Hughes, who is his only immediate survivor. Mr. Reilly had been ill for more than a year, he said.
Long before moving west to become what he somewhat ruefully described as a game show fixture, Mr. Reilly was an actor and an acting teacher in New York City. In 1962, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Bud Frump in the original Broadway production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
But he was proudest of The Belle of Amherst, a one-woman play starring Julie Harris based on the life of Emily Dickinson, which he directed on Broadway at the Longacre Theater in 1976, said Timothy Helgeson, who collaborated with him on the show. Two decades later, Mr. Reilly directed Ms. Harris and Charles Durning in a revival of The Gin Game at the Lyceum Theater. He was nominated for a Tony for best director in 1997, and Ms. Harris was nominated for best actress.
His final work was an autobiographical one-man show, Save It for the Stage: The Life of Reilly, in which he recounted his difficult childhood. Born in5b4 the Bronx, the only child of a Swedish mother and an Irish father, Mr. Reilly told of the pain of being considered the oddest member of a decidedly odd family.
He explained the title of his show by saying that, when he was a child, his mother would often cut him off from speaking by admonishing him to save it for the stage. His father, he told audiences, never got over having passed up a chance to move to Hollywood and work with a budding animation artist named Walt Disney.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Reilly, with his ascots, oversize spectacles and over-the-top penchant for double-entendres, was a regular on television. He appeared more than 95 times on the Tonight show with Johnny Carson and was a panelist on game shows like Match Game and Hollywood Squares.
In a 2001 interview with The Advocate, the national gay magazine, Mr. Reilly reflected on the effect those shows had on his professional prospects. You cant do anything else once you do game shows, he said. You have no career.
Mr. Reillys openly gay persona was many years ahead of its time on television, and it had its risks. He recalled being dismissed early in his career by a network executive, who told him that they dont let queers on television. Paul Linke, who directed the one-man show, said Mr. Reilly later had the last laugh when he would page through TV Guide and count how many times he was on the air tb68hat week. -
dgaston — 18 years ago(May 27, 2007 10:54 PM)
I'll miss him. He was such a part of my childhood, I feel like I've lost a favorite uncle.
I saw him a couple of years ago at a fundraiser for York Theatre 5b4in NYC. He looked great, like he hadn't aged much at all.
I'll miss him.
My condolences to Mr. Hughes, and all of Mr. Reilly's friends.
"Why can't we all just get along?" -
10rust — 18 years ago(May 28, 2007 03:23 AM)
I thought the exact same thing. I remember seeing him on TV a lot when I was a little kid. Thinking bb68ack to the times seeing him brings back some nice memories of childhood. I'll always remember that boisterous personality of his.
RIP CNR! -
auntjennyp — 18 years ago(May 28, 2007 07:39 AM)
So sorry to hear of his death. He was not just hilariously funny, but a brilliant director and great patron of the theatre and opera.
I'm really pleased to know that he had a partner through the last year of his life and so sad that that partner is now widowed. While I don't know him at all, he has all my best wishes and condolences. -
mfh1029 — 18 years ago(May 28, 2007 08:03 AM)
To quote the infamous SNL sketch starring Alec Baldwin and Will Farrell: "Charles Nelson Reilly, you were a DELIGHT". Contrary to what CNR thought, Yahoo!'s headline about his death reads: "Tony Award Winner Reilly Dies at 76". He was certain it would be all about the game shows