Actor Charles Nelson Reilly Dies
edonline
Actor Charles Nelson Reilly Dies
by The Associated Press
Posted: May 28, 2007 - 8:00 am ET
(Los Angeles, California) Charles Nelson Reilly, the Tony Award winner
who later became known for his ribald appearances on the "Tonight
Show" and various game shows, has died. He was 76.
Reilly died Friday in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia, his
partner, Patrick Hughes, told the New York Times.
Reilly began his career in New York City, taking acting classes at a
studio with Steve McQueen, Geraldine Page and Hal Holbrook. In 1962,
he appeared on Broadway as Bud Frump in the original Broadway
production of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." The
role won Reilly a Tony Award.
He was nominated for a Tony again for playing Cornelius in "Hello,
Dolly!" In 1997 he received another nomination for directing Julie
Harris and Charles Durning in a revival of "The Gin Game."
After moving to Hollywood in 1960s he appeared as the nervous Claymore
Gregg on TV's "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" and as a featured guest on
"The Dean Martin Show."
He gained fame by becoming what he described as a "game show fixture"
in the 1970s and 80s. He was a regular on programs like "Match Game"
and "Hollywood Squares," often wearing giant glasses and colorful
suits with ascots.
His larger-than-life persona and affinity for double-entendres also
landed him on the "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson more than 95
times.
Reilly ruefully admitted his wild game show appearances adversely
affected his acting career. "You can't do anything else once you do
game shows," he told The Advocate, the national gay magazine, in 2001.
"You have no career."
His final work was an autobiographical one-man show, "Save It for the
Stage: The Life of Reilly," about his family life growing up in the
Bronx. The title grew out of the fact that when he would act out as a
child, his mother would often admonish him to "save it for the stage."
The stage show was made into the 2006 feature film called "The Life of
Reilly."
Reilly's openly gay television persona was ahead of its time, and
sometimes stood in his way. He recalled a network executive telling
him "they don't let queers on television."
Hughes, his only immediate survivor, said Reilly had been ill for more
than a year.
No memorial plans had been announced.
Red
I never knew he was Gay. I just thought he was effeminate, not that
it mattered. Why didn't he do more movies. He was very talented and
very funny.
PosterChild
"edonline" <eronlin...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:voll53d9a4ob79pgk...@4ax.com...
"complications from pneumonia" --- politically correct codeword for AIDS
which causes pneumonia.
doomella
> Red <RedRed...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>>"I never knew he was Gay. I just thought he was effeminate, not that
>>it mattered. Why didn't he do more movies. He was very talented and
>>very funny."
That's the definition of a gay entertainer pre- 1968.
kswynford@.com
On 28-May-2007, edonline <eronlin...@verizon.net> wrote:
> Posted: May 28, 2007 - 8:00 am ET
>
> (Los Angeles, California) Charles Nelson Reilly, the Tony Award winner
> who later became known for his ribald appearances on the "Tonight
> Show" and various game shows, has died. He was 76.
RIP, Charles. You were a funny and talented man. I will never forget you
in "Hello, Dolly!" Thanks for the ride.
KS
Jimmy J.
wrote:
>Lots of old guys die from pneumonia complications. Are you suggesting
>they all actually have AIDS? Does it seem likely he would get AIDS in
>his older years if he avoided it in his younger? I suspect he simply
>died from what they said he died of.
In case you didn't know, people are still contracting AIDS today and
its not just young people.
subscriber1997
"doomella" <doom...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:465afae9$0$4875$4c36...@roadrunner.com...
Red will one day figure out that 99.9%
of effeminate men are GAY !!!!!!!!!!!1 fer chrissakes
fagelah
Gregory Morrow
> "doomella" <doome...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:465afae9$0$4875$4c36...@roadrunner.com...
>
> >> Red <RedRedCoun...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> >>>"I never knew he was Gay. I just thought he was effeminate, not that
> >>>it mattered. Why didn't he do more movies. He was very talented and
> >>>very funny."
>
> > That's the definition of a gay entertainer pre- 1968.
>
> ==========
>
> Red will one day figure out that 99.9%
> of effeminate men are GAY !!!!!!!!!!!1 fer chrissakes
>
> fagelah
Did you know that Wayland Flowers (who has that "Madame" puppet) is
str8, s - 1997...???
--
Best
Greg
subscriber1997
"Gregory Morrow" <gregor...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1180411381.6...@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
ain't he dead?
and he was as gay as springtime
got that from a very reliable personal
source
don't ask
JFlexer
news:465baf25$0$16549$4c36...@roadrunner.com...
The official phrase is "Gay as an Ungaro Spring Frock"...
get it right, for Pete's sake...
--
-J
** Keeper of Betty Buckley and Bette Midler **
JFlexer
news:Xns994034376...@news.albasani.net...
> On 29 May 2007, God's Debris <hea...@dead.net> posted some
> news:ik6q539feblr0eafn...@4ax.com:
>> no reason to conclude it's from aids merely because he's gay.
>
> He's been sick with ~something~ for a couple years. Could have been
> cancer.
More likely emphysema and/or asthma - he was a chronic smoker...
subscriber1997
"JFlexer" <jf09...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:f3kk8...@news3.newsguy.com...
since the demise of alt.fashion
i eschew my fashion references
sorry i just do
eschew eschew eschew !!
<snap>
doomella
> since the demise of alt.fashion
> i eschew my fashion references
>
> sorry i just do
>
> eschew eschew eschew !!
>
> <snap>
Gesundheit!
Sweeeet Wizdom
Doesn't anyone remember the TV series
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir CNR and the lovely Hope Lange were in?
Every form of refuge has its price.
"Lyin' Eyes" The Eagles
subscriber1997
perforce the doomella character
prefers German ......................Hugo Boss
designed the waffen SS uniforms
nachtmar der wehrmacht
doomella
Kindly capitalize them nouns.
william...@bluebottle.com
> On Mon, 28 May 2007 22:33:40 GMT, jimmy...@msn.com (Jimmy J.) wrote:
> >On Mon, 28 May 2007 14:26:02 -0700, God's Debris <hea...@dead.net>
> >wrote:
>
> >>On Mon, 28 May 2007 10:45:09 -0400, "PosterChild"
>
> >>>"edonline" <eronlineSPAM...@verizon.net> wrote in message
>
> - Show quoted text -
He might have bee Haitian..
subscriber1997
ja mistress
smbsc...@gmail.com
Hartford Circus Fire as a child. He's arguably the most famous
survivor. They say he never sat in the audience of a theater again.