Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Charles Nelson Reilly dies

I knew him as trading barbs with Bret Somers on Match Game and playing such roles as Claymore on The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Great Hoo-Doo on Lidsville and the short-lived Uncle Croc, but of course, Reilly was a lot more than that. He was a Tony-winning Broadway actor and a celebrated saucy wit.

He never made an attempt to hide that he was gay at a time when being out of the closet was out of the question for most people.

May he rest in peace.

Obituary from CNN

He was a mainstay on Hollywood Squares when I was little...

I used to love watching Match Game when I was a kid, and he was a big, big reason for that!

RIP, Mr Reilly.

Lidsville was one of my favorite Saturday morning kids' shows, and, due to it, Reilly became the first actor I ever followed. Odd as it may sound, he was also one of the first actors I knew of who wore glasses, and he made glasses seem so cool that I wanted to wear them. (Be careful what you wish for!)

Rest in peace, CNR.

I still love to watch him on Match Game on GSN. I never tire of those shows. But my favorite memory of CNR would have to be as Jose Chung on the X-Files in the episode "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'". One of the series best.

R.I.P.

The Game Show Network has a Match Game marathon on right now, with some of CNR's funnier stuff. It's a real hoot!

My favorite memory of Charles Nelson Reilly is from a story he told once on the Tonight Show when Joan Rivers was hosting. It was shortly after Rock Hudson's AIDS diagnosis was disclosed to the public. Rock Hudson was being criticized for living in the closet for so many years. Charles Nelson Reilly told the following story to illustrate how the studios and Hollywood press were often complicit in keeping gay actors in the closet.

Mr. Reilly explained that he and several other actors had been asked to ride on a float supporting gay rights. They wanted to participate, but were afraid of the impact this action would have on their careers. The parade organizers told them the banner on the float would read "Actors in Support of Human Rights for Gays". They showed up for the parade and discovered that the float was decorated in bright pink tissue paper. The banner read "Gay Actors for Human Rights". He said they were all shocked and the other actors decided not to participate. Charles Nelson Reilly climbed on the float and rode by himself for the whole parade waving to the crowd. He said his mind was racing the whole time. He feared his career was over and that he would never work on television again. He said he went home and waited for his publicist to call and to see how the story would be covered in the press. He never got a call. No stories were printed in any papers or magazines. Nobody ever mentioned it.

"So," he said, "the moral of the story is that once upon a time you couldn't come out of the closet in this town even if you were riding a pink float down Santa Monica Boulavard."

Jerry that IS funny! I can actually hear him saying it. Thanks for sharing that. And it took big ones Charlie-boy. BIG ones.

*sob!* I miss him so!