Charles Nelson Reilly dead at 76
Charles Nelson Reilly, famous for his long stint as a regular panelist on the television game show Match Game, has died from complications of pneumonia. Reilly was the longest running guest on the show, and often engaged in petty arguments with fellow regular Brett Somers. Reilly typically offered sardonic commentary and peppered his answers with gay-themed double entendres that pushed the boundaries of 1970s television standards.Reilly did not publicly come out as a gay man until his one man show "Save It for the Stage". However, much like fellow game show regular Paul Lynde, Reilly played up a campy on-screen persona. In many episodes of Match Game, he would lampoon himself by briefly affecting a deep voice and self-consciously describing how "butch" he was. He mentioned in a 2002 interview with "Entertainment Tonight" that he felt no need to come out of the closet and that he never purposefully hid his homosexuality from anyone.
Patrick Hughes III, a set decorator and dresser, was Reilly's partner; the two met backstage while Reilly was appearing on the game show Battlestars. They lived in Beverly Hills.
Labels: obits
posted by John Good @ 12:23 AM
4 Comments:
The first time I ever noticed Reilly was when he played Claymore Gregg on the late '60s sit-com, "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir" and then in several episodes of "Laugh-In". He really was a funny man. R.I.P.
I am going to miss that dude. I remember he and Brett Sommers on Match Game when I was a kid, that silly laugh of his. Oh those were the days. Of course now we couldn't have shows like that. But those were the days none the less.
Gawd, he was so HILARIOUS!!
RIP.
I remember him from a campy kids show that he did in the early 70s. Some sort of 'Alice In Wonderland'-like thing.
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