Charles Nelson Reilly Remembered

Charles, 2nd from left -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Before starting on my eulogy to Charles Nelson Reilly, I'd like to make note of one thing. blogSpotter is one of the very few people on this planet you will ever meet who can segue from a blog about Natural History and 'missing links' to a show biz tribute for a campy comedian. I know a few nerds that will chow down on the evolution topic, as do I. I know an entirely different set of people who follow entertainment headlines. Yours truly is one of the few specimens who follows both and is yes -- genuinely interested. I can go from the sublime to the ridiculous and then do some circles around it all. The only topic you will not find on my 'topics index' is Sports and that is because I have no interest in that subject. For those who want to follow that, may I recommend ESPN.

Now back to Charles. Mr. Reilly basically played himself in all his TV/Cinema roles. His flamboyant character, with ascot and Elton John glasses was a hilarious presence. Charles was good friends with Paul Lynde and Dom DeLouise who, like him, pretty well played their comical ids in every role. Reilly got his start in the movies; he had small roles in Face in the Crowd as well as Bye Bye Birdie. He was a frequent guest on The Steve Lawrence Show and played Claymore Gregg on The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. In the 70's, he logged more than 90 appearances on The Johnny Carson Show.

Despite his impressive show biz resume, Charles Nelson Reilly is best remembered for his role on the Match Game series that ran in the 70's, hosted by Gene Rayburn. The show broke some ice in what had become a stale category of daytime TV entertainment. In a genre that had become gimmicky and dull, Match Game brought a much needed wit infusion. You didn't care who won the game -- you just cared about which comedian would complete the provocative sentence with the best word.

Regulars on the show were Fannie Flagg, Richard Dawson, Brett Sommers and Mr. Charles himself. Reilly would sometimes "butch it up" with a deep voice, and make a sports reference for laughs. He and Brett would trade insults back and forth; they would even violate the seating rules by getting out of their chairs usually to bash each other with a placard. The game was a bit like Mad Libs where you complete a blank at the end of a (usually provocative) sentence. "Weak Wilbur was so weak he could barely hold up his (blank)." Reilly would usually go for the obvious laugh where Dawson would politely try to match the most common, albeit not-as-funny sentence completion. Double entendres flew back and forth, much to the giggles and amusement of the audience.

In his later years, Reilly was a well-respected acting coach. Charles Nelson Reilly, we will miss you. For the uninitiated, see if you can catch some old Match Games on the Game Show network. I saw one recently and it was as fresh and funny as it was in 1977 -- well, except for the horrible 70's outfits worn by the guests.

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