# Charles Nelson Reilly dead at 76... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757 "2007-05-28T04:55:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/21 "2007-05-28T21:20:08Z")
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/22 "2007-05-28T21:22:00Z")
-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOBS!!! (written on three _Match Game_ cards…) Ah… RIP Mr. Reilly. You helped fill many a boring day off from school when I was ill as a child. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/23 "2007-05-28T22:28:05Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] On an equally classic episode of “Son of the Beach,” Notch Johnson must go undercover in a gay bar. [/QUOTE] Is that a TV show? I’ve never heard of it! ---
**Author:** ![brownsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@brownsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/24 "2007-05-28T22:57:06Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] Back when I was a little kid, and had absolutely zero gaydar, I thought he and Paul Lynde were hilarious, and had NO idea there were levels of meaning to any of their jokes! [/QUOTE] Paul Lynde may have been the funniest person to have ever lived. Watching the way he would crack up at his own jokes sent me into hysterics (and still does). RIP CNR ☹ Loved you, man. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/25 "2007-05-28T23:08:21Z")
One, I had no idea he was still alive. Two, I’m suprised that he would only be 76! I’m guess he and Paul Lynde are having a blast right now. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/26 "2007-05-28T23:50:29Z")
[QUOTE=Sir Rhosis] An interesting bit of trivia I only learned a couple years ago – he was a survivor of the infamous Hartford Circus Fire of 1944 (ya know, the one with “Little Miss 1565”). Sir Rhosis [/QUOTE] whoa. he was indeed lucky to get to 76. i enjoyed his performances on match game. a good guy. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/27 "2007-05-29T00:37:48Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] How many hosts these days would invite someone on their talk show simply because they knew the person would make great conversation? Letterman would do it with Teri Garr, but that’s the only case I can think of. [/QUOTE] Tom Waits, definitely, whether he had an album to hype or not. This Reilly guy sounds like a lot of fun. I knew him from that classic X-Files episode, but it sounds like I missed a lot of classic stuff from him. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/28 "2007-05-29T00:46:44Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] This Reilly guy sounds like a lot of fun. I knew him from that classic X-Files episode, but it sounds like I missed a lot of classic stuff from him. [/QUOTE] I knew him as ‘Claymore Gregg’ on _The Ghost & Mrs. Muir_ (TV show), ‘Horatio J. Hoodoo’ on _Lidsville_, and from _Match Game_. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/29 "2007-05-29T00:59:54Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] Tom Waits, definitely, whether he had an album to hype or not. This Reilly guy sounds like a lot of fun. I knew him from that classic X-Files episode, but it sounds like I missed a lot of classic stuff from him. [/QUOTE] Oh yeah, his _Match Game_ stuff was just hysterical. How he and Gene Rayburn got away with some of the things they said, I’ll never know. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/30 "2007-05-29T01:10:06Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] > [@astorian](#): > > On an equally classic episode of “Son of the Beach,” Notch Johnson must go undercover in a gay bar. Is that a TV show? I’ve never heard of it! [/QUOTE] It’s a parody of Baywatch, produced by Howard Stern. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/31 "2007-05-29T01:15:03Z")
[QUOTE=Sir Rhosis] An interesting bit of trivia I only learned a couple years ago – he was a survivor of the infamous Hartford Circus Fire of 1944 (ya know, the one with “Little Miss 1565”). Sir Rhosis [/QUOTE] I believe he stated that afterwards, he suffered from anxiety and hated crowds for that very reason. Poor guy. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/32 "2007-05-29T01:26:20Z")
He was also the “Giddy-up Gourmet” on the short-lived TV series “Arnie.” Reportedly, Graham Kerr was _not_ happy with the character. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/33 "2007-05-29T01:35:25Z")
I too, am surprised he was only 76. I remember watching him on TV when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/34 "2007-05-29T03:49:22Z")
How dead is he? (man, that classic _Match Game_ “response” just doesn’t carry over well in print, does it?) Anyway, if you can find old eps of _Match Game_ on the Gameshow Network, it’s really worth it. CNR was a trip! He’ll be missed ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/35 "2007-05-29T11:55:37Z")
He was wonderful. I first saw him on “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” (I was soooo in love with Edward Mulhare), and my family watched him on Match Game all the time. My best memory of him, though, was when we saw him do his one-man show “Save It for the Stage: The Life of Reilly,” at the Irish Rep theater in Manhattan about 6 years ago. The show was very funny and poignant and he was just mesmerizing. The man could really tell a story. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/36 "2007-05-29T13:18:45Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] I’m guess he and Paul Lynde are having a blast right now. [/QUOTE] Along with their less flaming Match Game compatriot, Ricahrd Deacon. RIP Charles. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/37 "2007-05-29T15:10:28Z")
I’ll remember Reilly as Jose Chung, because I think that’s the best episode the X-Files ever did, but he actually played a larger role in my childhood as the star of the Rankin-Bass version of _The Wind in the Willows_. Lord knows how many times I watched that thing! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/38 "2007-05-29T16:46:02Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] Back when I was a little kid, and had absolutely zero gaydar, I thought he and Paul Lynde were hilarious, and had NO idea there were levels of meaning to any of their jokes! [/QUOTE] Same here, except CNR is also the first celebrity I ever remember having nightmares about. I’d be terrified at night when, as [Hoodoo from Lidsville](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lidsville_screen.jpg), he would chase me in that hat, but then the next day I’d see MatchGame and like him again. Probably symbolic of something but… [QUOTE=sciurophobic] I heard that instead of buying buried in a coffin he’ll be buried in a \_\_\_\_\_. [/QUOTE] It’s a toss-up between “closet” and “rug”. His last words to me were “Just remember that at the funeral you’ll be approached by a fellow Match Gamer you absolutely trust. He or she will want to set up a meeting to see about a revival. Your safety will be absolutely assured. That Match Gamer is the man who put Reilly and Rayburn in their graves- you will be assassinated.” I’m thinking he meant Dawson. ## No news on [Brett’s official website](http://www.brettsomers.com/index2.shtml), but perhaps there will be when somebody tells her she has one and explains what it is again. There are advertisements for her “One Broad Show”, however. One of my favorite MatchGame CNR v. Brett moments was from a 90s revival when Brett said about some fill-in-the-blank question that had to do with marriage “Well how the hell should I know? I’ve never been married so I don’t know these things.” I’m not sure why she said this, but Brett Somers was married and constantly separating from/reuniting with Jack Klugman for many years from the 1950s-1970s. (They’re so close as ex-spouses that they’ve toured together with their one-person shows and appeared together on stage several times since their divorce.) CNR made a comment “Everybody here knows you’ve been married Brett…” Brett: Who? Who have I been married too? ## CNR: I won’t say his name. I’ll just say that he left you for someone younger, prettier and more feminine. But then Tony left him too and he became a coroner. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/39 "2007-05-29T17:36:57Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] One of my favorite MatchGame CNR v. Brett moments was from a 90s revival when Brett said about some fill-in-the-blank question that had to do with marriage “Well how the hell should I know? I’ve never been married so I don’t know these things.” I’m not sure why she said this, but Brett Somers was married and constantly separating from/reuniting with Jack Klugman for many years from the 1950s-1970s. (They’re so close as ex-spouses that they’ve toured together with their one-person shows and appeared together on stage several times since their divorce.) CNR made a comment “Everybody here knows you’ve been married Brett…” Brett: Who? Who have I been married too? ## CNR: I won’t say his name. I’ll just say that he left you for someone younger, prettier and more feminine. But then Tony left him too and he became a coroner. [/QUOTE] Oh, snap! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757/40 "2007-05-29T18:36:12Z")
[QUOTE=brownsfan] Paul Lynde may have been the funniest person to have ever lived. Watching the way he would crack up at his own jokes sent me into hysterics (and still does). RIP CNR ☹ Loved you, man. [/QUOTE] Paul Lynde’s jokes were totally scripted. In real life he was an alcoholic and somewhat bitter man, apparently. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-nelson-reilly-dead-at-76/405757.md?page=3)