# I thought Charles Nelson Reilly was dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892 "2002-12-11T00:54:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/1 "2002-12-11T00:54:13Z")
and Brett Somers too. But there they are on Hollywood Squares. I recently saw Abe Vigoda in a commercial. I don’t remember Buddy Ebson dying-- is he still alive? How about Betty Paige? Zsa Zsa will be around forever. She’s unbreakable. Never thought my curiosity was this morbid. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/2 "2002-12-11T01:04:37Z")
I think you’re confusing some of these actors with their characters. ---
**Author:** ![Ave\_Minerva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@Ave\_Minerva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ave_Minerva)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/3 "2002-12-11T01:09:09Z")
According to [whosaliveandwhosedead.com](http://whosaliveandwhosedead.com) Abe Vigoda, Buddy Epson, and CNR are all alive. Abe is 81 and Buddy is 94. CNR is 71. I forgot to check on Betty Paige. ---
**Author:** ![Ave\_Minerva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@Ave\_Minerva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ave_Minerva)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/4 "2002-12-11T01:12:18Z")
It’s spelled Bettie Page, assuming you mean the model, and she’s alive at 79. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/5 "2002-12-11T01:19:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Krokodil \* > \*\*I think you’re confusing some of these actors with their characters. \*\* You know something, there is only one person on that list that I know as a “character”. Did Fish die at the end of Fish? Wait, wait. . … Now that I think about it, wasn’t CNR on that ghost TV show? Brett was on The Odd Couple too, I think. Was it Zsa Zsa or Ava who was on Green Acres? But then again when those guys are playing themselves on TV, they playing characters. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/6 "2002-12-11T01:20:13Z")
Charles Nelson Reilly—I saw him in an especially excellent episode of _X Files_ a few years ago. He was good. He was in a short film called (of all things) [_Gaydar_](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0340124) just this year. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/7 "2002-12-11T01:26:26Z")
[whosealiveandwhosedead.com](http://whosealiveandwhosedead.com)? I’m going to go google that right now. ---
**Author:** ![I\_am\_Sparticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@I\_am\_Sparticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_am_Sparticus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/8 "2002-12-11T01:44:34Z")
I read a week or two ago that Zsa Zsa was quite ill. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/9 "2002-12-11T02:12:26Z")
Zsa Zsa Gabor was seriously injured in an auto accident around Thanksgiving. But I haven’t read many updates on her condition. She is in her 80s. Abe Vigoda is one of those actors who has always looked old. Now he really is old. Sort of an Italian version of Wilford Brimley. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/10 "2002-12-11T02:12:33Z")
She was in a car crash and was in a coma. Her husband said she had some facial fractures, but is now recovering nicely. She’s unbreakable. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/11 "2002-12-11T02:18:13Z")
That should be [http://www.whosaliveandwhosdead.com/](http://www.whosaliveandwhosdead.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Fredge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Fredge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fredge)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/12 "2002-12-11T02:41:25Z")
Another good site for this sort of query is [The Dead People Server](http://www.dpsinfo.com/dps/index.html). ---
**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:** [December 11, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/13 "2002-12-11T03:36:43Z")
Eva Gabor was on _Green Acres_. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/14 "2002-12-11T03:49:35Z")
Last report I reas had Zsa Zsa doing better. She has survived her two sisters, Eva & Magda. Standup comedians who work the Friars’ Club Roasts will be deeply saddened when Abe Vigoda actually dies. I saw Brett Somers on _Hollywood Squares_. :eek: Apparently, she goes to the same plastic surgeon as Joan “guess what planet I’m from” Rivers. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2002, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/15 "2002-12-11T03:58:05Z")
Ya know whom I wonder about? **Charles Lane**. You might not recognize the name, but if you’ve watched any TV programs up through the 1980s, you would definitely recognize him. (You can look up IMDB for yourself.) He’s close to 100 if he’s still kickin’. Same with Leon “General Burkhalter” Askin. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/16 "2002-12-11T05:47:57Z")
Also still alive and kicking are Frank Cady, 87, and Eddie Albert, 94. Abe Vigoda was mistakenly reported dead several years ago, and consequently he didn’t work for quite a while because casting directors didn’t know he was available. He jokes about it when he appears on talk shows. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/17 "2002-12-11T05:49:45Z")
Best X-Files Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/18 "2002-12-11T07:18:08Z")
CNR was also in the one of the best episodes of _Millenium_ (“Jose Chung’s Doomsday Defense”?), playing the same character. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/19 "2002-12-11T10:57:19Z")
> [@](#): > > **You know something, there is only one person on that list that I know as a “character”. Did Fish die at the end of Fish? > Wait, wait. . … Now that I think about it, wasn’t CNR on that ghost TV show?** Abe Vigoda did spectacularly in THE GODFATHER; CNR died on MILLENNIUM as the same character he played on X-FILES. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892/20 "2002-12-11T13:54:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mjollnir \* > \*\*Ya know whom I wonder about? **Charles Lane**. > > You might not recognize the name, but if you’ve watched any TV programs up through the 1980s, you would definitely recognize him. (You can look up IMDB for yourself.) > > He’s close to 100 if he’s still kickin’.\*\* In a recent thread about favorite character actors, I mentioned Charles Lane. I looked him up on IMDB, and he seemed to be still with us, and will turn 98 next month! He was playing an old man 50 years ago! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-thought-charles-nelson-reilly-was-dead/141892.md?page=2)