On this day, May 25, 2007, Charles Nelson Reilly died.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Thanks for the reminder, Wikipedia.

15 years ago today, this angel flew home.

Hope there are __________s in Heaven, Charles Nelson Reilly.

youtube.com
Hilarious clip from Cannonball run 2
Don Don meets Hynie.

Link to tweet

Charles Nelson Reilly


Reilly as "Randy Robinson" on the CBS television series Arnie in 1971

Born: January 13, 1931; New York City, U.S.
Died: May 25, 2007 (aged 76); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place: Cremated
Education: Hartt School of Music

Charles Nelson Reilly (January 13, 1931 – May 25, 2007) was an American actor, comedian, director, and drama teacher known for his comedic roles on stage, film, and television. Reilly performed in the original Broadway casts of Bye Bye Birdie, Hello, Dolly!, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. His television credits include The Ghost & Mrs. Muir and Match Game. A recording of his autobiographical one-man play Save It for the Stage: The Life of Reilly was adapted into a 2006 independent film.

Early life

Reilly was born January 13, 1931, in New York City in the Bronx, to an Irish-Catholic father and a Swedish Lutheran mother. When young, he would amuse himself by creating puppet theater, and his mother often told him to "save it for the stage".

At age 13, he survived the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire, which killed 167 people in Connecticut, and he was afraid to sit in an audience ever again. Because of the event's trauma, he rarely attended theater, stating that the large crowds reminded him of what happened that day. As he often stated on The Tonight Show and other such venues, even as the director of a play or stage production, he preferred to sit at the back of the house or the back of a balcony near the exits to preview his work, including one time where his leading lady's costume caught fire ( but on recounting this episode to Johnny Carson, Reilly assured him "but you know, these things always work out okay." )

Reilly developed a love of opera and wanted to become an opera singer. He entered the Hartt School of Music as a voice major, but abandoned this pursuit when he realized that he lacked the natural vocal talent to have a major career. However, opera remained a lifelong passion, and he was a frequent guest on opera-themed radio programs, including the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. He directed opera productions for the Chicago Opera Theater, Dallas Opera, Portland Opera, San Diego Opera, and Santa Fe Opera. He was good friends with opera singers Renée Fleming, Rod Gilfry, Roberta Peters, and Eileen Farrell.

{snip}

Fri May 26, 2023: On May 25, 2007, Charles Nelson Reilly died.

Wed Jul 6, 2022: On this day, July 6, 1944, Emmett Kelly cried. It was the day of the Hartford circus fire.

Thu May 26, 2022: On May 25, 2007, Charles Nelson Reilly died.

Tue Jul 6, 2021: On this day, July 6, 1944, Emmett Kelly cried. It was the day of the Hartford circus fire.

Fri Jul 6, 2018: The Hartford Circus Fire: July 6, 1944

[underpants]

1. Charles was a fixture of my young TV watching

Match Game of course. It’s amazing the talent on what even then I thought was just people famous for being famous. Fannie Flagg and Bret both had remarkable careers.

Lidsville. I thought this was part of HR Pufnstuf but it was a separate show by the same creators (Kroffts). We lived in a college town full of actual hippies in Ohio at the time and the psychedelic nature of those shows must have mixed with an almost contact high that I probably ran into more than I knew.

He also did a really great episode of X Files later on.
Jose Chung's From Outer Space
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Chung%27s_From_Outer_Space

It stood out to me as one of the best episodes they did.

I didn’t know about the circus fire. I totally can get that. I’ve been to one Broadway play (Phantom) and aside from incredibly uncomfortable seats, I remember thinking that this place was a tinderbox. It could go up in a matter of minutes. I actually devised an escape route while I was sitting there. This included running DOWN the couple of rows in front of us on the balcony and making a leap for the empty seating boxes on the side. Seriously I was a bit freaked out the whole time.

[mockmonkey]

2. Charles Nelson Reilly, The Life of Reilly

This opens the Playlist for the movie, "The Life of Reilly" there is a Play All button in the colored box to click on to play all, otherwise it's 28 separate parts. It's sad and funny.


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL59B9706770CC4F27