Charles Nelson Reilly Tribute

Charles was born January 13, 1931 the son of a Catholic Irishman, and a Swedish Lutheran.  He was always a comic at home, and one of his mom's favorite sayings to him was 'Save it for the stage' which he used as the title of his last play.  He was born in the Bronx.

He began acting  on stage, with his big break on Broadway coming in the famous play Bye Bye Birdie in 1960.  He went on to win his Tony in 1962's How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, and was subsequestly nominated for his role in Hello, Dolly.

My favourite role for him was as Hoodoo in Lidsville (a Sid and Marty Kroft production).  Although it only had 16 episodes it became a mainstay of Saturday morning kids programs in the 70's.  It was a pyschodelic show about a child who falls into a land of hats.

Charles also appeared on several other televsion shows through the 70's and 80's with a long run on the game show Match Game.  He was their longest running guest, playing the campy man from the beginning.  With his sharp comments he pushed the window of what was acceptable on 1970's television. He stayed active in acting through the 1990's with appearances on The X-Files , and The Drew Carey Show.  He also did voice work on SpongeBob SquarePants.

He is survived by his long time partner Patrick Hughes.  He died at home from pneumonia after a long illness.