Charles Nelson Reilly

Charles Nelson Reilly (January 13, 1931 – May 25, 2007) was an American actor, comedian, director, and drama teacher born in the Bronx, New York, to an Irish-Catholic father and a Swedish Lutheran mother. As a child, he entertained himself by staging puppet theater, and his mother frequently told him to save his performances for the stage — a phrase that would later become the title of his autobiographical one-man play. At thirteen, Reilly was present at the 1944 Hartford circus fire, which killed 167 people. The trauma left him with a lasting aversion to sitting in audiences, and throughout his career he preferred to observe his own productions from the rear of the house or near an exit.

Reilly initially pursued a career as an opera singer, enrolling at the Hartt School of Music as a voice major before concluding that his natural vocal ability was insufficient for a major career. Opera nonetheless remained a lifelong passion. He directed productions for the Chicago Opera Theater, Dallas Opera, Portland Opera, San Diego Opera, and Santa Fe Opera, and was a frequent guest on opera-themed radio programs, including Metropolitan Opera broadcasts. He maintained close friendships with opera singers Renée Fleming, Rod Gilfry, Roberta Peters, and Eileen Farrell.

Before his Broadway breakthrough, Reilly performed in comic roles during several summer seasons in the 1950s at the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, and appeared in numerous Off-Broadway productions. He made an uncredited film appearance in Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd in 1957. His Broadway career began in 1960 with the original production of Bye Bye Birdie, in which he held a small onstage role and served as understudy and replacement for Dick Van Dyke in the leading part. The following year, he originated the role of Bud Frump in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, earning the 1962 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. In 1964, he joined the original cast of Hello, Dolly!, originating the role of Cornelius Hackl, a performance that earned him a second Tony nomination in the same category. His additional Broadway credits include Charlotte, God's Favorite, and Skyscraper.

Reilly transitioned into directing in the latter part of his stage career. He directed Julie Harris — his co-star from Skyscraper — in the one-woman Broadway play The Belle of Amherst by William Luce, in which Harris portrayed Emily Dickinson. In 1979, he directed Ira Levin's Break a Leg on Broadway; the production closed after a single performance, and Reilly, citing creative differences with Levin, requested through his attorney that his name be removed from the program and the Palace Theatre marquee. He later earned a 1997 Tony Award nomination for Best Director of a Play for the revival of The Gin Game, again starring Julie Harris.

Television brought Reilly considerable visibility beginning in the 1960s. From 1968 to 1970, he played Claymore Gregg on The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, a role that earned him an Emmy nomination. He appeared as a regular on The Dean Martin Show and made guest appearances on programs including McMillan and Wife, The Patty Duke Show, Here's Lucy, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, The Love Boat, and Love, American Style. In 1971, he played the villain Hoodoo on the ABC children's series Lidsville, created by Sid and Marty Krofft. He became a fixture on Match Game, where he was one of the longest-running panelists and frequently sat alongside fellow regular Brett Somers. Reilly appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson more than 100 times, often serving as a last-minute substitute for guests who canceled, as he lived within blocks of the Burbank studios where the program was taped. In 1988, he hosted the syndicated game show Sweethearts for one season, and in 1984 he made multiple guest appearances on Body Language.

In the 1990s, Reilly appeared on The Drew Carey Show, The Larry Sanders Show, Family Matters, and Second Noah, and played the eccentric writer Jose Chung in both The X-Files episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" and the Millennium episode "Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense." He received Emmy nominations in 1998 and 1999 for his work on The Drew Carey Show and Millennium, respectively. He also directed episodes of Evening Shade beginning in 1990.

Reilly was a prolific voice actor, providing the voice of Frank Frankenstone in Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstone Comedy Show in 1980 and Mr. Toad in the Rankin/Bass feature The Wind in the Willows in 1987. He appeared in three Don Bluth films — All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), Rock-a-Doodle (1991), and A Troll in Central Park (1994) — each time voicing the villain's dim-witted sidekick who reformed by the film's end. He was also the original voice of the Dirty Bubble on SpongeBob SquarePants.

As a teacher, Reilly was a longtime instructor at HB Studio, the acting school founded by Herbert Berghof and associated with stage actress Uta Hagen. Among his acting students were Lily Tomlin, Bette Midler, and Gary Burghoff. His autobiographical one-man play Save It for the Stage: The Life of Reilly was adapted into an independent film released in 2006.