~Charles Nelson Reilly, 1/13/31-5/25/07
Man... I loved Charles Nelson Reilly.Sure, he was an accomplished writer, and okay, he won a Tony Award... but he played Hoodoo in Lidsville, sat next to Brett Summers for years on Match Game, eventually chewed the scenery in the finest X-Files episode ever, Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"... but most importantly, he, my mom and David Letterman taught me all about being funny... even when you don't feel like it.
Here's the thing, though: he was braver and funnier than anyone gave him credit for, and I admired those things about him. Not just that he was those things, but that he never, ever looked for recognition for those traits. If nothing else, you have to give him credit for having the courage to be one of the first openly-gay personas on network television. Think back to his work in the late 70's: The Doris Day Show, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, MacMillan & Wife (no irony there)... was anyone else even opening the dooor of the closet in that arena? Of course, I don't blame anyone for not coming out (I blame a shallow, selfish, stupid society of sycophants and pseudo-moralists, thanks), but that doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve a nod (that he never asked for) and a "thank you" (that he surely never exspected) for opening that door.
He never stopped working (TV, theater, animation voiceovers, etc.), yet he knew that his legacy would be his long afternoons on game shows... and he seemed okay with that. I'd almost say he was resigned to that even while anchoring Match Game for all those years... there was a sad sorta' bravado about him even then... it's like the man said: "Though we may not be alone in the universe, in our own separate ways, on this planet we are all alone."
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