Too Gay for Television? How Charles Nelson Reilly Proved NBC Wrong
[quote]With 99 appearances on The Tonight Show, nearly two thousand game show episodes, and starring roles from Broadway to sitcoms to cartoons … for decades, Charles Nelson Reilly WAS television. But it almost never happened: At Charles’ first TV audition, an NBC executive took one look at him and said, "they don’t let queers on television.” So, how did Charles Nelson Reilly go from being too gay for broadcast to dominating the airwaves? This is the story of an iconic gay actor who went from selling his blood to make ends meet to being the most in-demand actor on television, thanks to a little help from Burt Reynolds, Broadway, and a haunted house.
I didn't appreciate Charles until his guest appearance on The X Files. i loved his game show appearances, but I guess I dismissed them as simple froth, and now I feel loss for his brand of talent.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | November 4, 2022 4:10 AM
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CHARLES NELSON REILLY!!!….CHARLES NELSON REILLY!!!………
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | November 3, 2022 7:55 PM
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He hardly "dominated" the airwaves. He was mostly the token effeminate man who was queeny and funny, like Franklin Pangborn was in 30's and 40's movies. It's good that he was able to have a career, but Paul Lynde was just as ubiquitous as Reilly.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | November 3, 2022 8:04 PM
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I’d have loved to have been a friend of his. I may need to re-watch “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space” in his honor.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | November 3, 2022 8:26 PM
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Here's Charles announcing on CBS television that he's going to fuck all of the Seven Dwarfs.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | November 3, 2022 9:06 PM
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I'd listen to Charles Nelson Reilly all day before I'd watch a Matt Baume video. His demeanor is grating.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | November 3, 2022 10:11 PM
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Another fan of his appearance on the X-Files. It's one of my favorite episodes.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | November 3, 2022 11:38 PM
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Charles Nelson Reilly had a one-man stage show he performed over 300 times called "The Life of Reilly", naturally, and it is fantastic. I originally found it on Youtube chopped up into short segments, but I later bought the dvd to watch it all in order.
He tells some hilarious and hair-raising stories and is fascinating. The filmed version is at a live performance and was the very last time he performed the show which makes it bittersweet. I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying it. Here he was near the end of his life, yet at the top of his game.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | November 4, 2022 3:02 AM
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Doesn't he mention George Maharis' cock, r9?
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | November 4, 2022 3:06 AM
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Not that I recall, r10.
He does talk about Hope Lange's mother being a drunk, as I recall.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | November 4, 2022 3:40 AM
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Oh, this is what I remember that from, r11...
[quote]Even camp legend Charles Nelson Reilly mentions the gonadal drama in his one-man show, Save It for the Stage, in the context of describing how George Maharis‘s dick was “the biggest thing Off-Broadway” (they worked together).
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | November 4, 2022 3:49 AM
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Yes, I did watch it a few years ago and I didn't memorize the show, and to be honest, the size of some dead guy's dick who I don't really remember seeing in anything wasn't the most compelling thing about the performance.
I know that isn't something you can comprehend, but you're just gonna have to trust me!
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | November 4, 2022 4:06 AM
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