![]() ![]() "A consummate teacher for writers, actors, singers and directors, Charles generated brilliant, highly original ideas as none other I'll ever meet. 'Maybe I should take a course at UCLA.' 'Don't be silly,' Charles said, 'We know more than they do. 'I've never written for theatre,' I told them. When he and Julie Harris asked me to write The Belle of Amherst, it was for me the beginning of a lifetime miracle (Julie calls it a ride on a magic carpet). Harris was also Tony-nominated.īelle of Amherst playwright Bill Luce told, "Charlie walked into my life like an old friend. Reilly received a Tony nomination for Best Director of a Play Ms. Harris and Reilly worked on over ten plays together, including The Gin Game. His first Broadway directing assignment was The Belle of Amherst, starring Julie Harris, who won a Tony for her performance. You have no career." It was, perhaps, because of this that he turned to directing, and the second half of his career took place behind the scenes. Reilly discussed the effect game shows had on his career: "You can't do anything else once you do game shows. In an interview for The Advocate in 2001 Mr. Reilly - who often sported ascots and oversized glasses - also appeared on "The Tonight Show" (with Johnny Carson) nearly 100 times. His Broadway appearances also included Skyscraper, a failed musical starring Julie Harris, who would become a friend and frequent collaborator, God's Favorite and Charlotte. In this last, as a sniveling, conniving embodiment of corporate nepotism, he sang about his devotion to the daily "Coffee Break" and plotted the downfall of hero J. Henkel in Bye, Bye, Birdie (where he met future "Match Game" host Gene Rayburn), was nominated for a Tony Award as the original Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly! and received the Tony for his performance as the original Bud Frump How To Succeed In Business. He was educated at HB Studios by the legendary Uta Hagen alongside such acting legends as Steve McQueen, Jerry Stiller, Jason Robards and Jack Lemmon. Reilly was an important supporting player in the Broadway musical theatre of the 1960s. Though known to the world as - along with Brett Somers and Richard Dawson - one of the resident cut-ups on the saucy and popular "Match Game," to theatregoers Mr. That title, the Times explains, came from the words his mother would often use to stop him from speaking: "Save it for the stage," mother would say to son. Reilly, who in his middle years became best known for his appearances and quick quips on such TV shows as "Match Game" and "Hollywood Squares," chronicled his adventures on stage and off in his one-man show Save It for the Stage: The Life of Reilly. ![]() Patrick Hughes, Reilly's partner and only immediate survivor, told the New York paper that the actor had been ill for over a year. Reilly died from complications of pneumonia, according to The New York Times. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |