Aside from being one of those rare celebrities with three names, Charles Nelson Reilly deserves our deep love and respect for being...Charles Nelson Reilly. In virtually every role he played, he was...Charles Nelson Reilly! And therein lies his mystique. Long before it was fashionable to have a gay character in a TV show or movie, there was CNR, filling that void as only he could (and usually wearing a scarf or ascot around his neck---Hollywood code for QUEER). From his breakthrough role on "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir", to "Lidsville", to perhaps his greatest tour-de-force performance as the Bic Banana, he never failed to be less than...Charles Nelson Reilly. At some point he must have realized that his greatest asset was himself, and he really made a career of being just that. "Hollywood Squares" and especially "MatchGame" would not have been the same without him. (It seems that EVERY great ForgottenDiva has done time on "the Squares"! It must be some sort of prerequisite---or purgatory!) The last decade has found him directing many stage and small-screen endeavors. But just to remind us mere mortals of his Divaness, he made a come-back on a stunning episode of "The X Files". It doesn't get any better than that!
CHARLES NELSON REILLY IS A DIVA NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN!!!
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