Charles

The late Charles Nelson Reilly based part of his one-man show on the fact he really rocketed to fame by having a regular seat on the 1970s version of The Match Game. Forget Broadway, where he first got attention. Forget The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Arnie or even Lidsville. America was captivated by, and sniggered at, a TV show that made the words “tinkle” and “boobs” part of the popular culture. It all seemed, well, so daring to suburban Americans. (They may have been the same people who wrote to TV columnists breathlessly wanting to know whether Reilly and Brett Somers were seeing each other).

My first home-screen encounter with Reilly was on the aforementioned Muir show, which was switched from a movie drama to a TV sitcom. This unbylined story appeared in papers on January 4, 1969; it may be from an NBC publicity release.

Gives First Autograph on Grocery Bag
HOLLYWOOD — Charles Nelson Reilly is the first to tell you that he doesn't look like Charles Nelson Reilly.
"I've only been asked once for my autograph since the series started," he said. "It was on a paper bag in a grocery store. If people recognize me at all, they'll say, 'You have three names,' and then it comes out John Charles Thomas. Or they say, 'Aren't you on 'The Ghost and Mrs. Miniver'? Jack O'Brien, of the (defunct) New York Journal American, once called me 'a medium dazzle star.' "
Charles Nelson Reilly, as fans have come to realize more or less accurately, is the person who portrays Claymore Gregg, the flustered landlord and nephew of Capt. Gregg, in "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," Saturdays on the NBC Television Network.
Actually, Charles Nelson Reilly has done some impressive work and received two Tony Awards in the process. He has appeared in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway hits, including "Bye Bye Birdie," "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," "Hello, Dolly!" and "Skyscraper." His films include "The Tiger Makes Out," "Two Tickets to Paris" and "Let's Rock." He has also written and appeared in numerous radio and TV commercials.
"This," said Charles Nelson Reilly of his present role, "is the nicest job I've had in my life, except 'Skyscraper,' which I loved, with Julie Harris. I adore California. I've spent seven years on Broadway and done 7,000 performances. I plan to stay in California the rest of my life. New York ran out for me."
Reilly notices things others have come to take for granted.
"Take my wardrobe, for instance," he said. "When I arrive at the studio, I find three shirts to wear, each beautifully laundered, with tissue paper in the sleeves. In New York, where I was the second male lead in 'Hello, Dolly ' I only had one shirt. Then they made a big thing about letting me know that they had turned the collar — the second year of the show!"
Reilly feels like he's found the right place for settling down.
"I'm buying paintings now, which I never did before," he said. "I also bought a house and a convertible. People let you know here whether it's a good day for putting the top down. As far as I'm concerned, the top has been up for 37 years — now it's staying down!"
Reilly's one concession to New York is that he's kept his subscription to the New York Times.
"But," said he, "the only thing I miss is the Metropolitan Opera."
Reilly loves opera, has a large record collection, and coached opera singers.
But it's the elevators, airport and telephones that convince him that West Coast living is right for him.
"I watch the elevators here and there's always a beat or two before people start coming out," he said. "In New York they just pour out. Or take the phones. We have a party on the set every Friday. What floors me is that there are several phones, but they're never in use! In New York, the line at the phone is always a mile long — people calling agents, lining up interviews, always thinking about the next thing. And the airport here — you can hear a pin drop."
Reilly doesn't fear ghosts, or change.
"I never go back," he said. "Some actors are still playing the same parts they did 20 years ago. I will leave something because there is always something better that awaits you."

Here’s another pre-Match Game interview, this one for the King Features Syndicate. It appeared December 2, 1971. Reilly seems to have more work than anyone can handle.

Now He's Actually Leading the Busy Life of Reilly
By HARVEY PACK
NEW YORK — Charles Nelson Reilly is featured on five TV series — which isn't bad for a guy who once took a week off from a Broadway show, and went to Hollywood to make a pilot film.
"Remarkable, isn't it?" he asked himself, as we sat in Sardi's nodding to all his Broadway friends. "I'm doing so well I can up and fly to New York because Karen Morrow is opening in a play and Roberta Peters is at the Met. Crazy? Of course...but a lot more fun than selling blood to the blood bank to raise money for train fare to go to an audition in Connecticut."
Reilly is practically an acting corporation. Two years ago he began making funny commercials and he found that he was writing the copy when he showed up for the taping. Now, he's decided to go into business for himself and, with a few friends, he has formed Commercial Clinic, a company which can take an ad agency's ideas and convert them into amusing, effective commercials.
In addition, Charles is on the tube as star of the syndicated "Golddiggers," a semi-regular on "Arnie" and the Dean Martin Show. On top of that, he has seen "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," the show that originally brought him west for a one shot, go into syndication. Nor is that all: Saturday mornings on ABC he is the star of one of that web's most successful children's programs, "Lidsville."
"I knew California was the place for me when I filmed my first scene for the pilot of "Ghost and Mrs. Muir,' said Reilly. "I liked everybody's attitude. On Broadway, actors are always trying to 'make it' in the business. I still see them here in Sardi's putting on sortie sort of act even after they've been around for years. In Hollywood, there's time to have fun between set-ups for the next shot and the business becomes less arduous. I know I'm one of the few former Broadway actors who feel that way, but I did on that first day and still do."
Once he got past starving and selling blood ("I sold two pints on one day and didn't faint until late afternoon"), Reilly was a very employable actor. He had the third lead in the award-winning musical, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," and followed that with "Skyscraper" and another musical that had a fairly good run, "Hello, Dolly."
"Dolly was unbelievable," he said with a smile after a friendly chat with that box-office bonanza's producer David Merrick. "It was crazy time every performance. I really could not take it. I have a dear friend who's a prominent dentist and lives in Westchester with his family. During the two years I endured 'Dolly,' he wrote me notes about dental surgery and I hid at his house for a few days. I must have had ten impacted wisdom teeth and assorted abscesses. Whenever I see David Merrick I expect him to ask how my teeth are."

"Lidsville," the Saturday daytime show, required more work than any of his other series. He admits that for a Dean Martin appearance he earns more than he did in 10 months of "Dolly," but "Lidsville" is so hard it has to be a labor of love.
"It takes hours to put on the crazy make-up," he explained. "And I don't even look like myself when I'm finished. Come to think of it...putting on the Lidsville make-up is harder than doing Dean's show."
Tape is what makes it possible for Charles Nelson Reilly to be all over tube and still come East to see friends open in shows. He doesn't go back to finish this year's Golddiggers" until January, the Martin shots he does as they come along, He's filmed a few episodes of "Arnie," and awaits reaction to the character he has created, and "Lidsville" was completed a month ago.
If he had failed as a performer, Charles Nelson Reilly might have been the greatest comedy acting teacher of our time. He taught in New York and his pupils are "making it," and his workshop in California is only kept down by his busy onscreen schedule. "I just had the knack," he said, and scores of actors I have interviewed confirm this. "Besides, there were very few places teaching musical comedy."
Reilly, a well-liked character ("Charles is legitimately nuts...and I mean legitimately," a friend of his assured me), is enjoying his success after so many years of waiting for it. After all, in "Succeed" there was Bobby Morse, and Carol Channing appeared in "Dolly," but in TV it's Charles Nelson Reilly the casting directors are demanding and even though he has left New York behind him there's no doubt about that fact that he's "making it." (Copyright, 1971, by TV Key)

The revived, West Coast version of The Match Game began airing on June 25, 1973. Reilly arrived soon after and later in the season was handed a permanent spot, one eventually he bemoaned he couldn’t escape. He appeared on various incarnations of the show into the ‘90s.

He found time for theatre directing and coaching, as well as cartoon voice work before he died in 2007. But if you search on video websites, you’re more likely to find him being snippy to Somers than anything else. At least no one was mistaking him for John Charles Thomas any more.