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Sunday, May 27, 2007 04:50 AM

Charles Nelson Reilly, the Tony-winning Broadway actor and director who became famous for his eccentric outfits and double entendres as a "game show fixture" on Match Game and Hollywood Squares, died in Los Angeles on Friday from pneumonia. He was 76. (NYTimes)

Mr. Reilly’s openly gay persona was many years ahead of its time on television, and it had its risks. He recalled being dismissed early in his career by a network executive, who told him that “they don’t let queers on television.” Paul Linke, who directed [Reilly's] one-man show, said Mr. Reilly later had the last laugh when he would page through TV Guide and count how many times he was on the air that week.

Watch Alec Baldwin as Charles Nelson Reilly on an SNL "Inside the Actors Studio" sketch with Will Ferrell here. (t/y Rohan)