by Todd McGovern - A performer who broke into the entertainment business with an uncredited role in Elia Kazan’s 1957 film, A Face In The Crowd, Charles Nelson Reilly got his big break (along with fellow comic genius, Paul Lynde) in the 1961 production of Bye Bye, Birdie. In 1964, he was in the original cast of “Hello Dolly,” alongside Carol Channing.
But the Charles Nelson Reilly we know and love was from the game show, “Match Game” from 1973-1982.