One man stage shows. Gotta love ’em. Will Rogers was played by James Whitmore. Mark Twain was played by Hal Holbrook. Groucho Marx was Gabe Kaplan’s shtick. And Charles Nelson Reilly played himself in Save it for the Stage: The Life of Reilly.
Watch this on some rainy night.
Charles Nelson Reilly tells his life story in about 90 minutes. If you by the DVD, there’s also a three hour version. Who knew that he had such an interesting life? He was brushed by fame again and again. Sometimes not in such good ways. And he knew everybody.
If all you knew of him was game shows, you’ve got to see this just to find out who his real character was.
It’s never maudlin, which is what life stories can devolve into if you’re not too careful.
I only wish that he’d dwelt longer on the Jose Chung, X-Files/Millennium years. Or maybe Lidsville.
Nice man. Reminds me of my father.
Afterwards my wife asked, is he still alive? I answered “no” and roared with laughter. It’s an in-joke. You have to see the movie now.
