Tony-winning comic actor Charles Nelson Reilly, 76, dies

Los Angeles – Charles Nelson Reilly, the Tony Award winner who later became known for his ribald appearances on the “Tonight Show” and various game shows, has died. He was 76.

Reilly died Friday in Los Angeles of complications from pneumonia, his partner, Patrick Hughes, told the New York Times.

Reilly began his career in New York City, taking acting classes at a studio with Steve McQueen, Geraldine Page and Hal Holbrook. In 1962, he appeared on Broadway as Bud Frump in the original Broadway production of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” The role won Reilly a Tony Award.

He gained fame by becoming what he described as a “game show fixture” in the 1970s and ’80s. He was a regular on programs like “Match Game” and “Hollywood Squares,” often wearing giant glasses and colorful suits with ascots.

His larger-than-life persona and affinity for double-entendres also landed him on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson more than 95 times.

Reilly’s openly gay television persona was ahead of its time, and sometimes stood in his way. He recalled a network executive telling him “they don’t let queers on television.”

Hughes, his only immediate survivor, said Reilly had been ill for more than a year.

No memorial plans had been announced.

Streisand scraps Rome concert; production delays cited

Rome – Barbra Streisand canceled her concert in Rome next month – a move that followed protests by Italian consumer groups angered by what they said were excessively high ticket prices.

Concert organizers indicated the decision was not connected to the outcry, saying that production delays had forced them to scrap the June 15 concert in the capital’s Stadio Flaminio, what would have been the singer’s first concert in Italy and the start of her European tour.

“We met with unexpected production delays,” said a statement by tour promoter Michael Cohl posted on the Web site of Milano Concerti, the Italian organizer of the event.

“We deeply apologize to the fans in Rome,” Cohl said in the statement, adding that ticket holders would be refunded and given the opportunity to book a spot for one of Streisand’s other European concerts.

Organizers were not immediately available Monday morning for further comment.

Last week, consumer groups Codacons and Adusbef protested as “absurd and shameful” ticket prices ranging from just under $200 to more than $1,200, calling on authorities to deny Streisand use of the 24,000-seat stadium.

O’Donnell says she won’t speak to former co-host Hasselbeck

New York – Rosie O’Donnell says she will likely never speak to “The View” co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck again after an on-air tiff last week that led to O’Donnell’s early departure from the show.

The former host of the ABC daytime chatfest says in a video blog posted on her Web site that she has never tried harder to be friends with someone, but she doesn’t think she succeeded with Hasselbeck.

“I haven’t spoken to her, and I probably won’t, and I think it’s just as well,” she said. “I wrote her an e-mail, and she wrote me back, and there you have it.”

The fight ended a colorful eight-month tenure for O’Donnell that lifted the show’s ratings but no doubt caused heartburn for show creator Barbara Walters. O’Donnell feuded with Donald Trump and frequently had snippy exchanges with the more conservative Hasselbeck.

On Friday, ABC said O’Donnell asked for, and received, an early exit from her contract. O’Donnell said last month she would be leaving because she could not agree to a new contract with ABC executives. In the video blog, she said she never really fit in.

“I was really just like a foster kid for a year,” she said. “I came, you know, we considered adoption, but I didn’t really fit into the family and now it’s time for the foster kid to go back home.”