Get Brett

The faux tweet about Charles Nelson Reilly's banana shenanigans (gee, that sounds dirty) reminds me of Charles' old sparring partner on Match Game, Brett Somers. Husky-voiced, sardonic, cynical and witty, Brett first turned up on the Rayburn epic when then-husband Jack Klugman suggested her to the producers. She never left, and now it's hard to think of the show without her.

Born Audrey Johnston in New Brunswick, Brett took her first name from Hemingway's heroine in The Sun Also Rises. Which somehow seems appropriate. Papa probably would have liked Brett. "Somers" was her mother's maiden name. She ran away from home to New York City and began toiling in theater and TV, appearing on such fifties chestnuts as Playhouse 90 and Kraft Television Theater.

The 1970s Match Game remake was by far Brett's biggest break, of course. She proved perfect for its sassy improv comedy. Her punch-ups with Reilly became semi-legendary drama, and she would occasionally appear with Charles on Match Game retrospectives in later years, and in the short-lived 1990 revival. One Match Game regular she couldn't abide was Richard Dawson. She would later describe him as "sexy as a snail."

Often parodied, especially by Robin Quivers, Brett stayed active with personal appearances into the new millennium's first decade. She died in 2007 of stomach and colon cancer. Though Match Game will always remain her signature show, she put together a decent game show resume spanning four decades.