American character actor best known as "Paul Martin," the father on the Lassie (1954) TV series from 1958 to 1964. Reilly served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Second World War and entered the theatre after the war. He appeared on Broadway in several shows before entering films in the late 1940s. He was never a well-known performer until his "Lassie" role, and it remains his source of greatest renown. Reilly was a frequent performer on television and in films. At his death in 1998, he was survived by his three sons.