Back Leslie Nielsen AF Leslie Nielsen AN ليسلي نيلسن Arabic ليزلى نيلسن ARZ Leslie Nielsen AST Lesli Nilsen AZ لسلی نیلسن AZB Леслі Нільсен BE Лэсьлі Нільсан BE-X-OLD Лесли Нилсен Bulgarian

Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen

OC
Nielsen in 1982
Born
Leslie William Nielsen

(1926-02-11)11 February 1926
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died28 November 2010(2010-11-28) (aged 84)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
Resting placeEvergreen Cemetery, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Alma materNeighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • producer
Years active1950–2010
Notable work
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1950; div. 1956)​
  • Alisande Ullman
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1958; div. 1973)​
  • Brooks Oliver
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1981; div. 1983)​
  • Barbaree Earl
    ​
    (m. 2001)​
Children2
Relatives
Military career
Allegiance Canada
Service/branch Royal Canadian Air Force
Years of service1943–1945[1][2][3][4]
Battles/warsWorld War II
Signature

Leslie William Nielsen OC (11 February 1926 – 28 November 2010) was a Canadian-American actor and comedian.[5] With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters.[6]

Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. After high school, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943[2] and served until the end of World War II.[3] Upon his discharge, Nielsen worked as a disc jockey before receiving a scholarship to study theatre at the Neighborhood Playhouse. He made his acting debut in 1950, appearing in 46 live television programs a year. Nielsen made his film debut in 1956, with supporting roles in several dramas and western and romance films produced between the 1950s and the 1970s.

Although his notable performances in the films Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure gave him standing as a serious actor, Nielsen later gained enduring recognition for his deadpan comedy roles during the 1980s and the 1990s, after being cast for the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker comedy film Airplane![7] In his comedy roles, Nielsen specialized in portraying characters oblivious to and complicit in their absurd surroundings.[8] Nielsen's performance in Airplane! marked his turning point, which made him "the Olivier of spoofs" according to film critic Roger Ebert,[9] and leading to further success in the genre with The Naked Gun film series, based on the earlier short-lived television series Police Squad!, in which he also starred. He received a variety of awards and was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference whitehorse was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b R.I.P. Leslie Nielsen: 5 Things You Didn't Know About The "Naked Gun" Actor. Complex Networks. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference BBCobit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference thehindu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "'Naked Gun,' 'Airplane' actor Leslie Nielsen dies". Technology Marketing Corporation. Associated Press. 2 December 2010. 'I played a lot of leaders, autocratic sorts; perhaps it was my Canadian accent', he said.
  6. ^ Collins, Glenn (21 December 1988). "Mr. Nondescript Becomes a Star in 'Naked Gun'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013.
  7. ^ Brown, Emma (29 November 2010). "Leslie Nielsen, serious actor who became a master of deadpan comedy, dies at 84". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  8. ^ Maslin, Janet (2 December 1988). "Review/Film; A Fall Guy as Antihero". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009.
  9. ^ Ebert, Roger (24 October 2003). "Scary Movie 3". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2017.