Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts
Occupations
Actor
comedian
producer
Years active
1950–2010
Notable work
Forbidden Planet
The Poseidon Adventure
Airplane!
Police Squad!
The Naked Gun
Creepshow
Mr. Magoo
Wrongfully Accused
Spouses
Monica Boyar
(m. 1950; div. 1956)
Alisande Ullman
(m. 1958; div. 1973)
Brooks Oliver
(m. 1981; div. 1983)
Barbaree Earl
(m. 2001)
Children
2
Relatives
Erik Nielsen (brother)
Jean Hersholt (half-uncle)
Military career
Allegiance
Canada
Service/branch
Royal Canadian Air Force
Years of service
1943–1945[1][2][3][4]
Battles/wars
World War II
Signature
Leslie William NielsenOC (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.
^Cite error: The named reference whitehorse was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abR.I.P. Leslie Nielsen: 5 Things You Didn't Know About The "Naked Gun" Actor. Complex Networks. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
^ abCite error: The named reference BBCobit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference thehindu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"'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.
^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.
^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.
^Maslin, Janet (2 December 1988). "Review/Film; A Fall Guy as Antihero". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009.
^Ebert, Roger (24 October 2003). "Scary Movie 3". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
Leslie William Nielsen OC (11 February 1926 – 28 November 2010) was a Canadian-American actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared...
The following is the complete filmography of Canadian actor LeslieNielsen. 1980: Dive to the Edge of Creation (National Geographic Special) 1993: Bad...
third deputy prime minister. He was the elder brother of actor LeslieNielsen. Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, the eldest of three boys. His...
detective with a lot of heart, despite being less-than intelligent. LeslieNielsen stars in each installment in the protagonist role of Detective Sergeant...
Police Squad! television series and The Naked Gun movies played by LeslieNielsen. The character of Frank Drebin was first introduced in the six episodes...
in 2009, LeslieNielsen said the best film he appeared in was The Naked Gun, and that Zucker was his favorite director to work with. Nielsen said of him...
in the United States. In her acting career, Presley costarred with LeslieNielsen in the Naked Gun film trilogy and played Jenna Wade on the long-running...
Spy Hard is a 1996 American spy parody film starring LeslieNielsen (who also executive produced) and Nicollette Sheridan, parodying James Bond and other...
McDonald, and LeslieNielsen. It was originally titled Superhero! as a nod to one of the Zuckers's previous films, Airplane!, in which Nielsen also starred...
comedy film written, produced and directed by Pat Proft and starring LeslieNielsen as a man who has been framed for murder and desperately attempts to...
Reynolds as Tambrey "Tammy" Tyree, Walter Brennan as Grandpa Dinwitty and LeslieNielsen as Peter Brent. It is the first of the four Tammy films. It was adapted...
Volver, The Sea Inside, Pan's Labyrinth and REC. It features a cameo by LeslieNielsen. Production started on 23 February 2009 in Barcelona and the film was...
Gordon. The film stars Ernie Reyes Jr., Rob Schneider, Nicolas Cowan and LeslieNielsen. Surf Ninjas follows two teenage surfers from Los Angeles who discover...
Cindy Campbell Regina Hall as Brenda Meeks Craig Bierko as Tom Ryan LeslieNielsen as President Baxter Harris Bill Pullman as Henry Hale Anthony Anderson...
include Charlie Sheen, Simon Rex, Anthony Anderson, Kevin Hart, and LeslieNielsen. It is the first film in the series to feature no involvement from the...
Stonerville is a 2011 American comedy film. LeslieNielsen played a character simply named Producer, which was his final role before he died. The film...
Global Information
Canada
Royal Canadian Air Force