Leslie William Nielsen
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4
Awards
Leslie Nielsen’s deadpan comedy in Airplane! 1980 made him a comedy star. He later became synonymous with Detective Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun trilogy 1988-1994. His career spanned over 50 years, earning him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1988 and the Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002. He died at age 84 from complications of pneumonia in 2010.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Leslie Nielsen — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Leslie Nielsen by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Leslie Nielsen — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Raised in Tulita, Northwest Territories, Leslie Nielsen spent his childhood under strict discipline from his Danish-born father, Ingvard Nielsen, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer. After studying at the Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto, he moved to New York to attend the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. His older brother, Erik Nielsen, later became the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada.
Airplane! 1980 marked Nielsen’s breakthrough into comedy, a stark departure from his earlier dramatic roles in films like Forbidden Planet 1956. His deadpan delivery as Dr. Rumack became his signature, leading to the Naked Gun series starting with The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! 1988. Nielsen also appeared in numerous television shows including Columbo and Murder, She Wrote, and later in Scary Movie 3 2003 and Scary Movie 4 2006, which marked a comeback as a supporting actor.
Nielsen was married four times: to Monica Boyer 1950-1957, Alisande Ullman 1958-1974, Bobbye Brooks Oliver 1981-1984, and Barbaree Earl Nielsen 2001-2010. He had two children, Maura Nielsen Kaplan and Thea Nielsen Disney. His older brother Erik Nielsen served as Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1986.
Film critic Roger Ebert called Nielsen the Laurence Olivier of spoofs. His films Airplane! 1980 and Forbidden Planet 1956 were selected for the National Film Registry. In 2001, he received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, and in 2002, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada. Nielsen is most remembered for his deadpan comedic roles that redefined spoof comedy.
The complete filmography of Leslie Nielsen — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Leslie Nielsen — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Leslie Nielsen — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Doing Nothing Is Very Hard to Do… You Never Know When You’re Finished.
The Reason They Call It ‘Golf’ Is That All the Other Four-letter Words Were Used Up.
When People Are Laughing, They Don’t Beat up on You. You’re Secure and Safe. It’s When They Stop Laughing That It’s Dangerous.
When I Was Twenty I Was Scared I’d Be Perceived as a Country Bumpkin . . . I Found It Necessary to Cultivate a Worldliness I Really Didn’t Possess, to Protect Myself Against All My Insecurities. People Believed My Act, and Soon I Was Known as a Serious Actor Who Played Serious Roles . . . I Spent the First Four Years Waiting for the Acting Police to Knock on My Door, Tell Me I Have No Talent and Send Me Back to Canada . . . I Don’t Think I’m Getting Funnier, I’m Getting Freer. the More Confident You Become, the Freer You Are to Become Who You Really Are.
Little-known facts about Leslie Nielsen — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Nielsen may have been the first Trekkie; he phoned the Star Trek production office the morning after its first episode, according to story editor D.C. Fontana. Star Trek was partially inspired by his film Forbidden Planet 1956.
At age 17, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and trained as an aerial gunner.
Film critic Roger Ebert called him the Laurence Olivier of spoofs.
Following his death, he was interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with the epitaph Let ‘er rip.
His father, Ingvard Nielsen, was a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer for Northwest Territory and Saskatchewan.
Nielsen was known as a practical joker on film sets.
Director Wendy Dent presented Nielsen with his final career award, a Lifetime Achievement Award, at the 2005 Palm Beach International Film Festival. He walked the red carpet armed with a flatulence-maker in his tuxedo pocket.
He became a naturalized United States citizen on November 16, 1958.
His older brother, Erik Nielsen, was a high-ranking Canadian politician, serving as Deputy Prime Minister from 1984 to 1986.
He was awarded a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, in 2001.
Nielsen was considered for the role of Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining 1980, which went to Jack Nicholson.
In fall 2003, the Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta, opened the Leslie Nielsen School of Communications, with Nielsen present for the ceremony.
He has appeared in two films selected for the National Film Registry: Forbidden Planet 1956 and Airplane! 1980.
He auditioned for the role of Messala in Ben-Hur 1959, which went to Stephen Boyd.
He was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on December 4, 1997.
He was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005, which went to Johnny Depp.
From the 1990s to the early 2000s, every film he appeared in outside the Naked Gun franchise flopped at the box office, except for Scary Movie 3 2003 and Scary Movie 4 2006.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard on December 9, 1988.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada by the Governor General on October 10, 2002.
His father was Danish and his mother was Welsh.
While in Winnipeg to promote Men with Brooms 2002, he and co-star Paul Gross received Honorary Citizenships from Mayor Glen Murray.
Nielsen passed away only eight months after his Airplane! co-star Peter Graves, who was a month younger.
Airplane! was not his first comedy film; he appeared in How to Commit Marriage 1969 but did not gain recognition for comedy until 1980.
He passed away 35 days before his Forbidden Planet co-star Anne Francis.
He attended and graduated from Victoria Composite High School in Edmonton, Alberta.
He had one half-brother, Gilbert Nielsen, who resides in Hobbs, New Mexico.
He attended the Chiller Theater Expo in Parsippany, New Jersey, on October 24, 2008.
He was made an honorary West Virginian on February 20, 2002, by then-Secretary of State Joe Manchin III.
Nielsen was 6’2 in his younger years and lost some height later, but was still just over 6’1 when he moved to Fort Lauderdale.
He found fame as Detective Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun series 1988, 1991, 1994.
Famed pop music satirist Weird Al Yankovic appeared in five films with Nielsen.
He never appeared in a film nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award.
He had an older brother named Gordon.
Jean Hersholt was his uncle, who married his father’s sister.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Leslie Nielsen.
Celebrities similar to Leslie Nielsen — same craft, ranked by reach.
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