Leslie William Nielsen, OC (11 February 1926 – 28 November 2010) was a Canadian actor, comedian, and producer. He appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters.
Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and served as a navigator during World War II. He moved to Los Angeles, where he took up acting and eventually became a U.S. citizen.
Nielsen’s career began in 1956 with a small role in the film The Vagabond King. He quickly rose to prominence with his roles in The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Airplane! (1980). He became known for his deadpan delivery of humorous lines and his characters’ often absurd situations.
Nielsen’s later films included Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994), Spy Hard (1996), and Wrongfully Accused (1998). He also appeared in television programs such as The Love Boat, Magnum, P.I., and Battlestar Galactica.
Nielsen was married three times and had two children. He died of pneumonia at the age of 84.
Early Life
Leslie William Nielsen was born on 11 February 1926 in Regina, Saskatchewan, the second of three sons of Ingvard Eversen Nielsen, a Danish-born constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Mabel Elizabeth (née Davies), a Welsh-Canadian nurse. His younger brother, Erik Nielsen, was also a prominent Canadian politician.
Nielsen was raised in Tulita (then Fort Norman), Northwest Territories, where his father served as a constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He later moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he attended Strathcona Composite High School.
Career
Nielsen began his acting career in 1956 with a small role in the film The Vagabond King. He quickly rose to prominence with his roles in The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Airplane! (1980). He became known for his deadpan delivery of humorous lines and his characters’ often absurd situations.
Nielsen’s later films included Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994), Spy Hard (1996), and Wrongfully Accused (1998). He also appeared in television programs such as The Love Boat, Magnum, P.I., and Battlestar Galactica.
Nielsen was married three times and had two children. He died of pneumonia at the age of 84.
Net Worth
Leslie Nielsen had a net worth of $20 million at the time of his death in 2010.
General Info
Full Name
Leslie Nielsen
Net Worth
$45 Million
Date Of Birth
February 11, 1926, February 18, 1984
Died
November 28, 2010, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Height
1.85 m
Profession
Comedian, Film producer, Voice Actor, Disc jockey, Music artist, Singer, Can't Be Saved, Buried a Lie, Bite to Break Skin
Education
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts
MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role Dramatic Series, Canadian Comedy Award for Multimedia / Best Male Perf...
Movies
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, Airplane!, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear, Naked Gun 33?: The Final Insult, Wrongfully Accused, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Spy Hard, Scary Movie 3, Superhero Movie, Forbidden Planet, Scary Movie 4, 2001: A Space Travesty, Repossessed, Creepshow...
TV Shows
Police Squad!, Zeroman, Backstairs at the White House, The Bold Ones, Peyton Place, The Bold Ones: The Protectors, Pumper Pups, Bracken's World, Gameshow Marathon, Due South, Robson Arms, Lipshitz Saves the World, The Swamp Fox, Kung Fu, The New Breed, Katie and Orbie, Tales of Tomorrow, Shaping Up,...
Frequently worked with Jim Abrahams and the Zucker Brothers
2
His characters are often deeply stupid but still get praised as intelligent by others in the film
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Grey hair and blue eyes
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Deep commanding voice
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Misinterprets what other people say. For example, in The Naked Gun, a character offers him a cigar and says, "Cuban?" Leslie's character replies with "Err, no. Dutch Irish. My father was from Wales."
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Appearing oblivious to everything that's happening around him
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"Whoopee cushion" gags
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Delivering sophomoric punchlines with a deadpan expression
Quotes
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Quote
1
[on specializing in serious roles in his early years]: Actually, I always wanted to do comedy, but I never made the effort because I was a coward. I didn't have the courage. I was a closet comedian. I was too self-conscious and lacking in confidence.
2
[on Lorne Greene]: The hair would stand up on my arms, his voice was so magnificent. When I met him, Lorne looked exactly the way he sounded, the patriarch. I could never have imagined him riding the range, herding the cattle, as he did in Bonanza (1959). But he became a friend who was always there, always gentle, always friendly.
3
[on using his famous "farting machine"]: You have to have some body movement, some wiggling of legs and hips in rhythm with the sound of breaking wind. Actually in the north, in Fort Norman, that used to be the way we said goodnight, although, of course, then we did it naturally.
4
[on touring in Ireland with Robert Goulet]: That was a wonderful time. Halfway through, we were joined by a friend, a mad Armenian. We were enjoying ourselves so much, with a drink here and a drink there, what we should have done - like mountaineers - was to tie ropes around our waists, so if anybody fell, we would know.
5
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.
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[on his wrestling a "wild grizzly bear" (it was actually a docile honey bear) in Day of the Animals (1977)] I had to weave and play around with a honey bear, and I could wrestle with him a little bit, but there's no way you can even wrestle a honey bear, let alone a grizzly bear that's standing ten feet to eleven feet tall! Can you imagine? But it was fascinating to work that close to that kind of animal.
7
[on the part of his career when he played almost exclusively villains] The best part is always the heavy. And the meaner and crueler and the worse you are, the more vicious you are as the heavy, the better the hero looks when he whips you. So, the heavy is liable to be a very dramatic, fine acting part. I told my agent at that time, "I want to play heavies who are really vicious and cruel and terrible. I want them to know that they're terrible and I want them to enjoy it.".
8
The reason they call it 'golf' is that all the other four-letter words were used up.
9
Doing nothing is very hard to do... you never know when you're finished.
Facts
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Fact
1
May have been the first "Trekkie". According to _Star Trek_ story editor / screenwriter D.C. Fontana, Nielsen called the production office the morning after the first episode aired and offered high praise. Star Trek was inspired, in part, by Nielsen's film Forbidden Planet (1956).
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Following his death, he was interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
3
Leslie Nielsen passed away on November 28, 2010, less than three months away from what would haven been his 85th birthday on February 11, 2011.
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Leslie Nielsen passed away only eight months after his Airplane co-star Peter Graves (who was also only a month younger than him).
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He was awarded a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario in 2001.
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He was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on December 4, 1997.
7
Director/producer Wendy Dent presented Leslie Nielsen with the final award of his career, a Lifetime Achievement Award, at the star-studded 2005 Palm Beach International Film Festival Gala at the ritzy Boca Raton Resort. The black-tie affair was attended also by Woody Harrelson, Salma Hayek and tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, but Leslie Nielsen was the talk of the night, accepting the award from Wendy Dent with a gentlemanly flirtatiousness after he first walked the red carpet armed with a flatulence-maker in his tuxedo pocket.
He was awarded an OC (Officer of the Order of Canada) by the Governor General of Canada on October 10, 2002 for his services to entertainment.
20
In fall 2003, the Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada opened the Leslie Nielsen School of Communications, with the actor on hand for the ceremony.
21
Was made an "Honorary West Virginian and Ambassador of Mountain State Goodwill" on February 20, 2002, by then-Secretary of State of West Virginia Joe Manchin III, now junior United States Senator for West Virginia (elected 2010) after having served as West Virginia Governor since 2004.
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Had one half-brother: Gilbert Nielsen who lives in Hobbs, New Mexico.
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Attended and graduated from Victoria Composite High School in Edmonton, Alberta.
24
Became a naturalized United States citizen on November 16, 1958.
25
While in Winnipeg, Canada, to promote their movie Men with Brooms (2002), he and co-star Paul Gross received Honorary Citizenships from Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray at the Granite Curling Club.
26
His father was Danish and his mother was Welsh.
27
Older brother was a high-ranking Canadian politician. Erik Nielsen was a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (1957-87) for the Yukon Territory. He served as Leader of the Opposition (1983) and later rose to become the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (1984-86). He died from a massive heart attack on September 4, 2008 in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.