Leslie Nielsen 1926 - 2010
(photo by Alan Light)
Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1926. His father was a constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which led to Leslie living in the extreme northern community of Fort Nelson, NWT. A town with only a few hundred people and hundreds of miles from any city.
During his teenage years, Leslie graduated from Victoria Composite High School in Edmonton, Alberta. He then enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and was trained as a gunman. However, Leslie had been too young to complete training to be sent overseas to fight in WW II.
Leslie then worked as a Disc Jockey for a Calgary radio station before enrolling in the Lorne Green Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto. While there, he earned a scholarship to Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, which ultimately launch his acting career. His first acting job was one episode of Studio One with Charlton Heston. Leslie was paid $75 for his appearance.
Leslie's career continued from there with mainly dramatic roles. And a lot of them. In the year 1950, Nielsen appeared in more than 50 programs. He continued on and branched out into motion pictures with moderate success until he was asked to audition for a role in Forbidden Planet, alongside Anne Francis. The movie was a box office success and resulted in Nielsen being signed to a multi picture deal with MGM Studios.
Leslie Nielsen and Anne Francis in Forbidden Planet
Nielsen continued with dramatic roles during his time at MGM, and finally left the studio in 1959, ultimately dissatisfied with the quality of movies the studio had been putting out.
After appearing as the ship's Captain in the epic Poseidon Adventure in 1972 and starring in the action film Project: Kill in 1977, Leslie found his comedic niche playing the doctor in the classic spoof Airplane!
Airplane! directors specifically chose Nielsen because he had only been known for dramatic roles, and felt he could lend an air of ironic seriousness for the film. In the film his character responds to the line "Surely you're not serious?" with "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley." The line would go on to become his trademark, and is considered one of the top movie quotes of all time by the American Film Institute.
After the success of Airplane!, Nielsen was attached to a new show called Police Squad, which first introduced the world to the Frank Drebin character. The show did not fare well and was cancelled after only a few episodes. Six years later, Frank Drebin would be resurrected in the Naked Gun series which would propel Nielsen to modern stardom for a new generation.
Through the 80s and 90s Nielsen appeared in what seemed to be every comedic spoof movie made. This trend continued into the 2000s with cameo appearances in the Scary Movie franchise. For the rest of the 2000s, Nielsen stayed away from motion pictures but did dozens of other projects including stage acting, documentaries, mockumentaries, voice overs, and celebrity game shows for charity.
in 2009, a sequel to the 3rd installment of the Naked Gun series had been announced. Sadly we will not get to see Nielsen in the project, due to his passing.
Over the span of his career, Nielsen appeared in more than 100 films and 1500 television programs. He has portrayed more than 220 characters.
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