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Vale: Leslie Nielsen

Actor Leslie Nielsen, best known for his big screen roles in Flying High and Naked Gun has died, aged 84.

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Actor Leslie Nielsen, best known for his big screen roles in Flying High and Naked Gun has died, aged 84.

The Canadian-born actor, who in middle age tossed aside three decades of credibility in dramatic and romantic roles to make a new, far more successful career as a comic actor in films, died in a Florida hospital where he was being treated for pneumonia.

Early film roles included Forbidden Planet (1956), Tammy and the Bachelor (1957) and later The Poseidon Adventure (1972).

But it was 1980 disaster-movie parody Airplane! (known as Flying High in Australia) in which his deadpan comedy career was born.

It led to the television series, Police Squad! (1982) with just six episodes. But his character Lt. Frank Drebin went on to three successful feature-film spinoffs: The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994).

He subsequently appeared in other comedy roles on the big screen, Repossessed (1990), Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995); Spy Hard (1996); 2001: A Space Travesty (2000); Scary Movie 3 (2003) and Scary Movie 4 (2006).

He was nominated twice for Emmy Awards, in 1982 as outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for Police Squad! and in 1988 as outstanding guest actor in a comedy series Day by Day.

Scary Movie 5 is yet to be released.

“It’s been dawning on me slowly that for the past 35 years I have been cast against type,” he said in 1988, “and I’m finally getting to do what I really wanted to do.”

UPDATE: TEN will be putting together a small tribute this Friday Night from 8.30pm, running Flying High followed by The Naked Gun, hosted by Angela Bishop.

Source: New York Times

34 Responses

  1. Lt. Frank Drebin: Miss, I’m Lt. Frank Drebin, and this is Captain Ed Hocken, Police Squad.
    Busty Female Shop Assistant: Is this some kind of bust?
    Lt. Frank Drebin: Well… it’s very impressive, yes, but we need to ask you a few questions.

    All the straight actors were great in their ‘Flying High’ comedy rolls,Robert Stack,Lloyd Bridges but Leslie Nielsen made a second career out of it.

  2. Lots of great appearances in classic TV shows such as “Bonanza” (with teacher and friend Lorne Greene) and in two episodes of “Hawaii Five-o) (most notably the episode “We Hang Our Own”).

    One of my favourite roles he played was in Disney’s “The Swamp Fox” – still remember watching that as kid in the 1970s. I hope it comes out on DVD one day.

  6. Flying High…This is the only movie I have ever seen that made me laugh the whole way through. I was utterly exhausted byt he end! Dry, sick sense of humour…I loved it!

  8. Loved his movies but loved him soooo much in Paul Haggis’ Due South – he was born to play a Canadian Mountie – such a brilliant brilliant man!! Shame someone can’t play a couple of his Due South episodes as tribute!

  9. Where do you start?
    His comedy genius (blank stares & timing,not to mention his delivery of the numerous one liners) will be remembered for many ages to come.
    He was a master.

    x

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