Legend Leslie Nielsen Dies at 84
Written By Sherry Bonee on 30 November 2010. ShareThis
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen and Anne Francis from the 1956 movie Forbidden Planet, left. Leslie Nielsen, 2008, right. - Photo - Jerry Angelica
Leslie Nielsen, best known for starring in comedic films such as “Airplane!” and the “Naked Gun” series died Sunday at the age of 84.
Nielsen died from complication from pneumonia in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. in a hospital near his home, his agent said in a statement.
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The Canadian native spent decades playing straight-laced leaders in films like “Forbidden Planet” and “The Poseidon Adventure,” but it was Neilson’s move to comedy that made him a leading man and box-office draw.
“Surely you can’t be serious,” says and airplane passenger to Nielsen in the 1980 hit “Airplane,” the film that made him a comedy legend.
“I am serious,” is one his famous quotes, including “And don’t call me Shirley.”
He went on to star as he bumbling detective Frank Drebin the cop-moving-spoofing “Naked Gun” films.
“I’ve finally found my home – as Lt. Frank Drebin,” he said in a 1988 interview.
Nielsen starred in television dramas while working in New York before moving to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s.
At 6-foot-2, with a handsome face and blonde hair, he was a likely candidate for leading roles. He became known as a serious actor, but with a joking streak that he never expressed before on film beginning with “Airplane!”
Nielsen was born on Feb. 11, 1926 in Saskatchewan. He grew up at Fort Norman, 200 miles from the Artic Circle. This is where his father was stationed as an officer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
He was married four times and is survived by two daughters. Funeral arrangements had not been made public.
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