Nielsen was born into a Saskatchewan family
of three boys and grew up during the depths of the Great Depression.
His father was a strict disciplinarian who tended towards
physical and verbal abuse. To gain his father's affections,
Nielsen learned to communicate with his father through comedy.
Nielsen spent most of his life plagued by insecurities, uncomfortable
revealing his comedic talents. Ironically, comedy would
eventually become Nielsen's key to greater success and fame.
With the support of Nielsen himself, brother Erik (one-time
deputy Prime Minister of Canada), spouse Barbaree, ex-wife
Alisande, daughter Maura, friends, and industry insiders,
Nielsen's career and life are revealed. Highlights include:
childhood memories; family life; his show business beginnings
at a Calgary radio station as a radio announcer/disc jockey;
radio training at Lorne Green's Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto;
training as an actor at the Neighbourhood Playhouse School
of Theatre in New York; his successful rise through Canadian
and American theatre and television series (throughout the
60s and 70s he appeared in hundreds of roles including Bonanza,
Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O); and his "first" career in Hollywood
where he found steady contract film work playing no-nonsense
characters.
Agents Curry Walls, Sandy Bresler and producers Jim Abrahams
(Naked Gun) and David and Jerry Zucker (Airplane) discuss
Nielsen's transition in to comedy and subsequent super stardom
during the 80s.
Original Air Date - February 29, 2000
Links
Leslie
Nielsen (Wikipedia.org)
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sites)
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