CBC Global Header Navigation

 
CBCnews

Leslie Nielsen: What are your favourite movies and lines?

naked-gun-photo.jpgThis 1988 publicity file photo provided by Paramount Pictures shows actor Leslie Nielsen, left, with actress Priscilla Presley in the fim The Naked Gun. (Paramount Pictures/Associated Press)

By CBC News

Canadian actor Leslie Nielsen, who went from serious turns in live TV dramas to the inspired bumbling of film comedies Airplane! and Naked Gun, has died at the age of 84.

Nielsen's agent, John Kelly, said the beloved actor died Sunday at a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he was being treated for pneumonia. His third wife, Barbaree, was by his side.

The Regina-born Nielsen, who trained as an aerial gunner during the Second World War and was the son of an RCMP officer, started his career in radio, first in Calgary and then Toronto.

He moved to Hollywood in the mid-1950s and soon his film credits started building up, from the drama Ransom! and the cult sci-fi film Forbidden Planet to the starring role opposite Debbie Reynolds in the romance Tammy and the Bachelor.

Though he developed a reputation as a serious actor, behind the camera he was a prankster -- an aspect of his personality never really exploited until the comedy Airplane! was released in 1980 and became a huge hit.

Read more.

What are your top Leslie Nielsen movies? Share your favourite Leslie Nielsen lines in the comments below.

(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

Comments

  •  
  •