Friday, December 3, 2010

Leslie Neilsen dead?!?!!

Postmedia News, National Post
Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010

Iconic Canadian actor Leslie Nielsen has died.

Nielsen appeared in more than 100 movies, with the star shining perhaps most brightly in comedies including Airplane! The Naked Gun.

He died Sunday afternoon in a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from complications of pneumonia. He was 84.

Nielsen’s nephew, Doug Nielsen, who lives in Richmond, B.C., said his uncle had been in the hospital with pneumonia for 12 days, and in the last 48 hours it got worse.

“This afternoon, surrounded by family, his wife and friends, he basically just fell asleep. It was very peaceful,” he said.

“He was truly a nice man. A very caring, naturally funny guy in day-to-day life, not just because someone wrote something on paper for him. He was a very tender-hearted man. He was one of my best friends and I loved him dearly. I’ll miss him greatly.”

His family also released a statement Sunday night.

“We are saddened by the passing of beloved actor Leslie Nielsen, probably best remembered as Lt. Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun series of pictures, but who enjoyed a more than 60 year career in motion pictures and television,” said the statement.

Nielsen’s father was a Mountie and the actor moved around as child, growing up in Regina, Edmonton and towns in northern Canada.

Nielsen once said he was never the class clown. “In those days, I was too busy trying to be Mr. Perfect. You try to be Mr. Perfect so that your parents can find nothing wrong with you. They have a lot of other things to think about like putting food on the table, so you just don’t want to rock the boat.”

However, he began to suspect comedy was in his genes after he discovered some details of his father’s life.

“I remember seeing pictures of my father at RCMP Sports Days, and he was in a clown outfit. He was the regiment clown.”

Nielsen got his foot into the showbiz door through radio, as an engineer, disc jockey and announcer at a Calgary station.

In December 1949, Nielsen broke into the fresh medium of live television. During the ‘60s and ‘70s, Nielsen constantly worked in TV action series, such as Wagon Train, The Fugitive, The Virginian, Cannon Kojak Gunsmoke’s Matt Dillon.

Throughout his career, he appeared in some of the best-known television programs, including M*A*S*H, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo Murder, She Wrote.

However, he may be most recognizable for his comedic big-screen roles. In Airplane! Nielsen uttered an often-quoted retort to the question: “Surely, you can’t be serious?”

“I am serious . . . and don’t call me Shirley,” he said.

In 2003, Nielsen received both a lifetime achievement award from the Alberta Motion Pictures Industries Association and was presented with an Award of Excellence from the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists.

He received the Order of Canada in December 2003.

With files from the Edmonton Journal and the Vancouver Sun

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/blog.html?b=arts.nationalpost.com/2010/11/28/comedian-leslie-nielsen-dead-at-84&s=Opinion

18 comments:

  1. Wait, so did you have an erection while reading this? I'm confused by the blog title but I guess I'm new here =P

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  2. What? He died? Damn, that sux. I loved Airplane, and the stupid Naked Guns movies.

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  3. i couldn't believe it when i heard it... the naked gun movies were epic in every sense of the word

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  4. I already knew about this from a couple of days ago, but it's still sad anyway. He was a staple of my days growing up and he will be missed. Now if you will all excuse me, I think it's time to go watch Airplane!.

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  5. He was one of the legends of comedy. Great timing! I can't believe he was only 84. I thought he was older.

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  6. sweet background you have here!

    followin

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  7. Not just the comedies: "Forbidden Planet" was one of the best Sci-Fi movies, evar.

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  8. oh this is horrible, funnyness has died

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  9. this guy was awesome all way till he died

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  10. i have to watch all of his movies again now!

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