Leslie Nielsen
Acting
Biography
Leslie William Nielsen (February 11, 1926 – November 28, 2010) was a European-Canadian/American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in over one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying over 220 characters. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Nielsen enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and worked as a disc jockey before receiving a scholarship to Neighborhood Playhouse. Making his television debut in 1948, he quickly expanded to over 50 television appearances two years later. Nielsen made his film debut in 1956, and began collecting roles in dramas, westerns, and romance films. Nielsen's performances in the films Forbidden Planet (1956) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) received positive reviews as a serious actor, though he is primarily known for his comedic roles. Although Nielsen's acting career crossed a variety of genres in both television and films, his deadpan delivery in Airplane! (1980) marked a turning point in his career, one that would make him, in the words of film critic Roger Ebert, "the Olivier of spoofs." Nielsen enjoyed further success with The Naked Gun film series (1988 – 1994), based on a short-lived television series Police Squad! in which he starred earlier. His portrayal of serious characters seemingly oblivious to (and complicit in) their absurd surroundings gave him a reputation as a comedian. In the final years of his career, Nielsen appeared in multiple spoof and parody films, many of which were met poorly by critics, but performed well in box office and home media releases. Nielsen married four times and had two daughters from his second marriage. He was recognized with a variety of awards throughout his career, and was inducted into the Canada and Hollywood Walks of Fame.
Born: February 11, 1926
Place of Birth: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Known For
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, though the program began with live telecasts of dramas and then changed to videotaped productions before finally changing to filmed ones. The series has received eighty Emmy Awards, twenty-four Christopher Awards, eleven Peabody Awards, nine Golden Globes, and four Humanitas Prizes. Once a common practice in American television, it is the last remaining television program such that the title includes the name of the sponsor. Unlike other long-running TV series still on the air, it differs in that it broadcasts only occasionally and not on a weekly broadcast programming schedule.
O.J.: Made in America
A chronicle of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, whose high-profile murder trial exposed the extent of American racial tensions, revealing a fractured and divided nation.
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise journeys through Brooks’ early years in the creative beginnings of live television — with Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows — to the film genres he so successfully satirized in Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety, and Spaceballs — to the groundbreaking Broadway musical version of his first film, The Producers. The documentary also delves into his professional and personal ups and downs — his childhood, his first wife and subsequent 41-year marriage to Anne Bancroft — capturing a never-before-heard sense of reflection and confession.
Columbo
Columbo is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective who is consistently underestimated by his suspects. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulously dedicated approach often become clear to the killer only late in the storyline.
Columbo
Columbo is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective who is consistently underestimated by his suspects. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulously dedicated approach often become clear to the killer only late in the storyline.
Fatal Confession: A Father Dowling Mystery
Frank Dowling has to solve the mystery of a young man who is obsessed with finding his natural parents.
Cocoon
In this pilot film to the "Hawaii Five-0" television series, special law officer Steve McGarrett tracks down Red Chinese operatives and their spy ring in Honolulu.
M*A*S*H
The 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is stuck in the middle of the Korean war. With little help from the circumstances they find themselves in, they are forced to make their own fun. Fond of practical jokes and revenge, the doctors, nurses, administrators, and soldiers often find ways of making wartime life bearable.
Police Squad!
In this cult parody of cop dramas, replete with farce and sight gags, Lieutenant Frank Drebin and his fellow officers from Police Squad bungle their way though crime investigations.
Filmography
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Producer
as Doctor Nielsen
as Kay
as Mayor of Charlestown
as Osama Bin Nielsen / Grandpa
as Uncle Albert Adams
as Dr. Rumack (archive voice)
as Bill Austin
as President Baxter Harris
as Caldo Vasco
as Self (archive footage)
as (Mouseking) (voice)
as Zeroman (voice)
as Narrator (english version)
as President Baxter Harris
as Santa (voice)
as Gordon Cutter
as Jack Potter
as Clive Thorton / Cab Driver
as Santa Claus
as Richard 'Dick' Dix
as Dr. Rumack (archive footage)
as Ryan Harrison
as Mr. Penn
as Mr. Quincy Magoo
as Mr. Penn
as Harry Haber
as Dr. Chumley
as Self
as Dick Steele
as Count Dracula
as Baxter
as Self
as Harry Haber
as Lucio Cinico
as Self - Audience Member
as Sgt. Buck Frobisher
as Himself
as Lt. Frank Drebin
as Leslie Nielsen
as Himself
as Arthur Evrensel
as Self - Narrator
as Colonel Chi
as Narrator
as Leslie Nielsen
as Lloyd Dixon
as Santa
as God
as Lt. Frank Drebin
as Father Jebedaiah Mayii
as Narrator (voice)
as Frank Drebin
as Greg Krevske
as Senator Erdain
as Allen Green
as Thad Evans
as Sheriff Nashville Schwartz
as Mr. Dunbar
as Admiral Frazer
as Self
as Jim McKay
as Lucas
as Fantoccini
as Bob Franklin
as Harry Ingersoll
as David Everett
as Captain Daniels
as Matthew Vail
as Capt. Jamieson
as Joe Johnson
as Richard Vickers (segment "Something To Tide You Over")
as Self
as Mallory
as Lt. Frank Drebin
as Reece Morgan
as Grant Culberson
as Paul Warren
as Mr. Hammond
as Dr. Rumack
as Self - Narrator
as Governor
as Mayor Chester Montgomery
as Mayor William Dudley
as Major Leif Newry Fitzroy Crozier
as Ike Hoover
as Nelson Fisher
as Doctor Whitfield
as Riley Knight
as Hank Hardaway
as Russ Blanchard
as Dan Michaels
as John Doe
as Stanley Millard
as Paul Jenson
as Narrator
as John Trevor
as Agent Norman Houston
as Self - Host
as Narrator
as Self - Narrator (voice)
as Self
as Arnold Lindsey
as Michael Hagar
as Alexander Hadrachi
as Mr. Cummings
as Derek Childs
as Bill Sutter
as Edward Brendon
as (voice)
as Jack Gallagher
as Captain Harrison
as Vincent Corbino
as Floyd Macklin
as John T. Connor
as Col. Buzz Brighton
as Harry Walsh
as Ross Carter
as Col. Ted Donovan
as A.J. Henderson
as Peter Hamilton
as Joe Gilbert
as Erich Strasser
as Weller Dane
as Lt. Brubaker
as Col. Dennis Malloy
as The Phantom (segment "Phantom of What Opera?")
as Joseph Slaughter
as Official
as Sheriff Henshaw
as Sheriff Webb
as Deputy Police Chief Sam Danforth
as Mr. Cummings
as Phil Fletcher
as Lt. Sam Danforth
as Jason Harkness
as Mr Brown
as Dr. Neesden
as Rusty Bryson
as Brent
as Brent
as General Maximilian Harmon
as Narrator
as Sheriff Verne Drover
as SIA Security Man
as Victor Rice
as Cabot Shaw
as Major Fred Gifford
as Narrator
as Grant Evers
as Fryer
as Lt. De Ruse
as Col. George Armstrong Custer
as Hudson
as Major General Ball
as Sgt. Maj. Earl Conway
as Narrator (voice)
as Brett Kingsford
as Richard Manley
as Elliot Green
as William Russell
as General Maximilian Harmon
as Alan Holiday
as Dr. David Cord
as Paul Maytric
as Prof. Paul Stafford
as Harold Cheyney
as Martin C. Rowland
as Self - Judge
as Mr. Grainger
as John Hagen
as Cleve Mason
as Harry Lightfoot
as Lt. Price Adams
as Walter Burton
as Harry Kleber
as Bob Garrison
as Alan Patterson
as Francis Marion (The Swamp Fox)
as Sheriff Paul Rowan
as Eddie Kirkley
as Eli Becker
as Norman Garry
as Stephen Bedford / Johnny Bledsoe
as Brian Conlin
as Peter Brent
as William Joel Partain
as Steve Hilliard
as Ralph Mohr
as Thibault d'Aussigny
as Commander John J. Adams
as Charlie Telfer
as Narrator (voice)
as Lloyd Ashley
as Rudy Cox
as Biff Loman
as Self
as Jess Trevor
as Colonel Francis Marion
as Col. Francis Marion
as Dr. Roger Waring
as Judge Wayne Douglas
as Edward Morgan
as Harold 'Harry' Mason
as Bill
as Self
as C. K. Dexter Haven
as George
as Gates Holden
as Serge Soudekine
as Chris Jackson
as Stan Janicek
as Dr. Clayborn
as Mac
as Dr. Roger Waring
as Edmund
as Tallman
as Karl
as Self - Host