Leslie Nielsen

Acting

Leslie Nielsen

Born 1926-02-11 · Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

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.

Acting credits

Scary Movie 3 poster
6.0

News anchorwoman Cindy Campbell has to investigate mysterious crop circles and killing video tapes, and help the President stop an alien invasion in the process.

Scary Movie 3

2003

Airplane! poster
7.3

An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.

Airplane!

1980

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult poster
6.5

Frank Drebin is persuaded out of retirement to go undercover in a state prison. There he has to find out what top terrorist, Rocco, has planned for when he escapes. Adding to his problems, Frank's wife, Jane, is desperate for a baby.

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

1994

Scary Movie 4 poster
5.5

Cindy finds out the house she lives in is haunted by a little boy and goes on a quest to find out who killed him and why. Also, Alien "Tr-iPods" are invading the world and she has to uncover the secret in order to stop them.

Scary Movie 4

2006

Prom Night poster
5.7

At a high school senior prom, a masked killer stalks four teenagers who were responsible for the accidental death of a classmate six years prior.

Prom Night

1980

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! poster
7.3

When the bumbling Lieutenant Frank Drebin investigates events following the shooting of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

1988

Superhero Movie poster
5.3

Rick Riker is a nerdy teen imbued with superpowers by a radioactive dragonfly. And because every hero needs a nemesis, enter Lou Landers, aka the villainously goofy Hourglass.

Superhero Movie

2008

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear poster
6.8

Bumbling lieutenant Frank Drebin is out to foil the big boys in the energy industry, who intend to suppress technology that will put them out of business.

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear

1991

Spy Hard poster
5.4

The evil Gen. Rancor has his sights set on world domination, and only one man can stop him: Dick Steele, also known as Agent WD-40. Rancor needs to obtain a computer circuit for the missile that he is planning to fire, so Steele teams up with Veronique Ukrinsky, a KGB agent whose father designed the chip. Together they try to locate the evil mastermind's headquarters, where Veronique's father and several other hostages are being held.

Spy Hard

1996

The Poseidon Adventure poster
7.2

When their ocean liner capsizes, a group of passengers struggle to survive and escape.

The Poseidon Adventure

1972

Creepshow poster
6.9

Five grisly tales from a 1950s-style comic, including a murdered father rising from beyond, a bizarre meteor, a vengeful husband, a mysterious crate's occupant, and a plague of cockroaches.

Creepshow

1982

Wrongfully Accused poster
6.0

Ryan Harrison, a violin god, superstar and sex symbol does not want to cheat on sexy Lauren Goodhue's husband with her. Mr. Goodhue is found murdered and Ryan suddenly finds himself being the main suspect. After being sentenced to death he manages to flee while being transferred to his execution site. Now, all the world is after him as he stumbles from one unfortunate incident to the next in order to prove himself innocent - by finding a mysterious one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged man...

Wrongfully Accused

1998

Dracula: Dead and Loving It poster
6.1

When a lawyer shows up at the vampire's doorstep, he falls prey to his charms and joins him in his search for fresh blood. Enter Professor Van Helsing, who may be the only one able to vanquish the Count.

Dracula: Dead and Loving It

1995

Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects poster
9.0

Documentary focused on the creation of movie and television special effects, hosted by Roy Scheider and Jonathan Brandis, featuring behind the scenes look at how the visual effects were created for popular films of the era.

Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects

1994

Forbidden Planet poster
7.3

Starship C57D travels to planet Altair 4 in search of the crew of spaceship "Bellerophon," a scientific expedition that has been missing for twenty years. They find themselves unwelcome by the expedition's lone survivor and warned of destruction by an invisible force if they don't turn back immediately.

Forbidden Planet

1956

2001: A Space Travesty poster
4.3

When odd reports are received through official channels stating that the President of the United States is being held captive on a secret international moon base called Vegan and that he has been replaced on Earth by a clone, the US Marshall Service immediately sends their 'best' man, Dix, on the mission.

2001: A Space Travesty

2000

Repossessed poster
5.3

It's been some time since Father Jebedaiah Mayii exorcised the Devil from little Nancy Aglet, who is now grown up with a husband and two children of her own. But the prince of darkness wants to go a second round and has returned to repossess her! With Father Mayii unwilling to help, Father Luke Brophy tries his best to help Nancy, even when TV's Ernest Weller plans to air the exorcism live on TV.

Repossessed

1990

Men with Brooms poster
5.2

A decade ago, curler Chris Cutter disappeared suddenly on the verge of stardom, dropping his curling stones to the bottom of a lake and leaving his fiancée, Julie Foley, at the altar. But when his former coach dies, Cutter returns home for the funeral and attempts to fulfill the man's last wishes. The team is reunited under Cutter's estranged dad, Gordon — himself a former curling star — for a final attempt at glory.

Men with Brooms

2002

Mr. Magoo poster
4.5

Mr. Magoo, a man with terrible eyesight, gets caught up in a museum robbery.

Mr. Magoo

1997

Stan Helsing poster
4.2

A spoof on many horror movie series. Ending his shift at the video rental, Stan's picked up by his BFF and 2 cute girls, all going to a Halloween party. Will they even get there?

Stan Helsing

2009

Family Plan poster
5.3

A bumbling guy takes a group of orphans to summer camp.

Family Plan

1997

Safety Patrol! poster
4.8

Scout Bozell has always dreamt of being on his school's Safety Patrol. The only reason he cannot join is because he is very clumsy. He's sent to another school because his old school would not let him become part of their Safety Patrol. But his new school does let him on the Safety Patrol.

Safety Patrol!

1998

Rent-a-Kid poster
5.6

Harry Habert, owner of a rental company, has an original idea—to rent baby's from a nearby orphanage to local families. He rents the Ward siblings, 2 boys and a girl, to his first customers.

Rent-a-Kid

1995

The Best of So Graham Norton poster
NR

Part talk-show host, part comedian, and all-out extrovert, the very Irish and very gay Graham Norton is one of the few people who deserves all the adjectives that are thrown at him: "bawdy," "saucy," "outrageous," and "hilarious" are a few of them. His BBC talk show, So Graham Norton, is something that you just couldn't find in America: a rampant exercise in audience titillation that wallows gloriously in bizarre human behavior. It's like an audience-interactive NC-17 Saturday Night Live, with occasional breaks for celebrity chit-chat. If you ever wanted to see Gillian Anderson, Cher, Sophia Loren, or Dolly Parton break the talk-show mold with bawdy sex talk, then your dreams have come true. And Norton's cringe-inducing yet compulsively watchable audience polls, which ask common folk to relate embarrassing, adult-oriented tales, reveal a European openness (and sense of humor) that just wouldn't fly in the U.S.

The Best of So Graham Norton

2004