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A veteran of over 100 motion pictures and more than 1500 television appearances, Leslie Nielsen had built a sturdy reputation portraying manly authority figures, including the Space Ship Commander in the sci-fi classic "Forbidden Planet" and the Captain of the ill-fated cruise ship in "The Poseidon Adventure," before he turned his image inside out with a hysterically funny deadpan performance as the loopy doctor in Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker's "Airplane!" He continued to work with the ZAZ comedy team on the TV series "Police Squad!," on which he originated the role of police Lt. Frank Drebin, which he re-created in "The Naked Gun," "Naked Gun 2 ½" and "Naked Gun 33 ?: The Final Insult."
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, the son of a Canadian Mounted Policeman, Nielsen spent his earliest years living near the Arctic Circle, coming south to Edmonton, Alberta when his oldest brother had to attend school. After his own graduation, he served as an aerial gunner in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Nielsen made his entry into show business in a Calgary radio station, where he worked as an engineer, disc jockey and announcer. He then studied acting at Lorne Greene's Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto, where he received a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. He studied acting there under Sanford Meisner, learned dancing with Martha Graham, and followed up with a season of summer stock and further training at the Actor's Studio.
His television career began in 1950 with a "Studio One" appearance with Charlton Heston, and he went on to act in 46 live programs that year in the very heart of what has become known as TV's Golden Age. "But there was very little gold," he maintains. "We only got $75 or $100 per show."
In 1954, Nielsen was brought to Hollywood by Paramount Pictures to star in Michael Curtiz's "The Vagabond King." This was followed by a long-term contract at MGM, where he starred in such films as "Ransom!," "The Opposite Sex" and "The Sheepman." Later loaned to Universal, he played The Bachelor opposite Debbie Reynolds in "Tammy and the Bachelor," still remembered by that studio as a top money-maker.
Throughout the 60s and 70s, Nielsen was seen regularly on television in action series such as "Wagon Train," "The Fugitive," "The Virginian," "Cannon," "Kojak," "S.W.A.T." and "Vega$." He also starred in seven series of his own in that period, including "The New Breed" (1961-62), "Peyton Place" (1965-70), "The Protectors" (1969-70), "Bracken's World" (1970) and in the mini-series "Backstairs at the White House" (1979).
On stage, he starred in Los Angeles opposite Carol Burnett in "Love Letters" in 1990. From September 1999, through February 2000, he toured the US with the one-man show "Darrow"; the tour was bookended by two engagements in Europe: a fortnight at The English Speaking Theatre of Vienna, Austria and a nine-week tour of England and Scotland.
Since the big-screen success of "Airplane!" Nielsen has also favored TV comedy over drama, starring in the series "Police Squad!" (for which he was nominated for an Emmy as Outstanding Lead in a Comedy Series) and "Shaping Up." In 2001 and 2002, he starred in the Canadian Comedy Network series "Liography." He was also seen on "Who's the Boss" and "Golden Girls," and he played God on "Herman's Head." He continues to guest in situation comedies and dramas, and to star or co-star in selected movies for television. Some samples of these appearances include "Evening Shade," "Due South," in which he played a Mountie for the first time, and various Hallmark specials, including "Harvey."
Nielsen's numerous feature films include "Prom Night," George Romero's "Creepshow," Richard Brooks's "Wrong Is Right," "Reckless Disregard," "Soul Man," "Home Is Where the Hart Is," "Nuts," "Repossessed," "Surf Ninjas," "Dracula--Dead, and Loving It," "Spy Hard," for which he also served as executive producer, "Family Plan," "Mr. Magoo," "Wrongfully Accused," "2001: A Space Travesty," "Kevin of the North," "Men with Brooms" and "Scary Movie 3."
As a testimonial to his comic abilities, Leslie Nielsen was the eighteenth recipient of UCLA's Jack Benny Award in 1995, following in the footsteps of such comedy greats as Johnny Carson, Lili Tomlin, Steve Martin, Whoopie Goldberg, George Burns and Carol Burnett. Another honor of which the actor is most proud was being installed on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2001. In 2003, he received one of his native land's highest awards, The Order of Canada.
In addition to delighting an ever-growing multitude of film and TV fans, Nielsen has become the duffer's hero, with best-selling golf videos, "Leslie Nielsen's Bad Golf Made Easier" and "Leslie Nielsen's Bad Golf My Way." Doubleday published Leslie Nielsen's Stupid Little Golf Book, which later became a video, and a book version of Leslie Nielsen's Bad Golf My Way. In the first tome, Nielsen cites his philosophy that golf is a game that can be taught. "Unfortunately," he concludes, "it cannot be learned."
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