Leslie William Nielsen (February 11, 1926 – November 28, 2010) was a Canadian and American actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters.
Nielsen made his acting debut in 1950, appearing in 46 live television programs that year. He made his film debut in 1956, with supporting roles in several dramas, westerns and romance films produced from the 1950s to 1970s. Although his performances in films such as Forbidden Planet (1956) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) gave him standing as a dramatic actor, during the 1980s, Nielsen gained recognition for his deadpan comedy roles after being cast for the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker comedy film Airplane! (1980).
In his comedy roles, he specialized in portraying characters oblivious to and complicit in their absurd surroundings. His performance in Airplane! marked a turning point which made him "the Olivier of spoofs", according to film critic Roger Ebert, and led to further success in the genre, starring in The Naked Gun film series, based on his earlier short-lived television series Police Squad! (1982).
Nielsen received a variety of accolades, and was inducted onto both Canada's Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was ascended an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2001.
Nielsen was born on February 11, 1926, in Regina, Saskatchewan. His mother, Mabel Elizabeth (née Davies), was an immigrant from Wales, and his father, Ingvard Eversen Nielsen (1900–1975), was a Danish-born constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Nielsen's elder brother, Erik Nielsen (1924–2008), was a long-time Canadian Member of Parliament, cabinet minister, and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1986. He also had a half-brother, Gilbert Nielsen, from his father's other relationship.
Nielsen's half-uncle Jean Hersholt was an actor known for his portrayal of Dr. Christian in a radio series of that title, and the subsequent television series and films. In a 1994 Boston Globe article, he explained: "I did learn very early that when I would mention my uncle, people would look at me as if I were the biggest liar in the world. Then I would take them home and show them 8-by-10 glossies, and things changed quite drastically. So I began to think that maybe this acting business was not a bad idea, much as I was very shy about it and certainly without courage regarding it. My uncle died not too long after I was in a position to know him. I regret that I had not a chance to know him better."
As a child, Nielsen lived with his family in Fort Norman (now Tulita) in the Northwest Territories, where his father was with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They moved to Edmonton in 1930. His father was an abusive man who beat his wife and sons, and Leslie longed to escape. Following graduation from Victoria High School (later renamed Victoria School of the Arts) in Edmonton, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at age 17 in 1943, though he was legally deaf (he wore hearing aids most of his life). There he trained as an aerial gunner during World War II but was never sent overseas. Upon the war's end, he was discharged and worked briefly as a disc jockey at a Calgary, Alberta, radio station, before enrolling at the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto.
While studying in Toronto, Nielsen received a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse. He noted, "I couldn't refuse, but I must say when you come from the land of the snow goose, the moose, and wool to New York, you're bringing every ton of hayseed and country bumpkin that you packed. As long as I didn't open my mouth, I felt a certain security. But I always thought I was going to be unmasked: 'OK, pack your stuff'. 'Well, what's the matter?'. 'We've discovered you have no talent; we're shipping you back to Canada'."
He moved to New York City for his scholarship, studying theatre and music at the Neighborhood Playhouse, while performing in summer stock theatre. Afterward, he attended the Actors Studio, until his first television appearance in 1950 on an episode of Studio One, alongside Charlton Heston, for which he was paid $75 (equivalent to $1,000 in 2025).
Nielsen's career began in dramatic roles on television during "Television's Golden Age", appearing in 46 live programs in 1950 alone. He said there "was very little gold, we only got $75 or $100 per show". He narrated documentaries and commercials and most of his early work as a dramatic actor was uneventful. Hal Erickson of Allmovie noted that "much of Nielsen's early work was undistinguished; he was merely a handsome leading man in an industry overstocked with handsome leading men".
In 1952 Nielsen made his Broadway debut as Petty Officer Herbert in Seagulls Over Sorrento, a short-lived transfer from the West End. In 1956, he made his feature film debut in the Michael Curtiz-directed musical, The Vagabond King. In the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nielsen remembered Curtiz as "a sadist, a charming sadist, but a sadist". Nielsen called this film The Vagabond Turkey. Though the film was not a success, producer Nicholas Nayfack offered him an audition for the science-fiction film Forbidden Planet, resulting in Nielsen's taking a long contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
Forbidden Planet became an instant success, and roles in other MGM films such as Ransom! (1956), The Opposite Sex (1956) and Hot Summer Night (1957) followed. In 1957, Nielsen won the lead role opposite Debbie Reynolds in the romantic comedy Tammy and the Bachelor for Universal Pictures, which, as a Chicago Tribune critic wrote in 1998, made people consider him a dramatic actor and handsome romantic lead. Dissatisfied with the films he was offered, calling the studios "a Tiffany, which had forgotten how to make silver", he left MGM after auditioning for Messala in the 1959 Ben-Hur. Stephen Boyd got the role.
After leaving the studios, Nielsen landed the lead role in the Disney miniseries The Swamp Fox, as American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion. In a 1988 interview, he reflected on the series: "That was a great experience, because the Disney people didn't do their shows like everyone else, knocking out an episode a week. ... We only had to do an episode a month, and the budgets were extremely high for TV at that time. We had location shooting rather than cheap studio backdrops, and very authentic costumes." Eight episodes were produced and aired between 1959 and 1961.
His television appearances include Justice, The Swamp Fox, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Columbo, The Virginian and The Wild Wild West. In 1961, he was the lead in a Los Angeles police drama called The New Breed. He guest-starred in a 1964 episode of Daniel Boone with Fess Parker in a minor but credited role. In 1965 he guest-starred in 19 episodes of Peyton Place in two roles, Vincent & Kenneth Markham, identical twins with distinctly different personalities.
In 1968, he had a major role in the pilot for the police series Hawaii Five-O and appeared in one of the seventh-season episodes. In 1969, he had the leading role as a police officer in The Bold Ones: The Protectors.
In 1972, Nielsen appeared in the supporting role as the captain of the doomed ocean liner SS Poseidon in the disaster epic, The Poseidon Adventure. He also starred in William Girdler's 1977 action film, Project: Kill. He was cast in the 1979 Canadian disaster film City on Fire, in which he portrayed a corrupt mayor. In 1980, he guest-starred as Sinclair in the CBS TV miniseries The Chisholms.
Comedy: Airplane! and The Naked Gun
In an early comedic appearance, Nielsen appeared on M*A*S*H in 1973 as the title character in "The Ringbanger".