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RIP Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen, who went from drama to inspired bumbling as a hapless doctor in “Airplane!” and the accident-prone detective Frank Drebin in the “Naked Gun” comedies, has died. He was 84.
His agent John S. Kelly says Nielsen died Sunday at a hospital near his home in Ft. Lauderdale where he was being treated for pneumonia.
The Canadian-born Nielsen came to Hollywood in the mid-1950s after performing in 150 live television dramas in New York. With a craggily handsome face, blond hair and 6-foot-2 (2.3-meter) height, he seemed ideal for a movie leading man.
He quickly became known as a serious actor, although behind the camera he was a prankster. That was an aspect of his personality never exploited, however, until “Airplane!” was released in 1980 and became a huge hit.
His big break in movies was the 1956 Scifi movie Forbidden Planet. One of my favorites! The world will be a less funny place without Leslie Nielsen.
He was a comedy legend. The serious face to go along with telling the most deadpan jokes worked so well for him. R.I.P. Leslie Nielsen! You will surely be missed. Everyone knows you will, and I won’t call you Shirley.