Leslie Nielsen was born on February 11, 1926, in Regina, Saskatchewan. Leslie is the son of Ingvard Nielsen, a Danish Canadian, who was a Canadian Mountie and Maybelle, who was of Welsh descent. His brother, Erik Nielson, went on to be Canada's Deputy Prime Minister during the 1980's. After graduating from high school, Leslie attended the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto, Ontario. Nielsen started his film career by playing bit parts as police officers, lawyers, and doctors, and also did narration work for documentaries and commercials.
Although he gained some recognition for his roles in the films Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure, most of his early appearances went relatively unnoticed. Nielsen took on small parts in several television series such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Wild Wild West. His comedic supporting role in the 1980 film Airplane proved to be Leslie’s breakthrough role and the one that would reveal his talent to audiences. Critics and audiences praised the film and Nielsen’s seemingly serious delivery, which made the ridiculous lines and absurd situations even more hilarious.
He took on the lead role in the comedy Police Squad, but the series lasted only six episodes, leading Nielsen to once again take on small, unnoticed parts in films like Creep Show and Prom Night. Six years later, the short-lived Police Squad would be resurrected, and a feature length film based on the show was made.
Leslie’s starring role in The Naked Gun: From the Files of the Police Squad was praised as clever and hilarious by critics and audiences. Also playing parts in the movie were Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalban, Weird Al Yankovic, and OJ Simpson. The success of the film led to two sequels: The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear and The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. Nielsen starred in all three of the films, and they remain the most successful appearances of his career. No matter what he does in the future, Nielsen will probably always be best known as Frank Drebin.
Since the release of the final Naked Gun in 1994, Leslie briefly appeared in the World Wrestling Federation, and has acted in a number of films, including Dracula: Dead and Loving It, also starring Peter MacNicol, Steven Weber, Amy Yasbeck, and Mel Brooks; Scary Movie 3 and 4, starring Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthey, Charlie Sheen, Simon Rex, Jeremy Piven, Regina Hall, Bill Pullman, and Anna Faris, among others; and the children’s comedy Mr. Magoo, also starring Kelly Lynch, Matt Keeslar, Nick Chinlund, and Jennifer Garner. Most of his films have not been extremely successful hits, although some have gained popularity after being released to video.
Currently he stars in Darrow, a one man theater show; narrates children’s shows; and has recently appeared as a celebrity contestant on Gameshow Marathon. Although not all of his films have been successes, Nielsen boasts several incredible achievements, including receiving stars on both the Hollywood and Canada Walks of Fame. Leslie was also named an Officer of the Order of Canada. He presently resides in Phoenix, Arizona.
Leslie’s first marriage was to Monica Boyer in 1950. The marriage lasted until 1956 and his next wife was Alisande Ullman, whom he married in 1958. During their marriage the couple had two children, daughters Maura Nielsen Kaplan and Thea Nielsen Disney. Nielsen’s third marriage, to Brooks Oliver, lasted only two short years, ending in 1983. He is currently married to Barbaree Earl Nielsen. The couple’s wedding took place in 2001. Leslie and Barbaree have appeared together on screen in the films Wrongfully Accused and Dracula: Dead and Loving It.
Leslie has a hearing impairment which resulted in him joining the International Better Hearing Institute and he has now become its president
YUDDY
