Leslie Nielsen - ©Theda Bara

In this post I bring you another one of the good Canadian comedian actors. It seems that Canada is a country that specializes in bringing humor to Hollywood. I’m talking about Leslie Nielsen who also produced film scripts.

But the smile wasn’t Leslie Nielsen’s first option. In 1948, Nielsen won a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse, where she began studying dramatic arts. The heartthrob who reinvented himself in humor played dramatic roles for three decades, until he began to stand out in satirical comedies.

Leslie was a very active actor, appearing in over 100 films and over 150 television shows, playing around 220 characters. Despite acting so much, the actor received few awards in his career: a Golden Globe for “The Naked Gun” (1988) and previously an Emmy, in the series “Police Squad!” (1982), which lasted just six episodes, Leslie won for his role as police officer “Frank Drebin.” Six years after the cancellation of “Police Squad!”, the film “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” (1988) brought Leslie back to the role of “Frank Drebin” and was well received by critics. “The Naked Gun” had two other sequels: “The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear” (1991) and “Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult” (1994). There was a project for another film, but it never got off the ground, despite the films being praised and doing well at the box office. Leslie became one of the most sought-after comedians for comedies of this genre. Other comedies in which he appeared had a vampire theme: “Repossessed” (1990) and “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” (1995), by Mel Brooks (1926-), but the actor was never nominated for an Oscar.

Leslie Nielsen has her star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard, in the Cinema category.

Leslie William Nielsen was born on February 11, 1926, in Regina, Canada, and died of a lung infection on November 28, 2010, at Holy Cross Hospital, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, aged 84.

Leslie Nielsen was married four times, first to Argentine nightclub singer Mercedes González Morel Valerio Urea, born in the Dominican Republic, commonly known as Monica Boyar (1920-2013) from 1950 to 1956; his second marriage was to one of her fans, Alisande Ullman (1938-), from 1958 to 1973. They divorced after a 16-year marriage. The couple has two daughters who became actresses: Maura Nielsen Kaplan (1959-) and Thea Nielsen Disney (1963-), who even using this surname does not indicate that she is related to Walt Disney (1901-1966); his third marriage was to another of his fans, Miss Bobbye Brooks Oliver (1966-), 40 years younger than the actor. The marriage lasted less than three years, from 1981 to 1983; his last marriage was to American actress Barley Earl Nielsen (1970-), they were together for a long period until their marriage in 2001, a nine-year marriage from 2001 to 2010, with whom he remained married until the day of his death.