Actor Leslie Nielsen, of 'Airplane' fame, has died

Mon, 11/29/2010 - 10:49am by sernabad

Canadian actor, Leslie Nielsen, whose dry comedic gifts charmed movie-goers worldwide, died yesterday in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Nielsen's movie career began in the 1950s. For three decades he starred in dozens of serious roles -- he played the captain of a spaceship in the 1956 film, Forbidden Planet. In 1972, he was the captain of an ocean liner in The Poseidon Adventure.

His career did a 180 and took off with his hilarious portrayal of a hapless doctor in Airplane!, now considered a cult classic spoof of airplane disaster movies. A brief run as Lt. Frank Drebin, goofball cop in the series, Police Squad, led to several Naked Gun spinoff movies, which are currently unavailable due to a moratorium imposed by Paramount Home Video.

Nielsen served in WW II with the Royal Canadian Air Force and later received Canada's highest civilian honor when he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Nielsen, who was 84, died of complications from pneumonia.