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Comedian Leslie Nielsen dead
Updated Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:47am AEDT
Veteran Canadian funnyman Leslie Nielsen has died of complications from pneumonia aged 84.
Nielsen is probably best known for playing the bumbling cop Lt Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun franchise, but enjoyed a movie and television career spanning more than 60 years.
His agent said Nielsen died on Sunday at a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, surrounded by his wife, Barbaree, and friends.
Nielsen's nephew Doug told a Canadian radio station: "He just fell asleep and passed away."
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, the son of a Canadian mounted policeman, Nielsen served in the air force as an aerial gunner before becoming a radio disc jockey.
He went on to study acting in Toronto and then in New York City.
Nielsen got his first big break in 1950 with a Studio One television appearance, before heading to Hollywood in 1954 to star in the film The Vagabond King.
For the first 30 years of his career, Nielsen built his reputation playing authority figures such as the captain of the ill-fated cruise ship in The Poseidon Adventure.
But later generations got to know the silver-haired actor primarily for his deadpan performances in comedies such as 1980's Airplane! - also called Flying High - and The Naked Gun trilogy, which ran from 1988 to 1994.
Nielsen also appeared in the 1996 spy spoof Spy Hard as Agent WD-40 and in 1998's Wrongfully Accused, a parody of The Fugitive.
More recent acting roles included the 2003 Hollywood parody Scary Movie 3 and its 2006 sequel.
Nielsen was married four times and had two children from his second marriage, Maura and Thea Nielsen.
clicky
Updated Tue Nov 30, 2010 8:47am AEDT
Veteran Canadian funnyman Leslie Nielsen has died of complications from pneumonia aged 84.
Nielsen is probably best known for playing the bumbling cop Lt Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun franchise, but enjoyed a movie and television career spanning more than 60 years.
His agent said Nielsen died on Sunday at a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, surrounded by his wife, Barbaree, and friends.
Nielsen's nephew Doug told a Canadian radio station: "He just fell asleep and passed away."
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, the son of a Canadian mounted policeman, Nielsen served in the air force as an aerial gunner before becoming a radio disc jockey.
He went on to study acting in Toronto and then in New York City.
Nielsen got his first big break in 1950 with a Studio One television appearance, before heading to Hollywood in 1954 to star in the film The Vagabond King.
For the first 30 years of his career, Nielsen built his reputation playing authority figures such as the captain of the ill-fated cruise ship in The Poseidon Adventure.
But later generations got to know the silver-haired actor primarily for his deadpan performances in comedies such as 1980's Airplane! - also called Flying High - and The Naked Gun trilogy, which ran from 1988 to 1994.
Nielsen also appeared in the 1996 spy spoof Spy Hard as Agent WD-40 and in 1998's Wrongfully Accused, a parody of The Fugitive.
More recent acting roles included the 2003 Hollywood parody Scary Movie 3 and its 2006 sequel.
Nielsen was married four times and had two children from his second marriage, Maura and Thea Nielsen.
clicky
