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2 | %% Image changed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1629087776085006700 |
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6 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leslie_nielsen_hero_getty_0_1200x900.jpg]] |
7 | [[caption-width-right:350:"[[{{Film/Airplane}} I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all\ |
8 | counting on you.]]"]] |
9 | |
10 | ->''"I'm afraid if I don't keep moving, they're going to catch me... I am 81 years old and I want to see what's around the corner, and I don't see any reason in the world not to keep working. But I am starting to value my down time a great deal because I am realizing there might be other things to do that I am overlooking."'' |
11 | -->-- '''Leslie Nielsen''' (reflecting on his career) |
12 | |
13 | Leslie William Nielsen [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever OC]] (11 February 1926 – 28 November 2010) was a Canadian-born actor and comedian. |
14 | |
15 | Originally trained at Toronto's Neighborhood Playhouse, Nielsen first became known as a dramatic lead, making his film debut in Creator/MichaelCurtiz's ''The Vagabond King'' in 1956. Though the movie wasn't a success, he soon achieved fame as Commander John J. Adams in ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet'', and subsequently starred in many films and television shows as a romantic or dramatic leading man. |
16 | |
17 | However, he is best remembered for [[LeslieNielsenSyndrome his comedic roles]], which began in earnest in 1980 thanks to a CastingGag role in ''Film/{{Airplane}}'', where [[TheComicallySerious his deadpan delivery in the face of nonstop absurdity stole the show.]] The film's success rejuvenated his career, and he soon found himself starring in other comedy works, most notably ''Series/PoliceSquad'' and ''Film/TheNakedGun''. All together, he appeared in over a hundred films and 1,500 television programs, and became so well-loved as a comedy actor that Creator/RogerEbert gave him the AffectionateNickname "the Creator/LaurenceOlivier of spoofs". (To which Nielsen reportedly responded, "Wouldn't that make Olivier the Leslie Nielsen of Shakespeare?") |
18 | |
19 | In many of his comedic roles, he grew somewhat notorious on set for keeping his fellow actors (and even the directors) on their toes by concealing and manipulating a whoopee cushion, making farting noises with it at unexpected times, often cracking the whole cast and crew up in the process. |
20 | |
21 | Nielsen was married four times and had two children. He died of complications from pneumonia in November 2010, at the age of 84. |
22 | |
23 | [[GraveHumor His epitaph reads:]] ''[[ToiletHumor "Let 'er Rip"]]''. Because that's how he rolls. When interviewed, he asked what he would want inscribed on his gravestone, and he answered with this. And yes, he added in a perfectly timed squeeze of the whoopee cushion to punctuate the answer. (You can virtually visit his grave on Find a Grave, [[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=62278982 here]].) |
24 | |
25 | His start as a dramatic actor, which eventually transitioned into doing comedies instead. This inspired the name of the trivia item LeslieNielsenSyndrome (the inversion of TomHanksSyndrome) on this very Wiki. |
26 | ---- |
27 | !! Leslie Nielsen appears in the following works detailed on TV Tropes: |
28 | * ''[[Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceTravesty 2001: A Space Travesty]]'' |
29 | * ''Film/{{Airplane}}'', where the whole joke to his character was meant to be that he was a serious actor bringing all his chops to utterly absurd lines. Naturally, this is a bit lost today. |
30 | * ''Film/AllIWantForChristmas'' |
31 | * ''[[Film/LeslieNielsenGolfTrilogy Bad Golf Made Easier, Bad Golf My Way, Stupid Little Golf Video]]'' |
32 | * ''Series/TheBoldOnes The Protectors'', an acclaimed crime drama that ran for one season in 1969, starring Nielsen as a deputy police chief from Ohio who is brought to a California city to help clean up its crime and finds himself conflicting with the city's progressive black DA. |
33 | * ''Film/TheCanadianConspiracy'', a 1985 HBO {{Mockumentary}} which riffs on the fact that his older brother Erik was Deputy Prime Minister to [[UsefulNotes/CanadianPolitics Brian Mulroney]], and included a whole bunch of Canadians in Hollywood (including both Creator/LorneGreene and Creator/LorneMichaels, to say nothing of Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/MichaelJFox) trying to subvert the US government. Yes. |
34 | * ''Film/{{City on Fire|1979}}'' |
35 | * ''Series/{{Columbo}}'', having played in two films- in [[Recap/ColumboS01E05 the first season]] as the fiancee of the murderer, and again in the fifth season as a corrupt CIA agent murdered by his own partner. |
36 | * ''Film/{{Creepshow}}'': Plays a millionaire who murders his cheating wife and her lover in the segment "Something to Tide You Over". One of the few dramatic roles he did post-''Airplane!'' -- save for the ending of the segment, when he gives the full Nielsen LargeHam comic moment. |
37 | * ''Film/DayOfTheAnimals'' |
38 | * ''Series/DueSouth'': Appears in one episode in which his character is eventually described as having "[[CelebrityParadox an extraordinary resemblance to the Canadian actor and comedian Leslie Nielsen]]." |
39 | * ''Film/DraculaDeadAndLovingIt'' |
40 | * ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet'' |
41 | * ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'': Plays Lucas Williamson, marrying Dorothy in the series finale. |
42 | * ''WesternAnimation/KatieAndOrbie'': Narrated every episode with a [[SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel grandfatherly gentility]]. |
43 | * ''Series/KungFu1972'': Played Vincent Corbino, the main villain of the final four episodes. |
44 | * ''Series/{{MASH}}'': In a rare comedic turn pre-''Airplane!'', he appears in [[Recap/MashS1E16TheRingbanger one episode]] as an overly gung-ho colonel who's gaslit into thinking he has battle fatigue and going stateside to cool off. |
45 | * ''Film/MenWithBrooms'' |
46 | * ''Film/MrMagoo'' (live-action movie) |
47 | * ''Literature/MrWillowbysChristmasTree'' |
48 | * ''Series/PoliceSquad'' |
49 | ** ''Film/TheNakedGun'' series, a sequel to ''Police Squad!'' |
50 | * ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure'' |
51 | * ''Film/PromNight1980'' |
52 | * ''Film/TheReluctantAstronaut'' |
53 | * ''Film/{{Repossessed}}'' |
54 | * ''Film/SafetyPatrol'' |
55 | * ''Film/ScaryMovie 3'' and ''4'' |
56 | * ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111049/ S.P.Q.R.: 2000 and a half years ago]]'', an Italian comedy movie among many starring veteran actors Massimo Boldi and Christian De Sica; this movie -- otherwise rather forgettable -- is known for having been graced by Leslie Nielsen himself. |
57 | * ''Film/SoulMan'' |
58 | * ''Film/StanHelsing'' |
59 | * ''Film/SuperheroMovie'' |
60 | * ''Film/SurfNinjas'' |
61 | * ''Film/SpyHard'' |
62 | * ''Film/VivaKnievel'' |
63 | * ''Film/WrongfullyAccused'' |
64 | * ''Film/WrongIsRight'' |
65 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Zeroman}}'': Voiced the title character. |
66 | ---- |
67 | !!'''Leslie Nielsen's career and works demonstrate the following tropes:''' |
68 | * BigStupidDooDooHead: Childish, silly insults were frequently employed by his comedic characters, with the humorous effect greatly enhanced by Nielsen's dry and dramatic delivery. |
69 | * CelebrityResemblance: In an episode of the 80s program ''An Evening At The Improv'', Leslie commented that throughout his career, people have mistaken him for Creator/LloydBridges.[[note]]Ironic since they both appeared in ''Airplane!'' although shared no scenes.[[/note]] When he would correct them, that he's Leslie Nielsen, many peoples' response would be along the lines of "But didn't you play Lloyd Bridges in a movie?" |
70 | * TheComicallySerious: Nielsen rebuilt himself as a comedian exactly because him saying absurd lines in a serious tone turned out to be hilarious. |
71 | ** It can be very jarring for those who've only seen his comedic roles to come across his earlier, dramatic performances. He was a highly skilled dramatic actor, and when playing psychopaths or other hardened characters, he brought a chilling intensity to the role. |
72 | * CoolOldGuy: Hilariously subverted. While many of his characters have the makings of one, they're ultimately held back by their utter [[LiteralMinded cluelessness]] and [[CloudcuckooLander wackiness]]. |
73 | * DeadpanSnarker: A true staple of his comedic chops was in his deadpan deliveries. While this trope was associated with many of his films, none hold a candle to his portrayal of Frank Drebin in ''Film/TheNakedGun''. |
74 | %%* DontExplainTheJoke |
75 | * EndOfAnAge: 1987's ''Film/{{Nuts|1987}}'' has the distinction of being Nielsen's final dramatic acting role. |
76 | * FunnyBackgroundEvent: Sometimes unconnected with what Nielsen's character is doing, more often something he inadvertently sets off and then carries on in the background of his main scene. |
77 | * TheHeavy: Before ''Airplane!'', thanks to his rugged body and deep, masculine voice, he was always typecast as this. |
78 | * IWasQuiteALooker: In TheFifties, such as in ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/ForbiddenPlanet1.jpg Forbidden Planet]]''. He later turned into a SilverFox of sorts. |
79 | * LeslieNielsenSyndrome: The TropeNamer, of course, surely the change starting with ''Film/{{Airplane}}''. (And don't call him Shirley!) |
80 | * LiteralMinded: Frequently a gag for him. |
81 | * MarketBasedTitle: In Spain, some of his comedic movies are renamed to "verb related to the movie" + ''como puedas'' (as you can): |
82 | ** ''Film/{{Airplane}}'': ''Aterriza como puedas'' ("Land As You Can") |
83 | ** ''Film/TheNakedGun'': ''Agárralo como puedas'' ("Grab It As You Can") |
84 | ** ''Film/SpyHard'': ''Espía como puedas'' ("Spy As You Can") |
85 | ** ''Family Plan'': ''Acampa como puedas'' ("Camp As You Can") |
86 | ** ''Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceTravesty'': ''2001: Despega como puedas'' ("Take Off As You Can") |
87 | ** ''Kevin of the North'': ''Esquía como puedas'' ("Ski As You Can") |
88 | %%* MilkingTheGiantCow |
89 | * NoSenseOfHumor: Allegedly, the reason Leslie was so good with his famous deadpan delivery was because he genuinely didn't understand the comedy behind the lines he was given, similar to stories about [[Creator/TheMarxBrothers Margaret Dumont]]. However, see all the stories about the whoopee cushion. |
90 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Many of his roles. Once the comedian phase begun, because doctors/priests/policemen/presidents saying ridiculous things help the hilarity. |
91 | %%* ShaggyFrogStory |
92 | * StraightMan: His signature style. |
93 | * TomHanksSyndrome: Inverted. He'd always been frustrated by being TheHeavy in films, and delighted in finally being able to show off his comedic chops. |
94 | * TookTheBadFilmSeriously: Especially towards the end of his career, he started featuring in worse and worse movies... and was consistently a highlight in them. Even before then, he gave a perfect delivery to every bit of RapidFireComedy he was handed. |
95 | -->'''Creator/{{Seanbaby}}:''' Some of the jokes he saves in ''Film/TheNakedGun'' movies should be verified by the Catholic church as miracles. For example, he once looked up a woman's dress, told her she had a nice beaver and he was talking about a taxidermy prop. If he can make that hilarious, surely you have to consider him for comedic sainthood. |
96 | * {{Troll}}: On set, Nielsen was reportedly a major practical joker -- and unlike many of this trope, everyone enjoyed it. |
97 | %%* VisualPun |
98 | %%* WalkingDisasterArea |
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