Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Creator / LeslieNielsen

Go To

1%%
2%% Image changed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1629087776085006700
3%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
4%%
5
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\
8counting 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
13Leslie William Nielsen [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever OC]] (11 February 1926 – 28 November 2010) was a Canadian-born actor and comedian.
14
15Originally 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
17However, 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
19In 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
21Nielsen 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
25His 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/CityOnFire''
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

Top