Early career Nielsen's career began in dramatic roles on television during "
Television's Golden Age", appearing in 46 live programs in 1950 alone. He narrated documentaries and commercials and most of his early work as a dramatic actor was uneventful. In 1952 Nielsen made his
Broadway debut as Petty Officer Herbert in
Seagulls Over Sorrento, a short-lived transfer from the
West End. In 1956, he made his feature film debut in the
Michael Curtiz-directed musical,
The Vagabond King. In the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nielsen remembered Curtiz as "a sadist, a charming sadist, but a sadist". Though the film was not a success, producer
Nicholas Nayfack offered him an audition for the science-fiction film
Forbidden Planet, resulting in Nielsen's taking a long contract with
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). in his second film,
Forbidden Planet (1956). Nielsen: "Supposedly a science-fiction version of
Shakespeare's
The Tempest, it was all about the
id, or something like that. Who knows? The
Trekkies today regard it as the forerunner of
Star Trek. I just had to wear a tight uniform and make eyes at Anne Francis. I was pretty thin back then."
Forbidden Planet became an instant success, and roles in other MGM films such as
Ransom! (1956),
The Opposite Sex (1956) and
Hot Summer Night (1957) followed. In 1957, Nielsen won the lead role opposite
Debbie Reynolds in the
romantic comedy Tammy and the Bachelor for
Universal Pictures, which, as a
Chicago Tribune critic wrote in 1998, made people consider him a dramatic actor and handsome romantic lead. Dissatisfied with the films he was offered, calling the studios "a Tiffany, which had forgotten how to make silver", he left MGM after auditioning for Messala in the 1959
Ben-Hur.
Stephen Boyd got the role. After leaving the studios, Nielsen landed the lead role in the
Disney miniseries
The Swamp Fox, as
American Revolutionary War hero
Francis Marion. Eight episodes were produced and aired between 1959 and 1961. in
Bonanza (1967) His television appearances include
Justice,
The Swamp Fox,
Alfred Hitchcock Presents,
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,
Wagon Train,
Gunsmoke,
Columbo,
The Virginian and
The Wild Wild West. In 1961, he was the lead in a Los Angeles police drama called
The New Breed. He guest-starred in a 1964 episode of
Daniel Boone with
Fess Parker in a minor but credited role. In 1965 he guest-starred in 19 episodes of
Peyton Place in two roles, Vincent & Kenneth Markham, identical twins with distinctly different personalities. In 1968, he had a major role in the pilot for the police series
Hawaii Five-O and appeared in one of the seventh-season episodes. In 1969, he had the leading role as a police officer in
The Bold Ones: The Protectors. In 1972, Nielsen appeared in the supporting role as the captain of the doomed ocean liner SS
Poseidon in the
disaster epic,
The Poseidon Adventure. He also starred in
William Girdler's 1977 action film,
Project: Kill. He was cast in the 1979 Canadian disaster film
City on Fire, in which he portrayed a corrupt mayor. In 1980, he guest-starred as Sinclair in the
CBS TV
miniseries The Chisholms.
Comedy: Airplane! and The Naked Gun In an early comedic appearance, Nielsen appeared on
M*A*S*H in 1973 as the title character in "
The Ringbanger". Nielsen's supporting role of Dr. Rumack in
Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker's (ZAZ) 1980's
Airplane! was a turning point in his career. The film, a parody of disaster films such as
Zero Hour! and
Airport, was based on building a comedy around "serious" actors better known for their dramatic roles. Other "straight" stars in the film included
Robert Stack,
Peter Graves, and
Lloyd Bridges. Nielsen's deadpan delivery contrasted with the absurdity surrounding him. When asked, "Surely you can't be serious?", his curt, now iconic response was: "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley." In several later interviews, he reflected on the line: "I thought it was amusing, but it never occurred to me that it was going to become a trademark. It's such a surprise ... the thing comes out, people say, 'What did he say?! Nielsen said he was "pleased and honoured that [he] had a chance to deliver that line". The American Film Institute included the film in its list of the top ten comedy films of all time in 2008, and a 2007 survey in the United Kingdom judged it the second-greatest comedy film of all time after ''
Monty Python's Life of Brian. In 2012, Empire voted it number one in the 50 Funniest Comedies Ever poll. Critics praised the film, which also proved a long-term success with audiences. In 2010, Airplane!'' was selected for preservation in the
National Film Registry by the
Library of Congress. The directors cast Nielsen for his ability to play like "a fish in water", saying: "You could have cast funny people and done it with everybody winking, goofing off, and silly ... we wanted people to be oblivious to the comedy." In 1982, ZAZ cast Nielsen in a similar style, in their
ABC TV series
Police Squad!. The spoof series introduced Nielsen as Lt.
Frank Drebin, the stereotypical police officer modeled after serious characters, such as
Joe Friday, in earlier police TV dramas. The opening sequence for
Police Squad! was based on the 1950s show
M Squad, which starred
Lee Marvin, and opened with footage of a
police car roving through a dark urban setting with a big band playing a jazz song in the background. The
Hank Simms voice-over and the show's organization into acts with an epilogue was homage to
Quinn Martin police dramas including
The Fugitive,
The Streets of San Francisco,
Barnaby Jones,
The F.B.I.,
Dan August and
Cannon. Nielsen portrayed a serious character whose one-liners appeared accidental next to the pratfalls and sight gags that were happening around him. Nielsen received an
Emmy Award nomination for his performance, and despite positive critical reviews, the series was cancelled after just six episodes. Six years after the cancellation of
Police Squad!, the film
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! returned Nielsen to his role as Frank Drebin. It involved a ruthless drug king using
hypnosis to attempt an assassination on Queen
Elizabeth II. Nielsen did many of his own stunts: "You have an idea of how you're going to do something, and it's your vision ... unless you do it, it really doesn't stand a chance." Ebert's –star review (out of four) noted: "You laugh, and then you laugh at yourself for laughing."
The Naked Gun spawned two sequels:
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991) and
Naked Gun : The Final Insult (1994).
The Naked Gun 2½ grossed more than the original, with $86.9 million, while ''
grossed $51.1 million. Nielsen remained open to a fourth Naked Gun'' film, although he doubted that it would be produced — "I don't think so", he said in 2005. "If there hasn't been one by now, I doubt it. I think it would be wonderful." Nielsen briefly appeared on the
World Wrestling Federation program in the summer of 1994 on
WWF Monday Night Raw, spoofing the role of Frank Drebin. Nielsen and
Naked Gun co-star
George Kennedy were hired as sleuths to unravel the mystery of
the Undertaker, who had disappeared at January's
Royal Rumble event. At
SummerSlam 1994, in a
Naked Gun parody, they were hot on the case (in fact, they were standing on a case). Although they did not find the Undertaker, the case had been closed (the literal case had been shut), thus they solved the mystery. In 1990, Nielsen appeared as a Frank Drebin type character in advertisements for
Red Rock Cider in the
United Kingdom. In 1992, Nielsen appeared in the series finale for
The Golden Girls as Lucas, who was Blanche's uncle and Dorothy's boyfriend. Nielsen's few dramatic roles following his comedic success in
Airplane! included the
horror films Prom Night (1980) and
Creepshow (1982). He appeared as a dramatic and unsympathetic character in the 1986 comedy
Soul Man. His final dramatic role was as Allen Green, a violent client killed in self-defense by prostitute Claudia Draper (
Barbra Streisand) in
Martin Ritt's courtroom drama
Nuts (1987).
Later comedies After
Airplane! and
The Naked Gun, Nielsen portrayed similarly styled roles in a number of other films. These mostly emulated the style of
The Naked Gun with varying success and often targeted specific films; many were panned by critics, and most performed poorly.
Repossessed (1990) and
2001: A Space Travesty (2001) are parodies of
The Exorcist and
2001: A Space Odyssey, respectively. Both attempted
absurd comedy, but were poorly received. Even a leading role in a
Mel Brooks comic horror,
Dracula: Dead and Loving It, failed to generate much box-office excitement, although it did gain a following in a later release to video. Both 1996's
Spy Hard and 1998's
Wrongfully Accused, a parody of
James Bond films and
The Fugitive, were popular on video, but not well received by critics. His attempt at family and children's comedies met additional criticism. He appeared as
Santa Claus in the Christmas comedy
All I Want for Christmas (1991), a film that was at best only moderately successful at the box office, and had bad reviews.
Surf Ninjas (1993) and
Mr. Magoo (1997) also had scathing reviews. Several critics were disappointed that Nielsen's role in
Surf Ninjas was only "an extended cameo" and Chris Hicks recommended that viewers "avoid any comedy that features Leslie Nielsen outside of the
Naked Gun series". Jeff Miller of the
Houston Chronicle panned
Mr. Magoo, a live-action remake of the
1950s cartoon: "I'm supposed to suggest how the film might be better, but I can't think of anything to say other than to make the film again." Nielsen's first major success since
The Naked Gun came in a supporting role in
Scary Movie 3 (2003). His appearance as President Harris led to a second appearance in its sequel,
Scary Movie 4 (2006). This was the first time Nielsen had reprised a character since Frank Drebin. In one scene, Nielsen appeared almost nude, and reviewer
James Berardinelli referred to the scene as putting "the 'scary' in
Scary Movie 4".
Video, stage, and celebrity productions Nielsen also produced instructional golf videos, which are not presented in a serious style, beginning with 1993's
Bad Golf Made Easier. The videos combine comedy with golf techniques. The series spawned two additional sequels,
Bad Golf My Way (1994) and
Stupid Little Golf Video (1997). Nielsen also co-wrote a fictional autobiography titled
The Naked Truth. The book portrays Nielsen as a popular actor with a long history of prestigious films. In his 80s, Nielsen performed serious roles on screen and stage (such as his one-man theatre show
Darrow, in which he played
Clarence Darrow), as well as providing voice-overs and appearances for commercials (including spots for a credit union in Arizona, where he owned a secondary residence), cartoons such as
Zeroman, where he had the leading role/voice, children's shows, such as
Pumper Pups, which he narrated, and comedic film roles. The sibling relationship with his elder brother,
the Honourable Erik Nielsen, a former
Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, served as the premise of an
HBO mockumentary entitled
The Canadian Conspiracy, in which Leslie Nielsen appeared along with other prominent Canadian-born media personalities. He was a celebrity contestant on CBS's
Gameshow Marathon, where he played
The Price Is Right, ''
Let's Make a Deal, Beat the Clock, and Press Your Luck'' for charity. In 2007, Nielsen starred in the drama
Music Within. In 2008, he portrayed a version of
Uncle Ben for
Superhero Movie, a spoof of
superhero films. He then appeared in the 2008 parody
An American Carol, which David Zucker directed, produced, and co-wrote. He appeared in the 2009 parody
Stan Helsing. Nielsen portrayed the doctor in the Spanish horror comedy
Spanish Movie, a spoof comedy like
Scary Movie, but making fun of popular Spanish films. Nielsen appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television episodes, portraying more than 220 characters. From at least the early 1970s, he was a television commercial spokesperson for the
Bank of Montreal,
Ford,
Shell and
Dollar Rent-A-Car, among many others; his earlier spots took advantage of his serious and authoritative persona, while later commercials were more humorous, mirroring his transition to comedic acting roles. ==Personal life==