Canadian movie and television star Leslie Nielsen died today in hospital, it has been announced; he was 84. He began his career as a rugged, straightlaced leading man, breaking into TV with a string of guest star roles until he made the transition to the silver screen as a star in sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet. Another cult favourite in Tammy and the Bachelor followed, and he moved into the sixties with still more TV guest spots, securing his place as one of the most reliable faces in the medium.
The seventies saw him in demand in a number of TV movies and lower budget films such as racial sci-fi Change of Mind, The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler, The Poseidon Adventure (as the captain), Day of the Animals and Viva Knievel!, but it was his uncredited voiceover in The Kentucky Fried Movie which set him on a path to a late career blooming.
The same Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team made Airplane, in which Nielsen displayed a great talent for deadpan comedy as he spoofed his image; from there followed the cult TV series Police Squad, which was not a hit but did spawn the popular Naked Gun franchise. After that most audiences found it difficult to take him seriously in anything but comedy, making his roles in Prom Night, Creepshow and Nuts look a bit silly, but although most of his subsequent comic appearances were in lesser works, he was in demand right up to his death.
