Actor. Forbidden Planet. The Poseidon Adventure. Airplane. The Naked Gun.
"Surely you can't be serious."
"I am serious, and don't call me Shirley."
--Airplane. Screenplay by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker. #79 on the American Film Institute's list of Top 100 movie quotes.
"I'm a professional actor. If I was a plumber, I wouldn't just do my plumbing in Beverly Hills bathrooms; I'd like to install air conditioning units and a few other things."
--Leslie Nielsen
leslie nielsen was an interesting man, and vastly underappreciated, say i. he made us laugh, and if you paid attention, he made you think. of course, i tend to think that everyone makes you think!
ReplyDeleteYou make me think, standing.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for people like Leslie Nielson. So silly, and so important. He made me laugh!
ReplyDeleteI remember Leslie being in Tammy and the Bachelor with Debbie Reynolds when he was very young.
ReplyDeleteOf course, his kooky roles endeared him to me forever.
Thanks for honoring him.
@Dreamfarm--That Nielsen could say a silly line like "Don't call me Shirley" with so much self-importance is what made me laugh. He had the same quality that Peter Sellers (Inspector Clouseau) and Don Adams (Maxwell Smart) had, though I'm not sure even those two guys could match Nielsen's deadpan delivery.
ReplyDelete@Kass--Afraid I've never seen Tammy and the Bachelor. I did see Forbidden Planet, which I believe was made around the same time. Unfortuantely for Leslie Nielsen, he had to share the screen with that scene-stealing Robby the Robot.
Had Nielsen not made the switch to comedy, I think right now I might be confusing him with George Peppard.