Leslie Nielson was one amazing talent. He covered every genre of being an actor and with each style he took on, he did ever so masterfully, from sci-fi, to westerns, to dramas, and in his senior years, comedies. As a kid, there were three movies that I loved Leslie in and they were “Forbidden Planet”, “The Poseidon Adventure”, and the “Reluctant Astronaut”. As time goes on, more and more of Hollywood’s great legends sadly are passing on, but not without leaving their incredible marks in film history. Leslie Nielsen is one of these Hollywood heroes and will be sadly missed.
from forbidden planet
Nielson and Francis, from Forbidden Planet
Nielson and Don Knotts from "The Reluctant Astronaut"
from "The Reluctant Astronaut"
a kiss godbye, "Forbidden Planet"
Eavesdropping with Johnny 
I heard about this from my daughter, Heidi, who had become a fan of his watching his films with me when she was growing up. He is a master of comedic timing and one liners, as a lot of younger people know today. But his great versatility as a dramatic actor as well ranks him among the true Hollywood legends.
Thank you, John, for taking the time to pay tribute to an artist that will be greatly missed.
He was an awesome talent!!! My daughters called and told me about it too! And good to see you back!!! the blog has been a bit dark without you!!!
I read about it on Yahoo. A very sad passing, I love a lot of his work, especially the comedies he did later in his career. I grew up watching funny movies like Airplane and the Naked Gun movies. And, of course, Forbidden Planet is one of the great Sci-Fi movies of the ’50s and a great movie in general. He was a man of many talents, that’s for sure, and he will be missed.
“Forbidden Planet” is one of my favorite films of all time. The first time I saw it, when I was just a tot, I thought the movie was a “Star Trek” rip-off with much better special effects. Only later did I learn that “Planet” came first, and watching it now it’s obvious that Gene Roddenberry took a few cues from this amazing film when creating his own sci-fi classic.
A big part of why I like the movie is Leslie Nielsen’s performance. He’s the ultimate rugged, strong-willed, yet compassionate commander; not afraid to fight if he must, but he’s got a keen intellect and he knows when to trust his gut. It can’t be a coincidence that this description also fits another starship captain we all know and love.
Then, of course, are his roles in “Airplane!” and the “Naked Gun” films. His comic timing was razor sharp and he could deadpan ridiculous lines like few others. These movies are so much fun to watch and his classic line “I am serious…and don’t call me Shirley” will likely live on forever.
It is sad that he’s gone but thankfully we have his incredible body of work to look upon fondly. So in a way he’s achieved what so many of us never will, a kind of immortality. I can’t think of a much better legacy than that.
A sad day for the loss of a man that brought me so many happy memories.
Fare ye well, Leslie. Thanks for all the good times.
peace & bananas | deg
I remember when I read of his passing it was truly a blow to the heart. What a fantastic actor who brought so much joy to so many lives. My introduction to him was in Airplane! but I have since seen him in other things and was impressed to see the range of acting ability that he had.
Thanks for the laughs, Leslie, surely you’ll be missed.
Two of my favorite films are Forbidden Planet and Airplane. You’d be hard pressed to find two less similar films but Leslie Nielsen was terrific in both. THat’s what they used to call “range”. Nothing remotely one-note about that guy.
The work that I remember most fondly was S/Sgt. Buck Frobisher from Due South.
No more villains to catch, never mind taxis… 😦