Home
Politics
Several of his biographies say he discovered his acting talents at a young age, lying to his father in order to avoid severe punishment.
Following short stints in the Canadian air force and as a disc jockey, he enrolled at the Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto before receiving a scholarship to study at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse.
Six feet (1.84 meters) tall, blonde and handsome, he seemed destined to become a leading man in film and indeed received positive reviews for his lead roles in "Forbidden Planet" (1956) and "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972).
He landed his first television role in 1948, and over the course of a storied career appeared in hundreds of television episodes and more than 70 films, portraying more than 200 characters.
Off camera, meanwhile, he became known for his sense of humor.
Mid-life he would reinvent himself and show audiences for the first time his comic talents in "Airplane!", the hugely successful parody of disaster movies by Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker.
He would become known around the world as the doctor aboard the doomed flight who in response to a passenger's comment, "Surely you can't be serious," deadpanned: "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley."
In another scene in the film, a flight attendant asks about an illness sweeping through the cabin after being told hospitalization of passengers might be required: "A hospital? What is it?" to which Nielsen as Doctor Rumack replies: "It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now."
Nielsen would go on to enjoy even greater success as Detective Frank Drebin in "The Naked Gun" film series based on a television show he had once starred in called "Police Squad."
Married four times and a father of two girls, Nielsen would eventually become a naturalized American citizen, and buy a home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he enjoyed playing golf in between acting gigs.
Nielsen was hospitalized in Florida for 12 days for pulmonary illness. His condition worsened suddenly over the weekend.
Sunday afternoon, "with his friends and his wife by his side, he just fell asleep and passed away," his nephew Doug Nielsen told a Manitoba radio station.
Nielsen continued acting until his death. In his last gig he lent his voice to a character in an animated movie expected to be released next year.
"Doing nothing is very hard to do," he once said. "You never know when you're finished."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Following short stints in the Canadian air force and as a disc jockey, he enrolled at the Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto before receiving a scholarship to study at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse.
Six feet (1.84 meters) tall, blonde and handsome, he seemed destined to become a leading man in film and indeed received positive reviews for his lead roles in "Forbidden Planet" (1956) and "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972).
He landed his first television role in 1948, and over the course of a storied career appeared in hundreds of television episodes and more than 70 films, portraying more than 200 characters.
Off camera, meanwhile, he became known for his sense of humor.
Mid-life he would reinvent himself and show audiences for the first time his comic talents in "Airplane!", the hugely successful parody of disaster movies by Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker.
He would become known around the world as the doctor aboard the doomed flight who in response to a passenger's comment, "Surely you can't be serious," deadpanned: "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley."
In another scene in the film, a flight attendant asks about an illness sweeping through the cabin after being told hospitalization of passengers might be required: "A hospital? What is it?" to which Nielsen as Doctor Rumack replies: "It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now."
Nielsen would go on to enjoy even greater success as Detective Frank Drebin in "The Naked Gun" film series based on a television show he had once starred in called "Police Squad."
Married four times and a father of two girls, Nielsen would eventually become a naturalized American citizen, and buy a home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he enjoyed playing golf in between acting gigs.
Nielsen was hospitalized in Florida for 12 days for pulmonary illness. His condition worsened suddenly over the weekend.
Sunday afternoon, "with his friends and his wife by his side, he just fell asleep and passed away," his nephew Doug Nielsen told a Manitoba radio station.
Nielsen continued acting until his death. In his last gig he lent his voice to a character in an animated movie expected to be released next year.
"Doing nothing is very hard to do," he once said. "You never know when you're finished."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
