RIP Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen, the star of the movie Airplane! and the TV series Police Squad! has died from complications of pneumonia at a hospital in Florida. Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, Nielsen appeared in over 200 movies and TV shows in a career spanning six decades.

After Airplane! became a hit, the film's directors -- Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker -- wanted to take the film's slapstyle style of comedy to TV. They asked Nielsen to play the lead role in their new series "Police Squad!"

In the show, Nielsen played Frank Drebin, a stereotypical police officer modeled after characters in earlier police TV series. The show lasted only six episodes but earned Nielsen an Emmy nom for lead actor in a comedy series.

Six years later, Nielsen reprised his role for a feature-length version of the show, Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad, as well as two sequels.

Other credits include 1956's Forbidden Planet, the 1960s TV series Peyton Place, Dr. Kildare and The Bold Ones: The Protectors.

Nielsen was 84. Link