Leslie Nielsen, a Great Film Funnyman

My condolences to the family, friends and fans of Leslie Nielsen, who passed away last weekend. He was truly one of our great film funnymen.

According to Debbie Reynolds, we have her to thank for Mr. Nielsen's decision to go into comedy. During an interview on Movie Addict Headquarters last year, Debbie explained to me that she advised Leslie to try comedy while they were making
Tammy and the Bachelor early in his career -- at a time when he considered himself "a serious dramatic actor."

It's not surprising that Roger Ebert called Leslie Nielsen "the Laurence Olivier of spoofs." If you have any doubt about that, take another look at Airplane and The Naked Gun movies.

Leslie Nielsen will be greatly missed. But we're fortunate to have his hilarious performances recorded on film.