Actor Leslie Nielsen dead at 84

Actor Leslie Nielsen, whose motion picture and television career spanned more than 60 years, passed away peacefully in his sleep around 5.30pm EST Nov 28^th. He was 84.

Nielsen passed away in a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida due to complications from pneumonia and was surrounded by his family and friends at the time of his death. Dr. Doug Nielsen, Nielsen's nephew, announced the news of Nielsen’s death to the CJOB radio station in Winnipeg, Canada that day.

Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada on Feb 11, 1926, Nielsen was married for times, most recently to Barbaree Earl (since 2001), and also has two children from his second marriage.

He is probably best remembered as the bumbling people detective Lt. Frank Drebin from “The Naked Gun” series of pictures, as well as the 1980 spoof movie Airplane!, and other movies about flying. Overall he appeared in over 100 films and 1500 television programs during his career. Nielsen’s most distinguishing and best remembered characteristic as a comedian was his ability to play serious characters that were seemingly oblivious to their absurd surroundings.