After high school, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943[2] and served until the end of World War II.

Although his memorable performances in the films Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure gave him standing as a serious actor, Nielsen later gained enduring recognition for his deadpan comedy roles during the 1980s, after being cast for the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker comedy film Airplane!

marked a turning point which made him "the Olivier of spoofs", according to film critic Roger Ebert,[9] and led to further success in the genre, starring in The Naked Gun film series, based on his earlier short-lived television series Police Squad!.

[10] His mother, Mabel Elizabeth (née Davies), was an immigrant from Wales, and his father, Ingvard Eversen Nielsen (1900–1975), was a Danish-born constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

[16][17] In a 1994 Boston Globe article, he explained: "I did learn very early that when I would mention my uncle, people would look at me as if I were the biggest liar in the world.

"[16] As a child, Nielsen and his family lived in Fort Norman (now Tulita) in the Northwest Territories, where his father was with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

He noted, "I couldn't refuse, but I must say when you come from the land of the snow goose, the moose, and wool to New York, you're bringing every ton of hayseed and country bumpkin that you packed.

[36] Dissatisfied with the films he was offered, calling the studios "a Tiffany, which had forgotten how to make silver", he left MGM after auditioning for Messala in the 1959 Ben-Hur.

[37][38] After leaving the studios, Nielsen landed the lead role in the Disney miniseries The Swamp Fox, as American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion.

[39] In a 1988 interview, he reflected on the series: "That was a great experience, because the Disney people didn't do their shows like everyone else, knocking out an episode a week.

[50] In 1982, ZAZ cast Nielsen in a similar style, in their ABC TV series Police Squad!.

was based on the 1950s show M Squad, which starred Lee Marvin, and opened with footage of a police car roving through a dark urban setting with a big band playing a jazz song in the background.

The Hank Simms voice-over and the show's organization into acts with an epilogue was homage to Quinn Martin police dramas including The Fugitive, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, The F.B.I., Dan August and Cannon.

Nielsen received an Emmy Award nomination for his performance and despite positive critical reviews, the series was cancelled after just six episodes.

"[58] Nielsen briefly appeared on the World Wrestling Federation program in the summer of 1994 on WWF Monday Night Raw, spoofing the role of Frank Drebin.

Nielsen and Naked Gun co-star George Kennedy were hired as sleuths to unravel the mystery of the Undertaker, who had disappeared at January's Royal Rumble event.

[59] In 1990, Nielsen appeared as a Frank Drebin type character in advertisements for Red Rock Cider in the United Kingdom.

His final dramatic role was as Allen Green, a violent client killed in self defense by prostitute Claudia Draper (Barbra Streisand) in Martin Ritt's courtroom drama Nuts (1987).

These mostly emulated the style of The Naked Gun with varying success and often targeted specific films; many were panned by critics and most performed poorly.

[60][61] Even a leading role in a Mel Brooks comic horror, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, failed to generate much box-office excitement, although it did gain a following in a later release to video.

Both 1996's Spy Hard and 1998's Wrongfully Accused, a parody of James Bond films and The Fugitive, were popular on video, but not well received by critics.

In his 80s, Nielsen performed serious roles on screen and stage (such as his one-man theatre show Darrow, in which he played Clarence Darrow), as well as providing voice-overs and appearances for commercials (including spots for a credit union in Arizona, where he owned a secondary residence), cartoons such as Zeroman, where he had the leading role/voice, children's shows, such as Pumper Pups, which he narrated, and comedic film roles.

The sibling relationship with his elder brother, the Honourable Erik Nielsen, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, served as the premise of an HBO mockumentary entitled The Canadian Conspiracy in which Leslie Nielsen appeared, along with other prominent Canadian-born media personalities.

He was a celebrity contestant on CBS's Gameshow Marathon, where he played The Price Is Right, Let's Make a Deal, Beat the Clock, and Press Your Luck for charity.

Nielsen married four times: to nightclub singer Monica Boyar (1950–1956), Alisande Ullman (1958–1973), Brooks Oliver (1981–1983), and Barbaree Earl (2001 – his death in 2010).

In his later years, Nielsen and his wife Barbaree resided between homes in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Paradise Valley, Arizona.

He participated in an educational video from The Arthritis Research Centre of Canada, demonstrating the physical examination of a patient with knee osteoarthritis.

On November 28, his nephew Doug told the CJOB radio station that he died in his sleep from pneumonia around 5:30 p.m. EST, aged 84, surrounded by family and friends.

"[86] On May 19, 2005, when Queen Elizabeth II visited his native Saskatchewan during the province's centennial gala, she was introduced to Nielsen.

[88] On February 20, 2002, Nielsen was named an honorary citizen of West Virginia and an Ambassador of Mountain State Goodwill.