Daring to Be a Clown
Leslie Nielsen passed away last Sunday at the age of 84. My inner child is crying, that’s for sure. I think I was 13 the first time I saw The Naked Gun and decided that Leslie Nielsen has to be one of my favorite actors ever. Of course, those who were older knew him not only from his earlier silly efforts in Airplane! (1982) and on Police Squad! (1982), the TV series that inspired The Naked Gun, but also as a serious actor. Much like Peter Graves, Nielsen had an earnestness (and, frankly, stiffness) that became a perfect match for all the crazy gags invented by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker in Airplane!. Nielsen learned how to play those scenes to the best effect; I have rarely laughed as hard in a movie theater at a scene as the opening act from The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear (1991). The YouTube clip above is a trailer for that film. I may not be a teenager anymore, but this stuff is still hilarious.
Leonard Maltin has written a blog post on Nielsen and the career he had before turning into the “Sultan of Silly”. The greatest film he was involved with is Forbidden Planet (1956), the brilliant sci-fi movie. Maltin recalls an interview with Nielsen in 1991 where the actor talked about how uneasy he felt about starring in the film, his first real chance in Hollywood, and how he ended up telling a producer that he didn’t want to be a movie star. Still, in the end, he did seem to relish the second phase of his career, in comedy, which he talks about in the Larry King Live clip above. He tells us that he used to be a goofball between takes. Thank God Leslie Nielsen worked up the courage to be a clown also in front of a camera.
Published by Stefan Hedmark 2010-12-04 04:56
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