Lelslie Neilsen: another life with a billiant second act

In an earlier post, I reflected on how Patricia Neal's life had proved that F. Scott FitzGerald's maxim, "there are no second act in American lives," wrong. While Leslie Neilsen did not have the physical challenges that plagued Ms. Neal, his career change from dramatic leading man to comedy icon certainly constitutes a second act.

Although Canadian by birth, Neilsen had acted in American Theater, Television and Film since the 1950s. He starred in the science fiction classic, Forbidden Planet; was cast as the Captain in The Poseidon Adventure; and portrayed George Armstrong Custer in The Plainsman. Along the way, he made guest appearances in classic or enduring TV series such as, "Gunsmoke, "Hawaii Five-0," "Ironside," and "The Streets of San Francisco."

For much younger audiences, however, it will be his roles from Airplane (1980), "Police Squad" (1982), and then the subsequent Naked Gun Movies; Dracula: Dead and Loving It; and Spy Hard that will "Shirley"mark their memories of Leslie Neilsen's screen presence.