Reported by: Wijdan CRWE Newswire Middle East Correspondent.

American actor and star of comedic classics such as Naked Gun and Airplane, Leslie Nielson, passed away in hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 5.34pm on November 28th, 2010. His wife Barbaree Earl, family and his friends were at his bedside at the time of his death. His agent, John S Kelly, said that the actor died due to complications from pneumonia.

Nielson’s nephew, Doug, told reporters that he has been sick and admitted to the hospital for  the last 12 days and last night he just fell asleep and passed away. He added that his uncle was a truly nice man, very caring in nature and very funny in everyday life. He was a very kind hearted man and was like a best friend to him.

Leslie Nielson was born in Canada on February 11, 1926 in a middle class family with mother, Mabel Elizabeth, a Welsh immigrant from Fulham, and father, Ingvard Eversen Nielsen, a Danish-born Constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Nielson started his career in dramatic roles during the golden age of television, but he made his feature film debut through a musical film, The Vagabond King. His first major success was a science fiction film, Forbidden Planet, after which he signed a contract with Metro Goldwyn Meyer (MGM) and made many hit movies of all genres. Nielson’s comedic break through came in 1980 with a supporting role in a movie called Airplane.

His real fame in comedy came from the movie The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad, which was released in 1988 and got extremely successful at the box office and two sequels were made The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear which was released in 1991 and Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult released in 1994. His later movies included Dracula: dead and loving it and Spy Hard.

He was married four times and only had two children from his second wife, Alisande Ullman. The names of his daughters are Maura Nielson and Thea Nielson.

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