Leslie Nielsen R.I.P

I was sad to hear that Leslie Nielsen has passed away. He was in a very select group of people who could make me genuinely laugh (it takes a LOT to humour me outside of the morbid) and now that group has gotten smaller. He died from complications from pneumonia at a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, surrounded by his wife, Barbaree and friends. He was 84.

Master of the dead pan

I remember first seeing him, like probably millions of others did, in the comedy Airplane! where he played a doctor. Nobody could touch Leslie when it came to doing dead pan. The next film I saw him in was not a comedy but a horror, Creepshow where he played a killer who drowns a couple. It showed it was not only comedy he was capable of.
Of course movie buffs will know that he also played the lead in The Poseidon Adventure and Forbidden Planet but it was Airplane! and Creepshow where he caught my eye. And the Naked Gun series of films. Who could forget those? Based on the criminally short 1982 series Police Squad! they were slabs of hilarious, comedy GOLD. Need cheering up? Let Detective Frank Drebin on the case and you will soon be lost in peals of uncontrolled laughter. He never fails.
So that is this evenings drinking film sorted out. Airplane! followed by Naked Gun (where I get the chance to not only watch great comedy scenes but also feast my eyes on the beauty that is Priscilla Presley. Bonus!)
On a personal side note I was happy to learn that Leslie's mother was Welsh and that he was a real gentleman in real life.
Rest In Eternal Peace Leslie Nielsen ~ you will continue to make us laugh in this often bitter world you have now left behind.