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Leslie Nielsen, the comic with the Danish roots: "Comedy is what endures".
Interview: Leslie Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. He made his entry into show business in a Calgary radio station where he worked as an engineer, disc jockey and announcer.
His television career began in 1950 with a Studio One appearance with Charlton Heston and Nielsen went on to act in 46 live programs that year.
In 1954 he was brought to Hollywood by Paramount to star in Michael Curtiz's The Vagabond King.
Through out the sixties and seventies, Leslie Nielsen was seen regularly on television in action series. He also starred in seven series of his own. Since the big screen success of Airplane! he has also favored TV comedy over drama starring in the series Police Squad. He continues to guest in situation comedies. He is a veteran of over sixty motion pictures and more than a thousand television appearances.
On stage Leslie Nielsen has been touring with Clarence Darrow - a One Man Play.
Mr Nielsen has two daughters, Thea, a horse trainer and Moira, a real estate developer.
This interview was done in November 1996.
Scandinavian Press: When was the first time you made an audience laugh?
Leslie Nielsen: I guess the very first time I performed in front of an audience was when I was quite young. Then I did not have any idea that performing in front of an audience would be dangerous. It always seemed to be a lot of fun. But I think around the age of ten or so I encountered some strong opposition at home and I realized I had to be cautious about making appearances. I would have fun with my friends and with selected people, always going for laughter and fun but always being very cautious. Even at home you would be cautious because there was always a goodly bunch of humour flying around the house but you couldn't tell on which day it might strike the wrong cord. So with humour you are always taking chances. But even in my career I did drama for the first twenty or thirty years and I did all my humour and fun behind the camera in the company, and security, of a...