Canadian actor Leslie Nielsen has died at the age of 84 from complecations of pneumonia.
He died at a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and had been admitted to the hospital 12 days before his death.
Nielsen, trained as an aerial gunner in the Royal Canadian Air Force for the Second World War and did not get his movie career up and running until the late 50′s.
His most notable role was in the comedy Airplane, but in all Nielsen appeared in more than 150 television shows and movies.
“We loved him dearly and we’ll miss him and he was a good friend of mine, not just my uncle. I think that’s a tribute to him and his interests and just his warmth,” said Nielsen’s nephew Doug Nielsen, who lives in Richmond, B.C.
Even Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper weighed in on the death of the actor by saying: “In a career spanning more than six decades, the Regina-born Nielsen was an accomplished actor on stage and screen, in both dramas and comedies…. We can be grateful that his most famous performances are preserved on film and will delight audiences for years to come.”
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