“I just want to wish you both good luck. We’re all counting on you.”

Comedy legend Leslie Nielsen died today after a two-week battle with pneumonia. He was 84. MSNBC reports:

Nielsen came to Hollywood in the mid-1950s after performing in 150 live television dramas in New York. With a craggily handsome face, blond hair and 6-foot-2 height, he seemed ideal for a movie leading man.
He quickly became known as a serious actor, although behind the camera he was a prankster. That was an aspect of his personality never exploited, however, until “Airplane!” was released in 1980 and became a huge hit.

While this obviously wasn’t the note I wanted to come back on, there’s no way I couldn’t acknowledge an actor whose work I obsessively grew up on and recited line for line. From Airplane! to Police Squad to The Naked Gun, there was one constant force of impeccable timing and delivery that made them instant classics, and with probably the most audible collective gasp I’ve seen in all my years on this job, he’s gone now.

Rest in Peace, Leslie.

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