Working with actor Leslie Nielsen - shooting TV commercials - and his classic out-take

A sad day for comedy as actor Leslie Nielsen dies at age 84. Actor Leslie Nielsen passed away last weekend. He was best known for his roles in comedies like "Airplane!", "The Naked Gun", "Spy Hard" and "Police Squad". He is best remembered as Lt. Frank Drebin from "The Naked Gun" series of films.

Many people only remember him as a comedy actor but he started in TV back in the late 1940's as a very serious leading man. One of his famous films from the 1950's is a science fiction move called the "Forbidden Planet". He played a leading role as a crew member of space ship on a rescue mission. The movie is also famous for creating "Robbie the Robot".

He was a very funny man with a great sense of humor, but as a leading man he felt he could only take serious parts and he avoided comedy. When his career as a leading man slowed down he took to making TV commercials as many actors do. This was before he re-started his career as a comedy actor in the 1980 comedy "Airplane" and the rest is history.

I had the pleasure of meeting and working with him just before the release of "Airplane". We were shooting a series of TV spots for a bank in Nevada and the producer hired Nielsen as a spokes person for the bank. He spent the day on set entertaining us with his gags. He carried around a small device that made fart sounds. Here he is, a serious actor making faces and fart sounds. I have never laughed so hard in my life; he had a great time entertaining the crew who laughed all day long.

After we finished the last spot I asked him to shoot an out-take. It was a day I will never forget and I became a lifelong fan of one of the greatest comedy actors of all times. An actor who when he started his career was afraid of comedy.

Take a look at this classic Leslie Nielsen video out-take: