Leslie Nielson was just another aging character actor when (in the late 1970s), the brothers David and Jerry Zucker, with partner Jim Abrahams, cast him in the groundbreaking comedy "Airplane". Nielson played Dr. Rumack, a character that spent the better part of the movie desperately trying to save the lives of passengers on the doomed flight. Suddenly, after 40 years in the business, Nielson was a comic genius and an overnight sensation. On the heels of “Airplane”, Zucker, Zucker and Abrahams cast him again in their short lived, but hilarious TV series "Police Squad." Once again spoofing an old genre, this time the TV detective show. As Lt. Frank Drebin, Nielson fumbled through case after case, but sadly, only for six episodes. The reason executives at ABC gave for canceling the show was, no kidding, "It was the kind of show you had to watch." Is there any wonder what has become of television? Yet, in an inspired move, Leslie Nielson and the producing team took Lt. Drebin to the big screen for a successful three picture run of the "Naked Gun" series.
Somewhere along the way, Nielson picked up a flatulence machine. Similar to a Whoopie Cushion, the palm size squeeze toy made the most disgusting fart sounds. He found it hilarious and brought it everywhere, including to my talk show on CNN, "People Now”. Throughout the interview, Nielson would squirm in his chair and squeeze the toy. He got a kick out of watching people around him react to this man with a serious gas problem. We’ve run into each other many times in the twenty years since, and he still carries the darn thing in his pocket. This from the man who, way back in 1958, wooed Debbie Reynolds in "Tammy and the Batchelor”.
Trivia bit: Did you know "Airplane" was based on a circa 60's film called "Zero Hour?" The dialog is almost word for word. Hilarious!