Died at 100
male
Leslie William Nielsen (February 11, 1926 – November 28, 2010) was a Canadian-American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in over one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying over 220 characters. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Nielsen enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and worked as a disc jockey before receiving a scholarship to Neighborhood Playhouse. Making his television debut in 1948, he quickly expanded to over 50 television appearances two years later. Nielsen made his film debut in 1956, and began collecting roles in dramas, westerns, and romance films. Nielsen's performances in the films Forbidden Planet (1956) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) received positive reviews as a serious actor, though he is primarily known for his comedic roles. Although Nielsen's acting career crossed a variety of genres in both television and films, his deadpan delivery in Airplane! (1980) marked a turning point in his career, one that would make him, in the words of film critic Roger Ebert, "the Olivier of spoofs." Nielsen enjoyed further success with The Naked Gun film series (1988 – 1994), based on a short-lived television series Police Squad! in which he starred earlier. His portrayal of serious characters seemingly oblivious to (and complicit in) their absurd surroundings gave him a reputation as a comedian. In the final years of his career, Nielsen appeared in multiple spoof and parody films, many of which were met poorly by critics, but performed well in box office and home media releases. Nielsen married four times and had two daughters from his second marriage. He was recognized with a variety of awards throughout his career, and was inducted into the Canada and Hollywood Walks of Fame.
In the small town of Oakey Oaks, Chicken Little rings the school bell and warns everyone to run for their lives. This sends the whole town into a frenzy. Eventually, the Head of the Fire Department calms down enough to ask him what is happening. Chicken Little says that a piece of the sky shaped like a stop sign had fallen on his head, but he is unable to find the piece. His father, Buck Cluck, assumes that this "piece of sky" was just an acorn that had fallen from the tree, making Chicken Little the laughingstock of the town. A year later, Chicken Little remains ostracized and unhappy. Trying to help, his friend Abby Mallard encourages Chicken Little to talk to his father, but he really only wants to make his dad proud of him. As a result, he joins his school's baseball team in an attempt to recover his reputation and his father's pride, but is benched until the ninth inning of the last game, when he miraculously makes a home run and is hailed as a hero for winning the pennant. Later that night, he is hit on the head by the same "piece of the sky" — only to find out that it is not really a piece of the sky, but rather a device that blends into its surroundings. He calls his friends over to help figure out what the device is. When one of them pushes a button on the back of the hexagon, it flies into the sky and turns out to be part of the camouflage of an invisible UFO. Chicken Little manages to ring the bell to warn everyone, but the aliens see the crowds coming and escape, accidentally leaving behind a small orange alien. The town does not believe the story of the alien invasion and thinks it is a repeat of the acorn incident, and Chicken Little is ridiculed yet again. He and his friends discover the orange alien, and a few minutes later a whole fleet of alien ships descends on the town and start what appears to be an invasion. As the aliens rampage throughout Oakey Oaks, vaporizing everything in their path, Little realizes he must return the alien to its parents to save the planet. First, though, he confronts his father and regains his trust. In the invasion, Buck defends Little from the aliens until they are vaporized. It is then discovered that the aliens were not vaporizing people, but the ray guns teleported them aboard the UFO. The invasion was a misunderstanding, as the two aliens were looking for their lost child and attacked only out of concern. Little returns the child, and the aliens return everything to normal; as they depart they note a loose tile on their ship. Everyone is grateful for Chicken Little's efforts to save the town.
