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| Comic legend: Nielsen rose to fame in the cult spoof films Airplane! and The Naked Gun trilogy |
The late comic, who had audiences around the world in hysterics in his hit films Airplane! and The Naked Gun, has had the last laugh thanks to a cheeky inscription on his gravestone.
Nielsen passed away in November 2010 at the age of 84 and in a final fitting tribute to his love of fart jokes the comic requested that, ‘Let ‘er rip’ was inscribed on his gravestone.
Nielsen loved gags about gas and whoopee cushions and promised in a 1996 interview that the line would be his epitaph.
The Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is also home to a bench under a shaded tree in Nielsen’s honour with a more polite inscription of: ‘Sit down whenever you can.’Originally from Canada, Nielsen started out his career as a serious actor but it was his deadpan humour that catapulted him to fame in the 1980 hit Airplane!
The spoof comedy launched legendary catch-phrases such as, ‘Don't call me Shirley.'
The leading man had found his niche and went on to enjoy phenomenal box office success with The Naked Gun trilogy.
Nielsen was married four times, and had two children from his second marriage, Maura and Thea Nielsen.
When he passed away quietly in his sleep due to complications from pneumonia on November 28, his fourth wife Barbaree was by his side, along with family and friends.
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