Leslie Nielsen, may he rest in peace, and Liam Neeson, may he keep punching throats forever, have more in common than you’d think. Nielsen was a 50-something journeyman actor probably best known as the stone-faced, Brylcreemed space captain from the 1956 sci-fi flick Forbidden Planet when his appearance in the 1980 comedy Airplane! gave him a second life as a full-time clown. He headlined the short-lived cop show parody Police Squad!, then its successful big-screen iteration The Naked Gun, then countless lesser send-ups, all built around his Olympic ability to keep a straight face while his ignorance and clumsiness wrought chaos around him. Nielsen’s pivot from humorless heavy to lovable buffoon presaged Neeson’s unexpected turn from venerable Oscar and Tony nominee to silverback ass-kicke

See Full Page