A Man Named Leslie Trivia Quiz

Answer: Regina

Regina is the only prairie city on the list of choices and is the capital of the province of Saskatchewan. The city was named by Princess Louise, in honour of her mother "Victoria Regina". The Cree peoples believed that living bison would never leave a place where the "spirit" of the dead ones remained and thus piled up bones as "insurance" that hunting would remain forever bountiful.

Answer: Royal Canadian Mounted Police Academy

Leslie's father was a Mountie. The RCMP Academy has always been located in Regina Saskatchewan.

The Canadian Police Dog Service Training Centre can be found in Innisfail Alberta. It is world-renowned for its high standards, as only 17% of dogs deemed eligible for training actually graduate.

The "Snowbirds" (whose official name is the Canadian Forces Air Demonstration Team) honours the 431 Bomber Squadron of WW2, along with all those who have served.

The Canadian National Railway was formed between 1918 and 1923 and was privatised in 1995.

Answer: Lorne Greene

Lorne Greene had an extensive background in radio before he ever became an actor and was a popular CBC broadcaster who was dubbed "The Voice of Doom" (partly because of his deep resonant timbre, but mostly because it was HIS voice that reported the events of WW2 to the Canadian public). Leslie Nielson never forgot his initial training and Lorne Greene was asked to be the first guest star on the TV series "Police Squad".

Answer: Forbidden Planet

Nielsen, with characteristic humility, said this about the movie: "Supposedly a science fiction version of Shakespeare's The Tempest, it was all about the id, or something like that. Who knows? The Trekkies today regard it as the forerunner of Star Trek. I just had to wear a tight uniform and make eyes at Anne Francis."

"Lost in Space" (the movie) wasn't made until 1998. "The Blob" (1958) starred Steve McQueen in a movie he probably would have liked to have forgotten. The robot in the original "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (1951) was named "Gort".

Answer: Ben-Hur

Leslie auditioned for the role of Messala but Stephen Boyd got the part. Ben-Hur was a vehicle (no pun intended) for Charleton Heston. Coincidentally, Charleton's and Leslie's television debuts occured together in an episode of the show "Studio One" in 1948.

Answer: Airplane!

Leslie Nielsen DID appear in "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) as the captain, and while he was acknowledged for his dramatic acting in that movie, he didn't utter any particularly memorable lines. "Airplane!" was a film that parodied all the disaster movies that preceded it. If you haven't seen it, you should, because it spawned most of the spoof movies of the last 35 years, including the "Scary Movie" series (which, incidentally, Leslie Nielsen had cameo appearances in).

Answer: Police Squad

"Police Squad" ran for only 6 episodes in 1982, yet Leslie was still nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. In those six episodes, 6 guest stars were "killed off": Lorne Greene, Georg Stanford Brown, Robert Goulet, William Shatner, Florence Henderson and William Conrad. John Belushi was the possible 7th, but it was never aired.

Quote from episode 5 (After walking in unannounced to Dutch's office)
Dutch Gunderson: "Who are you and how did you get in here?"
Frank Drebin: "I'm a locksmith. And ... I'm a locksmith."

Answer: Due South

All of the wrong answers starred John Candy.

"Due South" ran for four and one-half years (1994-1999). It was a comedy drama which had a sub-plot of the stereotypical differences between American and Canadian culture. If not for the popularity of the series in Canada and the U.K. it would have been cancelled in its second season, due to CBS constantly changing the time slot and refusing to pick up additional episodes. Too bad, because if you're a woman, there was nothing "yummier" than Paul Gross in a Mountie uniform :). Leslie Nielsen, along with the inimitable Gordon Pinsent as a "ghost", played recurring roles in this series. Thankfully, the show is now in reruns as well as a boxed set. If you're not familiar with this program, I highly recommend the episode "All the Queen's Horses" and in particular the song "Ride Forever" where Nielsen sings.

Answer: deafness

Even though he played Mr. Magoo, there was nothing wrong with his eyesight. Leslie wore hearing aids since about 1980, due to progressive deafness caused by a childhood illness. Despite that he joined the RCAF at the age of 17, trained as a gunner and then went on to radio broadcasting and later, of course, acting.

He eventually became President of the International Better Hearing Institute. I find it quite remarkable that many never knew about his disability, including several movie/tv producers.

Answer: Clarence Darrow

After spending 30 years in serious drama, then another three decades as a comedic actor, Leslie Nielsen returned to the serious side with "Clarence Darrow: A One-Man Play". According to all reviews from 1996 onwards, Leslie WAS Darrow "reborn" (with no sign of "Drebin" anywhere to be found). He toured Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. with this performance, to critical acclaim.