Leslie Neilsen

Tulita, Northwest Territories – Actor Leslie Nielsen, star of Naked Gun and Airplane, known for his deadpan comedy, was born in Regina, Sask. and raised in Tulita (formally Fort Norman). Nielsen’s appearance on the TV series Due South as Sgt. Buck Frobisher is not far from his family roots. His father was a Mountie, and said to have been a strict disciplinarian. Nielsen’s acting career began at a young age when he was forced to fib to his father in order to avoid severe punishment. Tulita, which began as a trading post in 1810, is on the northern bank of the Mackenzie River at its junction with the Great Bear River. The name means ‘where the waters meet.’ Tourism focuses on fishing and canoeing. Nielsen went to high school in Edmonton, Alberta, studied at the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto, and worked as an engineer, disc jockey and announcer at a Calgary radio station.

Leslie Nielsen passed away in Florida on Nov. 28, 2010 due to complications of pneumonia. Leslie’s older brother Eric Nielsen was a member of Parliament for the Yukon, and the the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada 1984 to 1986. Eric passed away Sept. 4, 2008.

Accessible by air from Norman Wells, the small (pop 527) community is 624 km northwest of Yellowknife. In the winter it’s connected to the Mackenzie Highway system by a road made of ice.