Leslie Nielsen Parents: Meet Ingvard Eversen Nielsen, Mabel Elizabeth Davies

Leslie William Nielsen OC was a comedian and actor from Canada. His mother, Mabel Elizabeth was a Welsh immigrant, and his father, Ingvard Eversen Nielsen was a Danish-born Royal Canadian Mounted Police constable.

Nielsen was the second of two boys born to both of his parents.  Erik Nielsen his elder brother, was a long-serving Canadian Member of Parliament, cabinet minister, and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1986.

Leslie Nielsen spent several years in the Northwest Territories, where his father was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Leslie wished to flee his abusive father, who beat his wife and sons.

He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at the age of 17 in 1943, despite being legally deaf, after graduating from Victoria High School. During WWII, he trained as an aerial gunner there.

He was, however, too young to be fully trained or deployed overseas. He was discharged after the war and briefly worked as a disc jockey at a Calgary, Alberta, radio station before enrolling at the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto.

Throughout his successful career in acting, Nielsen amassed considerable wealth through his film and television work. Over the course of his career, he appeared in over a hundred films and 150 television shows, portraying over 220 characters.