The film world is saying goodbye to two key figures, who’ve died over the weekend.
The actor Leslie Nielsen – best known for Airplane and the Naked Gun series – has died at the age of 84. He was being treated in hospital in Florida for pneumonia. Nielsen started out in dramatic roles, such as the captain of the doomed ship in The Poseidon Adventure, but didn’t find international fame until he started to parody such roles in offbeat comedies. Surely, he’ll be best remembered for his comic suffix, “Don’t call me Shirley.”
The film director, Irvin Kershner — who made the second Star Wars film, “The Empire Strikes Back” — has died at the age of 87. He was a surprise choice for the job, but he’d taught the creator of the franchise, George Lucas, at film school in the 1960s. Kershner’s other credits included Eyes of Laura Mars, Robocop 2 and Sean Connery’s revival as James Bond in Never Say Never Again.