Leslie Nielsen’s form of deadpan, bone-dry humour was not perhaps everyone’s cup of tea, but I have very fond memories of some of his greatest hits like Airplane! and Dracula: Dead and Loving It. And it must be said, there were times when Mr. Nielsen was very, very funny indeed:

Man, they don’t make comedians like that anymore.

And that last line of his – “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley” – is pretty damned good, but it still isn’t as funny as the one on his own tombstone: “Let ‘er rip”. See, Leslie Nielsen always carried around with him a portable fart machine (yes, really) in order to play practical jokes on people at every possible opportunity.

He really did embody that ancient bit of wisdom: “You will die one day, so live!”