10 Serious Actors Who Successfully Made The Jump To Comedy

Pretty much anyone born after 1980 knows Leslie Nielsen for his work in Airplane! and The Naked Gun series. And it's perfectly understandable that your first instinct after watching those films is "Boy, I bet Leslie Nielsen did a helluva job in his dramatic portrayal of Colonel George Custer!"

Yet, prior to Airplane!, Nielsen was more adept at playing military men and law enforcement personnel than just about any other working actor. So it kind of makes sense that he would gravitate toward a role as a bumbling police officer, given his experience in playing so many of those characters, albeit without aiming for laughs.

Prior to Airplane!, Nielsen had a long dramatic career that spanned television and film. He often played military commanders and police detectives, with the occasional medieval king or Roman senator thrown in for good measure. Offers of leading roles had pretty much petered out by the 1980s, so he deliberately branched out into comedy with Airplane!, playing The Comically Serious. After that, he experienced a career renaissance as a comedic actor.

Who else do you think belongs on this list? Let us know down in the comments.