Alisande Ullman is quite popular in the USA for two things. Alisande Ullman was the second wife of the former American actor Leslie Nelson and she was an American actress herself. The series she was most popular for was It Takes Two (1968).
Ullman and her former husband Leslie appeared together numerous times on several TV game shows during that period. They were on five sequential episodes of “It Takes Two” which aired in June of 1969 together and were also on about at least five episodes of “It’s Your Bet” which also aired from 1970 to 1972, they were not sequential.
Alisande Ullman Bio
Quite unfortunately but not surprising, there is not much written or shared about Alisande Ullman’s life apart from her marriage and the fact that she was in the series “It Takes Two”. Efforts to find out more about her life before her marriage to Leslie has proven to be futile. However this is much to be said and available about her ex-husband Leslie Nelson.
Leslie William Nielsen as he is known was birthed on the 11th of February 1926. He was a Canadian-American dramatic and comedic actor who loved practical jokes. Leslie’s career spanned over 60 years making an appearance in more than 100 films and 150 television programs playing over 220-character roles.
Alisande Ullman and Leslie Neilson
Just as I said in the introduction, Alisande Ullman was once married to Leslie Nielson and that was on reason for her fame. The couple were married for 14.2 years from 1958 till 1973 when they finally divorced. Ullman conceived two children when she was with Leslie. Two girls to be precise. They were Maura Nielson and Thea Nelson.
Maura and Thea were Leslie’s only daughters although He married four different times. Leslie was married to nightclub singer named Monica Boyar from 1950 till 1956 and then married Alisande Ullman two years after from 1958–1973. Eight years after their divorce, Leslie married Brooks Oliver for just 2 years from 1981 till 1983, and then married Barbaree Earl about two years after his short marriage to Brooks from 2001 till he died in 2010. In his later years, Nielsen and his wife Barbaree stayed between homes in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Paradise Valley, Arizona.
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Alisande Ullman’s ex-Husband
Leslie Nielsen was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in Canada to his mother, Mabel Elizabeth (maiden name Davies) who was an immigrant from Wales, and his father, Ingvard Eversen Nielsen who lived 1900 to 1975) and was a Danish-born constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. His parents had to boys and he was the second and last born. His elder brother was Erik Nielsen, born in 1924 and died in 2008. He was a Canadian Member of Parliament, cabinet minister, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1986. He also has a half-brother, Gilbert Nielsen, from his father’s other relationship.7
Alisande Ullman’s ex-husband Nielsen lived with his family for a long time in Fort Norman (now called Tulita) in the Northwest Territories. As a Royal Canadian Mounted Police, his dad was known to be a very abusive man who beat his wife and sons, all the time. For this reason, Leslie always had the desire to escape home. After he graduated from Victoria High School (later renamed Victoria School of the Arts) in Edmonton, Leslie saw the opportunity and took it.
He got himself enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at age of 17 in 1943, although he was legally deaf wearing hearing aids most of his life for support. That is how bad he needed to leave home. At the air force, he trained as an aerial gunner during World War II but, he was too young to be fully trained or sent overseas. He served till he was discharged after the end of World War II.
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After his discharge, Alisande Ullman’s ex-husband worked as a disc jockey (DJ) at a Calgary, Alberta, radio station, before he enrolled in Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto.
While he was studying in Toronto, Alisande Ullman’s ex-husband, Nielsen received a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse. “I couldn’t refuse, but I must say when you come from the land of the snow goose, the moose, and wool to New York, you’re bringing every ton of hayseed and country bumpkin that you packed. As long as I didn’t open my mouth, I felt a certain security. But I always thought I was going to be unmasked: ‘OK, pack your stuff.’ ‘Well, what’s the matter?’ ‘We’ve discovered you have no talent; we’re shipping you back to Canada.” He said.
He moved to New York City for because of the is scholarship, studying theatre and music at the Neighborhood Playhouse, while performing in summer stock theatre.
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Afterward, Alisande Ullman’s ex-husband attended the Actors Studio, until he made his acting debut in 1950 on an episode of Studio One, alongside Charlton Heston, for which he was paid $75 (equivalent to $840 in 2021), making an appearance in about 46 live television programs a year. Nielsen made his film debut in 1956, with supporting roles in several dramas and western and romance films produced between the 1950s and the 1970s.
Although he had a good reputation as being a serious actor due to his unique performances in the films Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure gave him standing as a serious actor, he actually gained his lasting recognition for his deadpan comedy roles during the 1980s, after being cast for the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker comedy film Airplane!.
His performance in Airplane! marked his turning point. He was even named “the Olivier of spoofs” by famous film critic Roger Ebert. This led to his subsequent comedy like “The Naked Gun” film series, based on the earlier short-lived television series Police Squad!, being a success. For this, he received various awards and was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Leslie stated that his half-uncle Jean Hersholt was his inspiration become an actor.
Leslie, Alisande Ullman’s ex-husband loved the sport golf an often played it. He joked, “I have no goals or ambition. I do, however, wish to work enough to maintain whatever celebrity status I have so that they will continue to invite me to golf tournaments.” The interest he had in golf led him to comedic instructional films.
Owing to the fact that he was practically deaf, he supported the Better Hearing Institute. Later in life, Nielsen had knee osteoarthritis. He participated in an educational video from The Arthritis Research Centre of Canada (ARC), demonstrating the physical examination of a patient with knee osteoarthritis.
Is Alisande Ullman still alive?
As to whether Alisande Ullman is dead or alive, we can not tell but her former husband left us about 12 years ago.
In November 2010, Leslie was sent to Holy Cross Hospital, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, due to pneumonia. He got admitted to the hospital and on November 28, Doug Nielsen, Leslie’s nephew, informed the CJOB radio station that Leslie had in his sleep from pneumonia around 5:30 pm EST. At the time of death, he was surrounded by his loved ones, family and friends. He was 84 years old at the time of his death. His body was buried in Fort Lauderdale’s Evergreen Cemetery.
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Leslie, Alisande Ullman’s ex-husband could not leave this earth without making everyone smile for the last time as he was a practical joker. As a final bit of humor, Nielsen chose “Let ‘er rip” as his epitaph which is a final reference to his favorite practical joke, a portable hand-controlled a fart machine which he was known for pranking people with.