You probably know this, but Leslie Nelson was a serious actor for most of his career. Doing the “Police Squad” series was a huge departure for him. Also “Airplane”.
The funny thing is now if I watch him playing a serious role, I still crack up.
I remember him from “Forbidden Planet” and “Swamp Fox.”
I remember he was always the strait guy for like 25 years. Then he started his comic acting and it worked so well because it contrasted so well with your expectations.
There were several other senior actors just like that in Air Plane.
"Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue".