Alisande Ullman is best known as the second wife of Canadian-American actor Leslie Nielsen, the comedy legend behind Airplane! and The Naked Gun. She married Nielsen in 1958, stayed married to him for around fifteen years, and became the mother of his only two children. Beyond that, Ullman deliberately kept her life away from the spotlight, which is exactly why so many people search her name today without finding much beyond a handful of facts.
This article brings together everything that is reliably known about Alisande Ullman: her marriage timeline, her daughters, her brief and occasional appearances alongside Nielsen, and what happened to her after the marriage ended. It also explains why detailed personal records about her, such as her birth date or her life after the divorce, simply are not part of the public record.
Quick Facts: Alisande Ullman
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Alisande J. Ullman |
| Best known as | Second wife of actor Leslie Nielsen |
| Birth date and place | Not publicly documented |
| Nationality | Not confirmed in public records |
| Spouse | Leslie Nielsen (married 1958, divorced early 1970s) |
| Marriage length | Approximately 15 years |
| Children | Two daughters, Maura Nielsen Kaplan and Thea Nielsen Disney |
| Occupation | No independent public career; occasional television appearances alongside Nielsen |
| Public profile after divorce | Largely private, with no confirmed later career or public records |
| Notable connection | Mother of Leslie Nielsen’s only two children |
Who Is Alisande Ullman?
Alisande Ullman was an American woman who married actor Leslie Nielsen in the late 1950s, several years before he became a household name for his comedic roles. She is not a public figure in her own right. There is no acting résumé, no independent media career, and no autobiography to draw from. Everything that is publicly known about her comes from records tied to her marriage, her divorce, and her two daughters, both of whom went on to work in and around the entertainment industry.
That lack of an independent public profile is not unusual. Many spouses of classic Hollywood-era actors, particularly those who married before their partner became famous, chose not to build a public identity of their own. Ullman appears to fit that pattern closely.
Why Is She Called Leslie Nielsen’s “Second” Wife?
Leslie Nielsen married four times over the course of his life. Alisande Ullman was the second of those four wives, which is why she is consistently referred to as his “second wife” rather than simply “a wife” or “an ex-wife.” Nielsen’s full marital history looked like this:
- Monica Boyar (1950 to 1956), a nightclub singer and his first wife.
- Alisande Ullman (1958 to the early 1970s), his second wife and the mother of his two daughters.
- Brooks Oliver (1981 to 1983), his third wife.
- Barbaree Earl (2001 until his death in 2010), his fourth and final wife.
Ullman therefore occupies a specific and important place in that timeline. She was married to Nielsen for longer than any of his other wives except his last, and she is the only one of his four spouses to have had children with him.
Alisande Ullman’s Early Life and Background
Reliable information about Alisande Ullman’s early life is limited. No widely confirmed records establish her exact birthplace, her date of birth, her family background, or her education. This is common for private individuals from that era who never sought media attention themselves and who married into fame rather than being born into it or pursuing it directly.
What can be said with confidence is that by the late 1950s, Ullman was based in the United States and moving in circles that overlapped with the entertainment industry, since that is where she met Leslie Nielsen. Beyond that starting point, there is no verified biography of her life before the marriage.
The Marriage to Leslie Nielsen
When Did Alisande Ullman Marry Leslie Nielsen?
Alisande Ullman married Leslie Nielsen on 10 September 1958. At the time, Nielsen was a working television and film actor who had not yet found the comedic fame that would define the later decades of his career. He was still primarily known for dramatic roles, including his part in the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet.
The marriage lasted for roughly fifteen years, making it the longest of Nielsen’s first three marriages and second only to his final marriage to Barbaree Earl. Divorce records filed in Los Angeles show the marriage formally ending in 1974, following a separation that most sources place in the early 1970s.
What Was Their Married Life Like?
There is very little detailed information about the day-to-day relationship between Ullman and Nielsen. What is documented is that the couple occasionally appeared together in public, including on television game shows of the late 1960s and early 1970s such as It Takes Two and It’s Your Bet. These appearances were brief and infrequent rather than a sign that Ullman pursued any kind of media career.
During this period, Nielsen’s career was steadily building. He worked consistently in television and film throughout the 1960s, years before the 1980 release of Airplane! transformed him into one of the most recognisable comic actors in America. Ullman’s role during these years was as a wife and mother rather than as a public figure alongside him.
Why Did Alisande Ullman and Leslie Nielsen Divorce?
The specific reasons behind the couple’s separation and divorce have never been made public. Neither Ullman nor Nielsen spoke about it in detail in interviews, and no reliable account of the breakdown of the marriage exists. What is known is that the marriage ended in the early 1970s, with a formal divorce record filed in Los Angeles County in 1974, after the couple had already been separated for some time.
Nielsen went on to marry twice more after his divorce from Ullman. Ullman herself did not remain in the public eye and there is no confirmed record of her remarrying.
Alisande Ullman’s Children: Maura and Thea
The most significant and best-documented part of Alisande Ullman’s life is her role as a mother. She and Leslie Nielsen had two daughters together, and they were his only children from any of his four marriages.
Maura Nielsen Kaplan
Maura Nielsen Kaplan followed her father into the entertainment industry, though on a much smaller scale. Industry records credit her with acting work, including a role in the 1998 comedy Family Plan, and she has also been credited in a production design capacity on other projects. Her professional listing describes her as an actress and production designer.
Thea Nielsen Disney
Thea Nielsen Disney is the second of Alisande Ullman’s daughters. Like her sister, she has been connected to acting and production work in and around Hollywood, though she has kept a relatively low public profile compared with her father. Detailed, independently verified information about her specific credits is limited, and different sources give slightly different accounts of her filmography, so any list of her exact roles should be treated with some caution.
Both daughters have largely avoided the kind of fame their father achieved, choosing instead to work in supporting or lower-profile industry roles rather than headline their own careers. Neither has spoken publicly in any detail about their mother, which is a large part of why Alisande Ullman’s own life remains so private.
What Happened to Alisande Ullman After the Divorce?
This is one of the most commonly asked questions about Alisande Ullman, and the honest answer is that very little is publicly confirmed. After her divorce from Leslie Nielsen in the early 1970s, Ullman appears to have stepped away from any association with the entertainment world entirely.
There are no widely reported details about:
- Whether she pursued a career after the divorce.
- Whether she remarried.
- Where she lived in later decades.
- Whether she is still living today.
This absence of information is consistent with someone who actively chose privacy rather than someone whose records have simply been lost. Unlike Nielsen, who remained a public figure until his death in 2010, Ullman never gave interviews about their marriage or her life afterwards, and no obituary or public record confirming her current status has surfaced.
Leslie Nielsen: A Brief Note on the Man She Married
To understand why Alisande Ullman is still searched for today, it helps to understand who Leslie Nielsen became. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, in 1926, Nielsen built a long career as a dramatic actor before reinventing himself in middle age as one of the defining comic actors of his generation.
His breakout comedic role came in 1980 with Airplane!, where his deadpan delivery of absurd lines became his trademark. He carried that persona through Police Squad! and its film spin-offs, The Naked Gun trilogy, cementing his reputation as a master of straight-faced comedy. Nielsen continued working until shortly before his death in 2010, by which point he had appeared in well over one hundred films and television productions.
Because Nielsen’s fame grew so significantly after his marriage to Ullman ended, most of what the public associates with him, including his most famous roles, happened during his later marriages, not during his years with Ullman. This is part of why her own story remains a footnote to his rather than a fully documented chapter in its own right.
Why People Still Search for Alisande Ullman Today
Interest in Alisande Ullman comes almost entirely through her connection to Leslie Nielsen rather than through anything she did herself. Fans of classic comedy films, biographers researching Nielsen’s life, and genealogy researchers tracing his family tree are the main groups searching her name. Because she is the mother of his only children, she occupies a permanent place in any accurate account of his personal life, even though she never sought that attention herself.
This pattern is common among spouses of major celebrities from the mid-twentieth century. Their names endure in searches and biographies, but the personal details available about them stay thin because they were never public figures by choice.
Conclusion
Alisande Ullman’s place in history is defined by a fifteen-year marriage to Leslie Nielsen and by the two daughters, Maura Nielsen Kaplan and Thea Nielsen Disney, that the couple raised together. She married Nielsen in 1958, before his career shifted from drama to comedy, and the marriage ended in the early 1970s, with a divorce formally recorded in 1974. Beyond that, Ullman chose a private life, and no reliable public record documents her background before the marriage or her circumstances after it. What remains clear is her lasting connection to one of comedy’s most recognisable faces, and her role as the mother of his only children.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Alisande Ullman?
Alisande Ullman was the second wife of actor Leslie Nielsen. She married him in 1958, and the couple had two daughters before divorcing in the early 1970s. She did not pursue a public career of her own.
When did Alisande Ullman marry Leslie Nielsen?
Alisande Ullman married Leslie Nielsen on 10 September 1958. The marriage lasted approximately fifteen years before ending in divorce, with formal records filed in 1974.
Did Alisande Ullman and Leslie Nielsen have children?
Yes, they had two daughters, Maura Nielsen Kaplan and Thea Nielsen Disney. These were Leslie Nielsen’s only children from any of his four marriages.
Was Alisande Ullman an actress?
No. Alisande Ullman did not have an independent acting career. She made only occasional public appearances alongside Leslie Nielsen, including on television game shows in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Is Alisande Ullman still alive today?
There is no publicly confirmed information about Alisande Ullman’s current status. She has lived privately since her divorce from Leslie Nielsen, and no reliable source has reported on her later life or whereabouts.
