Alisande Ullman, often called Sandy Ullman, is best known as the second wife of actor and comedian Leslie Nielsen and the mother of his only two children, Thea Nielsen Disney and Maura Nielsen Kaplan. Alisande married Leslie Nielsen in 1958, years before Airplane! and The Naked Gun transformed him into one of Hollywood’s most famous comedy stars. Their marriage lasted about 15 years, and during that time they raised their daughters while Leslie was still known mainly as a serious dramatic actor.
Alisande Ullman Quick Bio
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Alisande Ullman |
| Common Name | Sandy Ullman |
| Famous For | Leslie Nielsen’s second wife |
| Husband | Leslie William Nielsen |
| Marriage Date | September 10, 1958 |
| Divorce | 1973–1974 depending on source; IMDb lists July 1974 |
| Marriage Length | About 15 years |
| Children | Two daughters |
| Older Daughter | Thea Nielsen Disney |
| Younger Daughter | Maura Nielsen Kaplan |
| Thea’s Birth | July 15, 1960 |
| Maura’s Birth | November 29, 1962 |
| Public Profession | Not reliably documented |
| Acting Career | No established professional acting career |
| Current Relationship Status | Not publicly documented |
| Net Worth | Not publicly verified |
| Current Whereabouts | Private and not reliably documented |
IMDb lists Leslie Nielsen’s marriage to Alisande Ullman from September 10, 1958, until July 1974, with two children. Major obituary accounts generally describe the marriage as 1958–1974, although some biographies give 1973 as the ending year.
Who Is Alisande Ullman?
Alisande Ullman is a private woman whose name became part of Hollywood history through her marriage to Leslie Nielsen.
She was not an actress trying to become famous.
She did not build a public career from her marriage.
And she never became a regular celebrity personality.
Instead, most of what is known about her comes from Leslie Nielsen’s biographies, family records and a small number of photographs taken while the couple were raising their daughters.
That privacy is important.
Many newer biography websites fill the gaps with birthdays, career claims and net-worth estimates that are difficult to prove.
The strongest facts about Alisande are much simpler: she married Leslie Nielsen in 1958, became the mother of Thea and Maura, shared roughly 15 years of family life with him and then largely disappeared from public entertainment coverage after their divorce.
Why Is She Sometimes Called Sandy Ullman?
Alisande was commonly known as Sandy Ullman.
Turner Classic Movies uses the name Sandy Ullman when describing Leslie Nielsen’s second wife and identifies her as the mother of his two daughters.
Other sources use the fuller name Alisande Ullman.
Both names refer to the same person.
This can occasionally confuse readers because someone searching “Alisande Ullman” may find less information than someone searching “Sandy Ullman.”
When Was Alisande Ullman Born?
Alisande Ullman’s exact birth date is not reliably established in strong public sources.
Major Leslie Nielsen biographies list his marriage to her but generally do not provide her age, birthday or birthplace.
That means it would be risky to copy an exact birth year from a small celebrity website and present it as confirmed.
For a private person, this is normal.
The marriage and family dates became public because Leslie was famous.
Alisande’s own childhood records did not.
Therefore, her exact age in 2026 cannot responsibly be stated as fact.
How Did Alisande Ullman Meet Leslie Nielsen?
The exact story of how Alisande and Leslie first met is not well documented in major biographies.
What is firmly recorded is that they married in 1958.
By then Leslie already had a growing acting career.
He had appeared in television throughout the 1950s and had moved into feature films, including Forbidden Planet, Ransom!, Tammy and the Bachelor and The Sheepman.
This was long before his comedy transformation.
So Alisande knew a very different Leslie Nielsen from the man audiences later associated with Frank Drebin.
Leslie Nielsen Was a Serious Actor During Their Marriage
This is one of the most interesting parts of Alisande’s story.
Today, Leslie Nielsen is remembered almost entirely as a comedy legend.
But during most of his marriage to Alisande, he was known for serious roles.
He played authority figures.
Military men.
Doctors.
Police officers.
Businessmen.
And dramatic leads.
The famous comedy breakthrough through Airplane! did not arrive until 1980, several years after their marriage had ended.
So Alisande’s married life with Leslie belonged to his first major career chapter, not the goofy comedy persona that made him iconic later.
When Did Alisande Ullman and Leslie Nielsen Get Married?
IMDb gives their wedding date as September 10, 1958.
Other family-history records use the same date, although those sources are less authoritative than IMDb or major obituary coverage.
Leslie had been married once before.
His first wife was Monica Boyer, sometimes spelled Bayar in older sources.
After that marriage ended, he married Alisande.
She therefore became his second wife.
How Long Were Alisande Ullman and Leslie Nielsen Married?
Their marriage lasted around 15 years.
The ending date varies slightly depending on the source.
Associated Press obituary coverage commonly lists the marriage as 1958–1974.
Encyclopedia.com gives 1958–1973.
IMDb is more specific and lists July 1974 as the divorce date.
This is a good example of why old celebrity timelines sometimes differ by a year.
One source may use the separation year while another uses the final legal divorce date.
The safest description is that they separated around 1973 and their divorce was finalized by 1974.
How Many Children Did Alisande Ullman Have With Leslie Nielsen?
Alisande and Leslie had two daughters.
They were:
Thea Nielsen Disney
and
Maura Nielsen Kaplan.
These were Leslie Nielsen’s only children.
When he died in 2010, obituary coverage consistently named Thea and Maura as his surviving daughters from his marriage to Sandy Ullman.
Who Is Thea Nielsen Disney?
Thea Nielsen Disney is Alisande and Leslie’s older daughter.
Turner Classic Movies gives her birth date as July 15, 1960 and describes her as a horse trainer.
Thea also has several acting credits.
IMDb lists appearances in:
Dracula: Dead and Loving It,
Family Plan,
and
Wrongfully Accused.
These movies were connected with her father, allowing Thea to make occasional small appearances without turning acting into a major celebrity career.
Who Is Maura Nielsen Kaplan?
Maura is Alisande and Leslie’s younger daughter.
Turner Classic Movies lists Maura’s birthday as November 29, 1962 and describes her as a real estate developer.
Like Thea, Maura also developed some entertainment connections.
IMDb credits her with appearances in several Leslie Nielsen movies as well as later projects including The Black Dot and Sonder.
She is also identified as a production designer.
So both of Alisande’s daughters maintained at least a small connection with the entertainment world their father inhabited.
Rare Family Photos of Alisande Ullman
One of the most valuable pieces of public information about Alisande is a series of family photographs taken in Los Angeles on March 27, 1970.
Getty Images identifies a photograph by Michael Ochs showing Leslie Nielsen at home with wife Alisande Ullman and daughters Maura and Thea.
The photographs show something much more ordinary than a movie premiere.
They show a family at home.
Leslie sits comfortably with his daughters.
Alisande is nearby.
The children are still young.
There are no movie costumes or comedy props.
That makes the pictures especially interesting to fans because they capture Leslie as a husband and father rather than an actor.
What Was Family Life Like?
There is not enough reliable interview material from Alisande herself to describe every detail of the marriage.
However, the 1970 family photographs show that the Nielsens were living together in Los Angeles while Leslie maintained a busy acting schedule.
Thea and Maura were children during this period.
Leslie worked constantly in television and film, meaning Alisande was raising their daughters while living inside a profession that often required long hours and travel.
It would be easy to invent stories about whether the marriage was happy or difficult.
There is no need.
What we know is that it lasted for roughly 15 years and produced the only children Leslie Nielsen ever had.
Did Alisande Ullman Appear on Television?
Some newer secondary biographies say Alisande occasionally appeared with Leslie on television game shows such as It Takes Two and It’s Your Bet.
That claim appears in modern retellings but is not as strongly documented as the marriage and family information.
If those appearances occurred, they would have been as Leslie’s spouse rather than as part of a professional acting career.
There is no established filmography showing Alisande as a working actress.
What Did Alisande Ullman Do for a Living?
Her profession is not reliably documented.
Some websites assign occupations to her without identifying the original source.
Major sources such as Turner Classic Movies and Encyclopedia.com simply identify her as Leslie’s wife and the mother of Thea and Maura.
That is an important distinction.
Not knowing a private person’s profession does not mean she never worked.
It means the information has not been reliably preserved in public entertainment records.
A good biography should leave that detail open instead of inventing a career.
Why Did Alisande Ullman and Leslie Nielsen Divorce?
No single dependable public source provides a detailed reason for the divorce.
They ended their marriage in the early 1970s after about 15 years.
That is the confirmed part.
Stories about arguments, infidelity or specific family problems should not be repeated unless they come from a reliable firsthand or biographical source.
Sometimes marriages simply end without the full private explanation becoming public.
Alisande never appears to have built a media career by discussing Leslie afterward.
That helped keep the details private.
Did Alisande Ullman Remarry?
Reliable public biographies do not clearly document a later husband for Alisande.
This does not prove that she never remarried.
It simply means her romantic life after Leslie Nielsen is not strongly recorded in major public sources.
Her former husband later married Brooks Oliver in the early 1980s and eventually married Barbaree Earl in 2001.
Alisande, by comparison, disappeared almost completely from entertainment reporting.
Leslie Nielsen’s Other Wives
Leslie Nielsen married four times.
The broad timeline was:
Monica Boyer/Bayar — first wife
Alisande “Sandy” Ullman — second wife
Brooks Oliver — third wife
Barbaree Earl Nielsen — fourth and final wife.
Alisande remains particularly important because she was the only one of those relationships to produce children.
That gives her a lasting place in the Nielsen family tree even decades after the divorce.
Did Alisande Know Leslie During His Naked Gun Fame?
Their marriage had already ended before Leslie became famous for Airplane! and The Naked Gun.
Airplane! arrived in 1980.
The first Naked Gun movie followed in 1988.
So Alisande was no longer Leslie’s wife during his biggest comedy period.
She had known him during his serious acting career instead.
That creates an interesting contrast.
The man she married was a handsome dramatic actor.
The man history remembers most strongly is a deadpan comedian.
Was Alisande Ullman at Leslie Nielsen’s Funeral?
Reliable public reports about Leslie Nielsen’s death do not provide enough detail to say whether Alisande attended his funeral or memorial.
Leslie died on November 28, 2010, at age 84 after complications from pneumonia.
His surviving family included his fourth wife Barbaree Earl and daughters Thea and Maura.
Because Alisande had been divorced from him for decades by that point, obituary coverage focused mainly on his current wife and daughters.
Is Alisande Ullman Still Alive in 2026?
Alisande’s present status is not well documented.
No reliable obituary for the Alisande Ullman who was married to Leslie Nielsen appeared in the research for this article.
However, the absence of an obituary is not enough to prove that someone is currently alive.
Because she has remained so private for decades, the responsible wording is:
Alisande Ullman’s current status and whereabouts are not reliably documented in major public sources.
That is more accurate than confidently claiming she lives in a particular city or is a particular age.
Where Is Alisande Ullman Today?
Her present residence is not reliably known.
The 1970 Getty family photographs place Alisande with Leslie and their daughters in Los Angeles during their marriage.
After the divorce, however, she stopped appearing regularly in public entertainment coverage.
There is no strong recent source establishing where she lives today.
That privacy should be respected.
Alisande Ullman’s Net Worth
Alisande Ullman’s net worth is not publicly verified.
Celebrity biography sites sometimes attach exact dollar estimates to private people simply because they were once married to someone famous.
That is not a reliable financial method.
A real net-worth calculation would require information about:
property,
investments,
business interests,
retirement savings,
inheritance,
and debts.
None of those details is publicly available enough to calculate her fortune.
Her former husband’s wealth should also not simply be treated as hers.
They divorced decades before his death.
Did Alisande Receive Money From Leslie Nielsen After the Divorce?
The financial terms of their divorce are not widely documented.
It is possible there were property arrangements or child-support responsibilities, as there are in many divorces involving children.
But without reliable records, exact amounts should not be guessed.
The fact that Leslie later became extremely successful in comedy does not automatically tell us what Alisande received when their marriage ended years earlier.
Why Alisande Ullman Still Gets Searched Today
The main reason is Leslie Nielsen’s continuing popularity.
People still watch:
Forbidden Planet,
Airplane!,
Police Squad!,
The Naked Gun,
Dracula: Dead and Loving It,
and his many other movies.
Then they read about his personal life.
They discover that he married four times.
They discover he had two daughters.
And the name Alisande Ullman appears.
That naturally creates curiosity.
Who was she?
Where did she go?
What happened after the divorce?
The problem is that Alisande chose a much more private life than Leslie.
That means not every question has a public answer.
Alisande Ullman’s Place in the Nielsen Family Legacy
Alisande’s most lasting public connection is through her daughters.
Thea Nielsen Disney and Maura Nielsen Kaplan are Leslie Nielsen’s only children.
Both developed adult lives away from the constant Hollywood spotlight.
Thea became associated with horse training and also made several small acting appearances.
Maura became known in real estate while accumulating her own occasional film and production credits.
Through them, Alisande remains a central part of Leslie Nielsen’s family story.
Final Thoughts on Alisande Ullman
Alisande Ullman is not famous because she tried to become a celebrity.
She is remembered because she shared an important chapter of Leslie Nielsen’s life.
They married on September 10, 1958, during the years when Leslie was still building a career as a serious actor.
Together they had two daughters.
Thea was born in 1960.
Maura followed in 1962.
A rare 1970 family portrait shows Leslie and Alisande at home in Los Angeles with both girls, providing one of the clearest surviving glimpses of their family life.
Their marriage eventually ended around 1973–74.
Leslie later remarried and, years afterward, completely reinvented his career through comedy.
Alisande moved away from public attention.
That means large parts of her biography remain private.
Her birthday is not firmly established.
Her career is unclear.
Her current residence is unknown.
Her net worth is unverified.
And her present status is not sufficiently documented to make confident claims.
But what is known is significant.
Alisande Ullman was Leslie Nielsen’s longest early marriage partner, the mother of his only two children, and the woman who shared his family life before audiences ever knew him as the hilariously serious face of Airplane! and The Naked Gun.
FAQs About Alisande Ullman
Who is Alisande Ullman?
Alisande Ullman, also known as Sandy Ullman, is Leslie Nielsen’s second wife and the mother of his two daughters.
Was Alisande Ullman married to Leslie Nielsen?
Yes. They married in 1958 and divorced in the early 1970s.
When did Alisande Ullman marry Leslie Nielsen?
IMDb lists their wedding date as September 10, 1958.
When did Alisande Ullman and Leslie Nielsen divorce?
Sources vary between 1973 and 1974. IMDb lists July 1974, while some biographies use 1973.
How long were they married?
Approximately 15 years.
Was Alisande Leslie Nielsen’s first wife?
No. She was his second wife.
Who was Leslie Nielsen’s first wife?
His first wife was Monica Boyer, sometimes spelled Bayar.
How many children did Alisande Ullman have?
She had two daughters with Leslie Nielsen.
Who are Alisande Ullman’s daughters?
Her daughters are Thea Nielsen Disney and Maura Nielsen Kaplan.
When was Thea Nielsen born?
Turner Classic Movies lists Thea’s birth date as July 15, 1960.
When was Maura Nielsen Kaplan born?
Maura was born on November 29, 1962.
Is Alisande Ullman an actress?
There is no established professional acting career for Alisande.
What did Alisande Ullman do for a living?
Her career has not been reliably documented in major public sources.
Did Alisande Ullman appear in family photographs with Leslie Nielsen?
Yes. Getty Images has a documented March 1970 portrait showing Leslie, Alisande, Maura and Thea at their Los Angeles home.
Did Alisande know Leslie before he became a comedy star?
Yes. Their entire marriage occurred before Airplane! turned Leslie into a major comedy star in 1980.
Did Alisande Ullman remarry?
No later marriage is strongly documented in major public sources.
Is Alisande Ullman still alive?
Her current status is not reliably documented. No strong obituary was located, but that alone is not enough to confirm that she is currently living.
Where is Alisande Ullman now?
Her present location is private and not reliably established.
What is Alisande Ullman’s net worth?
Her exact net worth has never been independently verified.
Did Alisande have children with anyone besides Leslie Nielsen?
No reliable public record located for this article confirms additional children.
Was Alisande Ullman married to Leslie when The Naked Gun came out?
No. Their marriage had ended years before the first Naked Gun movie was released.
Who was Leslie Nielsen married to after Alisande?
He later married Brooks Oliver and eventually Barbaree Earl Nielsen.
Who was Leslie Nielsen married to when he died?
His wife at the time of his death was Barbaree Earl Nielsen.
Why is Alisande Ullman famous?
She is primarily known as Leslie Nielsen’s second wife and the mother of his only two children.
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