It’s hard to believe it’s been over 35 years since The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! was released. The Naked Gun is a hilarious send-up of police procedurals, with the 1988 spoof film still holding up incredibly well. Created by David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams, the franchise was originally conceived as a television series for ABC called Police Squad! in 1982, but it only lasted six episodes. The creative team reinvigorated the concept to great acclaim and financial success with three films, and Naked Gun reboot starring Liam Neeson is due in 2025.
The movie revolves around Leslie Nielsen’s bumbling detective Lt. Frank Drebin as he attempts to stop an ᴀssᴀssination plot against Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Los Angeles. One of the most memorable aspects of the movie is the wide range of celebrity cameos, including Weird Al Yankovic, Dr. Joyce Brothers, and Leonard Nimoy, among many others. However, the most iconic cameo is by baseball legend Reggie “Mr. October” Jackson, whose hilarious role is essential to the film’s plot.
Reggie Jackson Played An ᴀssᴀssin Version Of Himself In His Naked Gun Cameo
The Baseball Legend Almost Kills The Queen Of England
Reggie Jackson’s memorable cameo occurs in the film’s climax. After a series of ridiculous mishaps and misunderstandings, Frank and the rest of Police Squad are fired from the case after Frank tackles Queen Elizabeth at a press conference and slides down a table while on top of her. However, after learning that the film’s antagonist, Vincent Ludwig (Ricardo Montalban), plans to hypnotize a baseball player using a mind-control device at the California Angels vs. Seattle Mariners game, Frank sneaks into the stadium and disguises himself as the home plate umpire.
During the game, Frank tries his best to figure out which player Ludwig plans to use for the killing, leading to some of the film’s funniest moments. After Frank angers fans and players alike with some of the worst calls in baseball history, an argument breaks out among the umpires at the start of the seventh-inning stretch, and the ᴀssᴀssin finally reveals himself to be… none other than Reggie Jackson.
Under the device’s control, Reggie retrieves a gun hidden under one of the bases and proceeds to walk toward the Queen while muttering, “I must kill the Queen,” over and over. A large brawl breaks out among all of the players, but Reggie is undeterred. He gets right up to the Queen and is about to shoot, but Frank manages to get a sH๏τ off from his watch weapon, accidentally hitting a woman in the stands, who falls directly onto Reggie and saves the Queen’s life. It’s over-the-top, absurd, and laugh-out-loud funny—just like the rest of the film.
Jackson Gave A Sweet Callback To His Naked Gun Cameo After Queen Elizabeth’s Pᴀssing
The Right-Fielder Wrote A Memorable Tweet In The Queen’s Honor
After Queen Elizabeth’s death on September 8, 2022, people all over the world shared memories and offered condolences. Several of these remarks referenced The Naked Gun. Although it was actress Jeannette Charles, not the actual Queen, who portrayed the monarch in the film, the role was so memorable and ingrained in pop culture that fans couldn’t help but bring it up online.
Fans of the film and Jackson’s followers loved the remark, liking the tweet 49K times and retweeting it 8.2K times.
One of the best responses came from Reggie Jackson himself. Just a few hours after the Queen’s death was announced, Jackson tweeted, “Now we all know I was innocent! Amen! RIP Queen E!” Fans of the film and Jackson’s followers loved the remark, liking the tweet 49K times and retweeting it 8.2K times.
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It was a loving tribute to a great woman and a testament to one of the best cameos of all time. It will be exciting to see if the Naked Gun reboot can top it!
