David Niven - Biography, Filmography

Actor, born in Kirriemuir, Angus, E Scotland, UK. He trained at Sandhurst Military Academy, served in the army, and had a variety of jobs before he arrived in Hollywood, where he joined the social set led by Errol Flynn and Clark Gable, and worked as an extra in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). Signed by Samuel Goldwyn, he developed into a polished light comedian and gallant hero in such films as The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) and The Dawn Patrol (1938). After service as an army officer in World War 2, he spent 30 years as an urbane leading man, perfectly cast as the gentlemanly voyager Phineas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days (1956), and winning an Oscar for Separate Tables (1958). An inimitable raconteur, he published two volumes of lighthearted autobiography: The Moon's a Balloon (1972) and Bring on the Empty Horses (1975).

David Niven (March 1, 1910 – July 29, 1983), was an Academy Award-winning English actor.

Biography

James David Graham Niven was born in London, England, the son of William Edward Graham Niven and French/British Henrietta Julia de Gacher, who was born in Wales.

Arriving in Hollywood during the early 1930s, he first worked as an extra in westerns, then had a walk-on part in the 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty.

During World War II, Niven served in the British army, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the British Commandos. He acted in two films during the war, both of strong propaganda value: The First of the Few (1942) and The Way Ahead (1944).

Despite the public interest in what celebrities did during the war, Niven remained politely, but firmly, close-mouthed about the subject. I found it where they told me I would, but it was among 27,000 others, and I told myself that here, Niven, were 27,000 reasons why you should keep your mouth shut after the war." He did, however, finally open up about it in his 1971 autobiography, The Moon's A Balloon, mentioning his private conversations with Winston Churchill, the bombings, and what it was like entering a nearly completely destroyed Germany with the occupation forces.

In spite of six years' virtual absence from the screen, he came second in the 1945 Popularity Poll of British film stars.

Reputedly, he refused to work with Rex Harrison or James Mason - the latter was an avowed pacifist and Niven saw the former as late to the colours in the war.

He resumed his career after the war, with films such as Around the World in Eighty Days (as Phileas Fogg), The Guns of Navarone, The Pink Panther and as Sir James Bond in the unofficial series spoof Casino Royale. (He had actually been one of Ian Fleming's early choices to play Bond in Dr. No, before Sean Connery was chosen for the role.)

He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Separate Tables (1958).

Late in life, he gained critical acclaim for his memoirs of his boyhood and acting career, The Moon's A Balloon (1971) and Bring On the Empty Horses (1975).

In 1940, Niven married Primula Susan Rollo (1918–1946), the aristocratic daughter of a British pilot, after a whirlwind two-week romance;

Niven's second wife, whom he married in 1948, six weeks after they met, was Hjördis Paulina Tersmeden (née Genberg, 1921–1997), a divorced Swedish fashion model and frustrated actress. Upon seeing her, he said, his mouth and knees suddenly seemed to be 'full of champagne.'

They had two adopted daughters, Kristin and Fiona, one of whom has long been rumored to be Niven's child by another fashion model, Mona Gunnarson .

Niven died in Switzerland on July 29, 1983 of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), a form of motor neurone disease at age 73. He died on the same day as Raymond Massey, his co-star in The Prisoner of Zenda and A Matter of Life and Death. Niven had just completed work on Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther. The Moon's a Balloon. The Other Side of the Moon.

Filmography

There Goes the Bride (1932) Cleopatra (1934) Without Regret (1935) Barbary Coast (1935) A Feather in Her Hat (1935) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) Splendor (1935) Rose-Marie (1936) Palm Springs (1936) Dodsworth (1936) Thank You, Jeeves! (1936) The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) Beloved Enemy (1936) We Have Our Moments (1937) The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) Dinner at the Ritz (1937) Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) Four Men and a Prayer (1938) Three Blind Mice (1938) The Dawn Patrol (1938) Wuthering Heights (1939) Bachelor Mother (1939) The Real Glory (1939) Eternally Yours (1939) Raffles (1940) The First of the Few (1942) The Way Ahead (1944) A Matter of Life and Death (1946) — (also known as Stairway to Heaven) Magnificent Doll (1946) The Other Love (1947) The Perfect Marriage (1947) The Bishop's Wife (1947) Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948) Enchantment (1948) A Kiss in the Dark (1949) A Kiss for Corliss (1949) The Elusive Pimpernel (1950) The Toast of New Orleans (1950) Soldiers Three (1951) Happy Go Lovely (1951) Appointment with Venus (1951) The Lady Says No (1952) The Moon Is Blue (1953) The Love Lottery (1954) Happy Ever After (1954) Carrington V.C. (1955) The King's Thief (1955) The Birds and the Bees (1956) Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) Oh, Men! Oh, Women! (1957) The Little Hut (1957) My Man Godfrey (1957) The Silken Affair (1957) Glamorous Hollywood (1958) (short subject) Bonjour tristesse (1958) Separate Tables (1958) Ask Any Girl (1959) Happy Anniversary (1959) Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960) The Guns of Navarone (1961) The Shortest Day (1962) (unconfirmed role) The Conquered City (1962) The Best of Enemies (1962) The Road to Hong Kong (1962) (Cameo) Guns of Darkness (1962) 55 Days at Peking (1963) The Pink Panther (1963) Bedtime Story (1964) Where the Spies Are (1965) Lady L (1965) All Eyes On Sharon Tate (1967) (short subject) Casino Royale (1967) Eye of the Devil (1967) Prudence and the Pill (1968) The Impossible Years (1968) The Extraordinary Seaman (1969) The Brain (1969) Before Winter Comes (1969) The Statue (1971) King, Queen, Knave (1972) Vampira (1974) (also known as Old Dracula) Paper Tiger (1975) No Deposit, No Return (1976) Murder by Death (1976) Candleshoe (1977) Death on the Nile (1978) A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (1979) Escape to Athena (1979) Rough Cut (1980) The Sea Wolves (1980) Better Late Than Never (1982) Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)

Preceded by: Alec Guinness for The Bridge on the River Kwai

Academy Award for Best Actor 1958 for Separate Tables

Succeeded by: Charlton Heston for Ben-Hur

James Bond actors
Official - Sean Connery • George Lazenby • Roger Moore • Timothy Dalton • Pierce Brosnan • Daniel Craig Unofficial - Barry Nelson • David Niven • Sean Connery