pilot in Powell and Pressburger's David Niven Junior last saw his father a few months before his death at the movie star's spectacular villa overlooking the sea at Cap Ferrat in the South of France. William Niven, David's father, was of Scottish descent; his paternal grandfather, David Graham Niven, (18111884) was from St. Martins, a village in Perthshire. About to lead his men into action, Niven eased their nervousness by telling them, "Look, you chaps only have to do this once. In The Moon's a Balloon, Niven described the bullying, isolation, and abuse he endured as a six-year-old. With an Academy Award to his credit, Niven's career continued to thrive. Peking"; and "The Pink Panther", in which his suave jewel thief was a Herbert Marshall and the imperious C. Aubrey Smith, who ran the The new family were photographed enjoying the gardens and swimming . (1958) Starring: Dick Powell, David Niven Genre: TV Western, Television Studio: Timeless Media Release Date: 12/2/2014 Features: Boxed Set The third season of the anthology series brings more of Zane Grey's Old West stories to the small screen with no shortage of drama or top guest stars. Brother of Margaret Joyce Niven; Henry Degacher Niven and Grizel Rosemary Graham Niven, -----------------------------------------------------------------. 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. Ex-partner of Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll Having developed an interest in acting, he left the Highland Light Infantry, travelled to Hollywood and had several minor roles in film. became a close friend and drinking companion) ; Niven played a gallant Born in London in 1910, David Niven went to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1928 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry the following year. In February 1983, using a false name to avoid publicity, Niven was hospitalised for ten days, ostensibly for a digestive problem. 25, was killed in an accidental fall, leaving two small sons. supported Ronald Colman in "The Prisoner of Zenda", played opposite This ended his chances for Eton College, a significant blow to his family. In Goldwyn's drawing-room, Niven noticed a picture of himself in uniform which he had sent to Goldwyn from Britain during the Second World War. He followed it with Oh, Men! [41] He also became close friends with William F. Buckley and his wife Pat; Buckley wrote a memorial tribute to him in Miles Gone By (2004). Casino Royale co-producer Charles K. Feldman said later that Fleming had written the book with Niven in mind, and therefore had sent a copy to Niven. His mother remarried Sir Thomas Comyn-Platt in 1917. colony that included Cary Grant, Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, In July 1982, Blake Edwards brought Niven back for cameo appearances in two final "Pink Panther" films (Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther), reprising his role as Sir Charles Lytton. Niven's next few films were made in England: The Love Lottery (1954), a comedy; Carrington V.C. She was so serious about her education that she fell . rater than stick out for good parts. Biografie (1) James David Graham Niven se narodil v Londn. Rosalind Russell later named the house "Cirrhosis-by-the-Sea". Read More Primula Niven. He was chosen by Otto Preminger for David Niven was born on the 1st of March, 1910. it made more than 2,000 and helped to launch the careers of several Niven first met Churchill at a dinner party in February 1940. Primula, whom he called Primmie, died at age 28, only six weeks after moving to the U.S., of a fractured skull and brain lacerations from an accidental fall in the home of Tyrone Power. She was 78. In this way his wife avoided disfigurement. In the Ian Fleming novel You Only Live Twice, Kissy Suzuki has a cormorant who is named "David" after the actor. long novel with a Hollywood setting, "Go Slowly, Come Back Quickly". "[11] Niven is said to have revealed that he knew Comyn-Platt was his real father a year before his own death in 1983.[12]. William Wyler's 1939 film of "Wuthering Heights". I have to catch a train."[16]. The play ran for only 45 performances but it was seen by Otto Preminger, who decided to cast Niven in the film version of the play The Moon Is Blue (1953). In a review of Lord's book, Hugh Massingberd from The Spectator stated photographic evidence did show a strong physical resemblance between Niven and Comyn-Platt that "would appear to confirm these theories, though photographs can often be misleading. His range as an actor was limited and years and took a succession of casual jobs in Canada and the United Niven returned to Hollywood and encountered tragedy when his first wife died after falling down a flight of stairs at a party. [10], Literary editor and biographer, Graham Lord, wrote in Niv: The Authorised Biography of David Niven, that Comyn-Platt and Niven's mother may have been in an affair well before her husband's death in 1915 and that Comyn-Platt was actually Niven's biological father, a supposition that had some support among Niven's siblings. Niven had a long and complex relationship with Goldwyn, who gave him his first start. Niven plays the bumbling amateur who makes good but was recruited because all the other spies have been unfortunately lost - that's MI5. His first sizeable role for Goldwyn came in Dodsworth (1936), playing a man who flirts with Ruth Chatterton. He registered with Central Casting as "Anglo Saxon Type Number Mother Jessie Robertson. For full citations and references see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Niven. Following the success of James Bond, spy spoofs became commonplace in cinema.In the '60s, films like Our Man Flint, starring James Coburn, and the Matt Helm franchise starring Dean Martin permeated movie screens. In the same year, Niven starred in the television miniseries A Man Called INTREPID, based on the supposed memoir of Sir William Stephenson, a Canadian master spy for British intelligence. Mason quickly bonds with Connie's 6-year-old son Timmy, the remarkable Gordon Gebert, who has a . harmonious it lasted for 14 years. David Niven Jr. is 79 years old in 2022. It all started in a small town when she, as a young Yugoslavian woman, married a man named Robert Chandler. When the boy was five, his father was killed in the Gallipoli campaign in World War I. She was rushed into a London nursing home for a secret termination. He received his resident alien visa from the American consulate when his birth certificate arrived from Britain. Father of Private; Private; Private and Private During his work with the AFPU, Peter Ustinov, one of the script-writers, had to pose as Niven's batman. English actor David Niven as the butler, Godfrey Smith, in 'My Man Godfrey', directed by Henry Koster, 1957. About to lead his men into action, Niven eased their nervousness by telling them, "Look, you chaps only have to do this once. This was his last film appearance. Kristina and Fiona told Graham Lord that Hjrdis added insult to injury by forbidding them to bury her alongside her husband in the place left for her in his double grave in Switzerland. unsettled childhood, being pushed by an unsympathetic step-father into The family's country home at Buckland, Carswell Manor, was sold shortly after David's birth. 1936 in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (whose star, Errol Flynn, Niven's mother, Henriette, was born in Brecon, Breconshire, Wales. He was assigned to the HLI, with which he served for two years in Malta and then for a few months in Dover. When he interrupted David Niven at the 1974 Academy Awards ceremony, the Oscars streaker established what remains the all-time most outrageous moment in the history of the Oscars. The plot was plainly autobiographical (although not recognised as such at the time of publication), involving a young soldier, John Hamilton, who leaves the British army, becomes a liquor salesman in New York, is involved in indoor horse racing, goes to Hollywood, becomes a deckhand on a fishing boat, and finally ends up as a highly successful film star. ", He gave a few details of his war experience in his autobiography, The Moon's a Balloon: his private conversations with Winston Churchill, the bombing of London, and what it was like entering Germany with the occupation forces. . Niven explained in his autobiography that there was no military way that he, as a lieutenant-colonel, and Ustinov, who was only a private, could associate, except as an officer and his subordinate, hence their strange "act". . Niven won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of the bogus major in wife. He then headed for America. He hosted the 1981 American Film Institute tribute to Fred Astaire, which was his final appearance in Hollywood. I was asked by some American friends to search out the grave of their son near Bastogne. ONCE coined as 'Hollywood's ideal Englishman,' actor David Niven was best known for his roles as officers, lovers and the iconic James Bond in 1967s Casino Royale. Niven often claimed that he was born in Kirriemuir, in the Scottish county of Angus in 1909, but his birth certificate shows this was not the case. Thoughtful and kind, he addressed the boys by their first names, allowed them bicycles, and encouraged and nurtured their personal interests. Niven moved to New York City, where he began an unsuccessful career in whisky sales and horse rodeo promotion in Atlantic City. Ronald Garrison (d. 1974, separated), David Alexander (d. 1985, separated) and David Niven Jr. were his three spouses. He served as an officer with the Highland Light With an Academy Award to his credit, Niven's career continued to thrive. I goggled. 2,008.". Though promoted to lieutenant on 1 January 1933,[18] he saw no opportunity for further advancement. David Niven was an esteemed English actor and novelist. After Sandhurst he was gazetted a lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry. Niven divided his time in the 1960s and 1970s between his chalet in Chteau-d'x[42] and Cap Ferrat on the Cte d'Azur in the south of France.[38]. She was among the VIP guests at his London memorial service. Born on 15 December 1942 in Unknown, David Niven Jr. started his career as actor . He made his way to Hollywood in the mid-1930s and began performing as an extra. he was one of famous actor and novelist with the age years old group. This helped him gain a contract with Samuel Goldwyn. Biography ID: 192869360 . From there, he hired an agent and had several small parts in films from 1933, 1934 and 1935, including a non-speaking part in MGM's Mutiny on the Bounty. Niven had a long, complex relationship with Goldwyn, who gave him his first start, but the dispute over The Elusive Pimpernel and Niven's demands for more money led to a long estrangement between the two in the 1950s.[31]. Both were made with a view to winning support for the British war effort, especially in the U.S. Niven's Film Unit work included a small part in the deception operation that used minor actor M. E. Clifton James to impersonate Field Marshal Montgomery. At that point, Niven had a brief but pleasant reunion. [5] Niven's paternal great grandfather and namesake, David Graham Niven, (18111884) was from St Martin's, a village in Perthshire, he was a doctor who married in Worcestershire, living in Pershore. extra. Niven also worked with the Army Film Unit. In Malta he became friends with Roy Urquhart, future commander of the British 1st Airborne Division. [22], Niven was recommissioned as a lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) on 25 February 1940,[23] and was assigned to a motor training battalion. Until then few people outside her family were . He was sent to reform school, where the brutality reached even greater proportions, Niven later recounted. As he was looking at the picture, Goldwyn's wife Frances said "Sam never took it down.". Niven played Alexander 'Alec' Fleming, one of a family of retired con-artists who now fleece villains in the interests of justice. Margaret Niven. . [32] He won the 1958 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Major Pollock in Separate Tables, his only nomination for an Oscar. Cap Ferrat, 1964 "For a long time it was a well-kept secret among a few close friends," David's friend Roddy Mann wrote. Mark you, had you not done so it would have been despicable. [19] With Rose's assistance, Niven was allowed to escape from a first-floor window. (1957); The Little Hut (1957), from the writer of The Moon is Blue and a success at the box office; My Man Godfrey (1957), a screwball comedy; and Bonjour Tristesse (1958), for Preminger. His father was an army man, as were both his grandfathers. His 1981 interviews on the talk shows of Michael Parkinson and Merv Griffin alarmed family and friends; viewers wondered if Niven had either been drinking or suffered a stroke. All four of Niven's children, as well as many of his friends, told Lord that Hjrdis, unable to achieve an acting career, had affairs with other men and became an alcoholic. In 1979 he appeared in Escape to Athena, which was produced by his son David Jr. In 1946 hr returned to Hollywood but found it difficult after such a On his return to Hollywood after the war, he received the Legion of Merit, an American military decoration. 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