David Niven

David Niven (born James David Graham Niven; London, March 1, 1910-Château-d'Œx, Canton of Vaud, July 29 1983) was a British actor and writer. Winner of the Oscar award in 1958, he was also known as a prototype of elegance in the British style, as well as a Hollywood seducer.

Life and career

He was the son of an army lieutenant killed in Gallipoli, and his mother belonged to the aristocracy. He studied at Rowe College and the Royal Academy of Sandhurst, and entered the Army following the family tradition, although he left it to go to Canada, to work as a journalist.

Beginnings in the cinema

His dapper English appearance gave him access to Hollywood movies in 1935. His roles were increasingly important. The films Mution on the Bounty (1935 version) and Wuthering Heights, directed by William Wyler, stand out.

Wedding and Tragedy

After a two-week romance in 1940, Niven married Primula Susan Rollo (London, February 18, 1918 – Beverly Hills, California, May 21, 1946), the aristocratic daughter of a British lawyer. The couple had two children, David Junior, also an actor, and Jamie.

When Primula—whom Niven called Primmie—was 28, just six weeks after they both moved to Beverly Hills, California, an unfortunate accident happened. During a party at Tyrone Power's house, guests were playing hide-and-seek. She opened a door and jumped in, thinking it was a closet, falling down a stone staircase into the basement, she fractured her skull and died. Niven fell into a deep depression after the death of her great love.

During his second marriage to Swedish model Hjördis Paulina Tersmeden (1919–1997), he adopted Kristina and Fiona.

Film successes

During World War II, Niven returns to the UK to fight against Germany and to make some war propaganda films. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1944 he tracked down an actor, Lieutenant Clifton James, strikingly similar to General Montgomery, and recruited him for a deception mission, Operation Copperhead, part of Operation Fortitude.

Once the war was over, he returned to the cinema, highlighting his performances in comedies and dramas, such as: The moon is blue, by Otto Preminger (1953); Around the World in Eighty Days, by Michael Anderson (1956), and, above all, Separate Tables, by Delbert Mann (1958), with which David Niven obtained the Oscar for best actor.

He was also involved in various blockbusters, such as 55 Days in Beijing, The Guns of Navarone, Casino Royale, Death in the Nile, and several films about the saga of The Pink Panther directed by Blake Edwards, in which he played the villain Charles Lytton "the Ghost".

A “different” seducer

David Niven was one of the greatest seducers in Hollywood, to the point of harming his stable relationships, as he himself recognized in his memoirs. Although he promised to be faithful to his partners, "my erections were stronger than my convictions."

Among his love conquests were Marilyn Monroe and Grace Kelly. Her uninhibited attitude, bordering on tactless at times, got her into occasional trouble. Thus, during a party in Monaco, she replied that her "greatest conquest was Grace", which caused the astonishment of Prince Raniero III of Monaco, already the actress's husband at the time. Although Niven tried to solve the mess by clarifying that this Grace was another woman, he was never invited to Monaco again.

Niven's sexual appetite had its limits, however, and he didn't explore bisexuality like many Hollywood stars. This brought him the enmity with Errol Flynn. For a while they both shared a flat and on one occasion Flynn made sexual advances on him: "He grabbed me where a man doesn't expect it." Niven turned him down and Errol protested by asking, "In Hollywood, everyone sleeps with everyone, what makes you different?"

Death

In 1980 Niven began to experience fatigue, muscle weakness, and loss of voice. In 1981, an interview on The Michael Parkinson Show alarmed her family and friends, with viewers even questioning whether Niven had been drinking. As a result of all this, at the end of that year he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Until 1981 he was the presenter of the "Homage to Fred Astaire", organized by the American Film Institute, which was his last public appearance in Hollywood.

After that, he retired to his residence in Château-d'Œx, Switzerland. In February 1983 Niven was hospitalized for ten days, apparently for a digestive problem, using an assumed name to avoid publicity. When she left him, she returned to his home, and although his health continued to deteriorate, he refused to be readmitted to the hospital, a decision that had the support of his family. He passed away on July 29, 1983 at the age of 73. His remains rest in the small local cemetery of Château-d'Œx.

Partial filmography

• 1935
  • The tragedy of the Bounty (Mutiny on the Bounty) of Frank Lloyd
  • The city without law (Barbary Coast- Howard Hawks.
  • The footprint of the past (Without Regret) of Harold Young
  • The sublime lie (A Feather in Her HatAlfred Sawtell
  • Splendor (Splendor), by Elliott Nugent
• 1936
  • Disengagement (Dodsworth), by William Wyler
  • The burden of the Light Brigade (The Charge of the Light Brigade), by Michael Curtiz
  • Adorable enemy (Beloved Enemy), by H. C. Potter
• 1937
  • The prisoner of Zenda (The Prisoner of Zenda) of John Cromwell
  • Dinner at the Ritz (Dinner at the Ritz) of Harold Schuster
• 1938
  • The eighth woman of Barba Azul (Bluebeard's Eighth WifeErnst Lubitsch
  • Four men and one prayer (Four Men and a Prayer) by John Ford
• 1939
  • The jungle in arms (The Real GloryHenry Hathaway
  • Stolen summits (Wuthering Heights), by William Wyler
  • Mom by force (Bachelor Mother) of Garson Kanin
• 1946
  • Stair to heaven (A Matter of Life and Death) by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
• 1947
  • The wife of the bishop (The Bishop's Wife) of Henry Koster
• 1953
  • The moon is blue (The Moon is Blue) of Otto Preminger
• 1956
  • Round the world in eighty days (Around the World in 80 Days) by Michael Anderson
• 1957
  • Aristocratic butler (My Man Godfrey) of Henry Koster
  • The cabin (The little hut- Mark Robson.
• 1958
  • Separate tables (Separate Tables), by Delbert Mann
  • Good morning, sadness (Bonjour sadsse) of Otto Preminger
• 1959
  • All women want to marry (Ask Any Girl) of Charles Walters
• 1961
  • The cannons of Navarone (The Guns of Navarone) by J. Lee Thompson
• 1962
  • Two frescoes in orbit (The Road to Hong Kong), Norman Panama (cameo)
• 1963
  • 55 days in Beijing (55 Days at PekingNicholas Ray
  • The Pink Panther (The Pink PantherBlake Edwards
• 1964
  • Two seducers (Bedtime Story) of Ralph Levy
• 1965
  • Lady Lof Peter Ustinov
• 1967
  • Casino RoyaleJohn Huston
• 1975
  • Embossed in Far East (Paper Tiger) of Ken Annakin
• 1976
  • A corpse to the desserts (Murder by Death) by Robert Moore
• 1977
  • The Secret of the Castle (CandleshoeNorman Tokar
• 1978
  • Death in the Nile (Death on the Nile) by John Guillermin
• 1979
  • Evasion in Athena (Escape to Athena), by George P. Cosmatos
  • A man named Intrepid (A Man Called Intrepid), Peter Carter TV miniserie
• 1980
  • Sea lions (The Sea Wolves), by Andrew V. McLaglen
• 1981
  • Ménage à trois ( Better Late Than NeverBryan Forbes
• 1982
  • After the Pink Panther track (Trail of the Pink PantherBlake Edwards
• 1983
  • The Curse of the Pink Panther (Curse of the Pink PantherBlake Edwards

Awards and recognitions

Oscar Awards

Golden Globes