• David Niven Autobiography
• David Niven Autobiography Bring On The Empty Horses

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• Mini Bio (1) James David Graham Niven was born on the feast day of St David. Following Niven senior's death at Turkey's infamous Suvla Bay, Niven's mother went on to marry his biological father, the Conservative politician Sir Thomas Comyn-Platt, but it was years before the true father/son relationship was acknowledged.
• James David Graham Niven (1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983), 1 2 known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. 'the Phantom,' in The Pink Panther.
• Sometimes in life, you just need an affectionate, gossipy Hollywood memoir. Or at least I do. I was certainly in need of one this weekend and nothing could have answered better than Bring On The Empty Horses by David Niven. Bring on the Empty Horses is less a personal memoir than a professional one.

James David Graham Niven (/ ˈnɪvən /; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, memoirist and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in Separate Tables (1958). One of the bestselling memoirs of all time, David Niven's The Moon's a Balloon is an account of one of the most remarkable lives Hollywood has ever seen.

Does David Niven Dead or Alive?

As per our current Database, David Niven died on Jul 29, 1983 (age 73).

Physique

Before Fame

After leaving the army service, he unsuccessfully worked as a whisky salesman and a horse rodeo promoter.

Biography

Biography Timeline

James David Graham Niven was born on 1 March 1910 at Belgrave Mansions, Grosvenor Gardens, London, to William Edward Graham Niven (1878–1915) and his wife, Henrietta Julia (née Degacher) Niven. He was named David after his birth on St David's Day. Niven later claimed he was born in Kirriemuir, in the Scottish county of Angus in 1909, but his birth certificate disproves this. He had two older sisters and a brother: Margaret Joyce Niven (1900 - 1981), Henry Degacher Niven (1902 - 1953), and the sculptor Grizel Rosemary Graham (1906 – 2007), who created the bronze sculpture Bessie that is presented to the annual winners of the Women's Prize for Fiction.

David Niven's father, William Niven, was of Scottish descent; his paternal grandfather, David Graham Niven, (1811–1884) was from St Martin's, a village in Perthshire. He was killed in the First World War serving with the Berkshire Yeomanry during the Gallipoli campaign on 21 August 1915. He was buried in Green Hill Cemetery, Turkey, in the Special Memorial Section in Plot F. 10.

Following the death of her husband, Henrietta Niven remarried Sir Thomas Comyn-Platt in London in 1917. Graham Lord, author and biographer, suggested in Niv: The Authorised Biography of David Niven, that Comyn-Platt and Mrs Niven had been having an affair for some time before her husband's death. Furthermore, some believe that Sir Thomas may well have been David Niven's biological father. This supposition has some support among Henrietta's children. Hugh Massingberd, reviewing Lord's book in The Spectator, stated that its photographic evidence showing a strong physical resemblance between Niven and Comyn-Platt 'would appear to confirm these theories, though photographs can often be misleading.'

In 1928 Niven attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He graduated in 1930 with a commission as a second lieutenant in the British Army.

Niven grew tired of the peacetime army. Though promoted to lieutenant on 1 January 1933, he saw no opportunity for further advancement. His ultimate decision to resign came after a lengthy lecture on machine guns, which was interfering with his plans for dinner with a particularly attractive young lady. At the end of the lecture, the speaker (a major general) asked if there were any questions. Showing the typical rebelliousness of his early years, Niven asked, 'Could you tell me the time, sir? I have to catch a train.'

After being placed under close-arrest for this act of insubordination, Niven finished a bottle of whisky with the officer who was guarding him: Rhoddy Rose (later Colonel R. L. C. Rose, DSO, MC). With Rose's assistance, Niven was allowed to escape from a first-floor window. He then headed for America. While crossing the Atlantic, Niven resigned his commission by telegram on 6 September 1933. Niven then moved to New York City, where he began an unsuccessful career in whisky sales, after which he had a stint in horse rodeo promotion in Atlantic City. After detours to Bermuda and Cuba, he arrived in Hollywood in 1934.

The day after Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, Niven returned home and rejoined the British Army. He was alone among British stars in Hollywood in doing so; the British Embassy advised most actors to stay.

Niven was recommissioned as a lieutenant into the Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) on 25 February 1940, and was assigned to a motor training battalion. He wanted something more exciting, however, and transferred to the Commandos. He was assigned to a training base at Inverailort House in the Western Highlands. Niven later claimed credit for bringing future Major General Sir Robert E. Laycock to the Commandos. Niven commanded 'A' Squadron GHQ Liaison Regiment, better known as 'Phantom'.

Niven had particular scorn for those newspaper columnists covering the war who typed out self-glorifying and excessively florid prose about their meagre wartime experiences. Niven stated, 'Anyone who says a bullet sings past, hums past, flies, pings, or whines past, has never heard one—they go crack!' 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 first met Churchill at a dinner party in February 1940. Churchill singled him out from the crowd and stated, 'Young man, you did a fine thing to give up your film career to fight for your country. Mark you, had you not done so − it would have been despicable.'

While on leave in 1940, Niven met Primula 'Primmie' Susan Rollo (18 February 1918, London – 21 May 1946), the daughter of London lawyer William H.C. Rollo. After a whirlwind romance, they married on 16 September, 1940. A son, David, Jr., was born in December 1942 and a second son, James Graham Niven, on 6 November 1945. Primmie died at the age of 28, only six weeks after the family moved to the US. She fractured her skull in an accidental fall in the Beverly Hills, California home of Tyrone Power, while playing a game of hide-and-seek. She had walked through a door believing it to be a closet, but instead it led to a stone staircase to the basement.

A few stories have surfaced. About to lead his men into action, Niven eased their nervousness by telling them, 'Look, you chaps only have to do this once. But I'll have to do it all over again in Hollywood with Errol Flynn!' Asked by suspicious American sentries during the Battle of the Bulge who had won the World Series in 1943, he answered, 'Haven't the foggiest idea, but I did co-star with Ginger Rogers in Bachelor Mother!'

Niven took part in the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, although he was sent to France several days after D-Day. He served in 'Phantom,' a secret reconnaissance and signals unit which located and reported enemy positions, and kept rear commanders informed on changing battle lines. Niven was posted at one time to Chilham in Kent. He remained close-mouthed about the war, despite public interest in celebrities in combat and a reputation for storytelling. He once said:

In 1948, Niven met Hjördis Paulina Tersmeden (née Genberg, 1919–1997), a divorced Swedish fashion model. He recounted their meeting:

Niven wrote four books. The first, Round the Rugged Rocks (published simultaneously in the US under the title Once Over Lightly), was a novel that appeared in 1951 and was forgotten almost at once. 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.

Niven worked in television. He appeared several times on various short-drama shows, and was one of the 'four stars' of the dramatic anthology series Four Star Playhouse, appearing in 33 episodes. The show was produced by Four Star Television, which was co-owned and founded by Niven, Ida Lupino, Dick Powell and Charles Boyer. The show ended in 1955, but Four Star TV became a highly successful TV production company.

With an Academy Award to his credit, Niven's career continued to thrive. In 1959, he became the host of his own TV drama series, The David Niven Show, which ran for 13 episodes that summer.

In New York, Niven and Hjördis were next-door neighbours with Audrey Hepburn, who made her debut on Broadway that season. In 1960, while filming Please Don't Eat the Daisies with Doris Day, Niven and Hjördis separated for a few weeks, but later reconciled, although their alcoholism, his frequent adultery and her violent temper made the marriage rather miserable.

In 1960, Niven moved to Château-d'Œx near Gstaad in Switzerland for financial reasons, living near close friends in that country including Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov, and Noël Coward. Niven's status as a tax exile in Switzerland is believed to have been one of the reasons why he never received a British honour. He divided his time in the 1960s and 1970s between Château-d'Œx and Cap Ferrat on the Côte d'Azur in the south of France.

In 1964, Boyer and he appeared in the Four Star series The Rogues. Niven played Alexander 'Alec' Fleming, one of a family of retired con-artists who now fleece villains in the interests of justice. This was his only recurring role on television. The Rogues ran for only one season, but won a Golden Globe award.

In 1965, he made two films for MGM: Lady L, supporting Paul Newman and Sophia Loren, and Where the Spies Are, as a doctor-turned-secret agent - MGM hoped it would lead to a series, but this did not happen. After a horror film Eye of the Devil (1966), Niven appeared as James Bond 007 in Casino Royale (1967). Niven had been Bond creator Ian Fleming's first choice to play Bond in Dr. No. 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. Niven was the only James Bond actor mentioned by name in the text of a Fleming novel. In chapter 14 of You Only Live Twice, the pearl diver Kissy Suzuki refers to Niven as 'the only man she liked in Hollywood', and the only person who 'treated her honourably' there.

Niven made some popular comedies, Prudence and the Pill (1968) and The Impossible Years (1968). Less widely seen was The Extraordinary Seaman (1969). The Brain (1969), a French comedy with Bourvil and Jean-Paul Belmondo, was the most popular film at the French box office in 1969 but was not widely seen in English-speaking countries.

In 1971, he published his autobiography, The Moon's a Balloon, which was well received, selling over five million copies. He followed this with Bring On the Empty Horses in 1975, a collection of entertaining reminiscences from Hollywood's 'Golden Age' in the 1930s and 1940s. It now appears that Niven recounted many incidents from a first-person perspective that actually happened to other people, especially Cary Grant, which he borrowed and embroidered.

In 1974, while Niven was co-hosting the 46th Annual Oscars ceremony, a naked man (Robert Opel) appeared behind him, 'streaking' across the stage. Niven responded 'Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?'

That same year, he hosted David Niven's World for London Weekend Television, which profiled contemporary adventurers such as hang gliders, motorcyclists, and mountain climbers: it ran for 21 episodes. In 1975, he narrated The Remarkable Rocket, a short animation based on a story by Oscar Wilde.

In 1980, Niven began experiencing fatigue, muscle weakness, and a warble in his voice. 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. He blamed his slightly slurred voice on the shooting schedule on the film he had been making, Better Late Than Never. He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as 'Lou Gehrig's disease') later that year. His final appearance in Hollywood was hosting the 1981 American Film Institute tribute to Fred Astaire.

In 1981 Niven published a second and much more successful novel, Go Slowly, Come Back Quickly, which was set during and after the Second World War, and which drew on his experiences during the war and in Hollywood. He was working on a third novel at the time of his death.

Niven's last sizeable film part was in Better Late Than Never (1983). 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. By this time, Niven was having serious health problems. When the raw footage was reviewed, his voice was inaudible, and his lines had to be dubbed by Rich Little. Niven only learned of it from a newspaper report. This was his last film appearance.

In February 1983, using a false name to avoid publicity, Niven was hospitalised for 10 days, ostensibly for a digestive problem; afterwards he returned to his chalet at Château-d'Œx. His condition continued to worsen, but he refused to return to the hospital, and his family supported his decision. He died at his chalet from ALS on 29 July 1983, aged 73. Niven's body was buried in Château-d'Œx cemetery, Switzerland.

A Thanksgiving service for Niven was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, on 27 October 1983. The congregation of 1,200 included Prince Michael of Kent, Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, Sir John Mills, Sir Richard Attenborough, Trevor Howard, David Frost, Joanna Lumley, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Lord Olivier.

In 1985, Niven was included in a series of British postage stamps, along with Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Sir Charles Chaplin, Peter Sellers and Vivien Leigh, to commemorate 'British Film Year'.

David Niven Autobiography

Niven is the only person to win an Academy Award at the ceremony he was hosting. He won the 1958 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Major Pollock in Separate Tables, his only nomination for an Oscar. Appearing on-screen for only 23 minutes in the film, this was the briefest performance ever to win a Best Actor Oscar, until Anthony Hopkins' award for his appearance in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, which is a little over 16 minutes. He was also a co-host of the 30th, 31st, and 46th Academy Awards ceremonies. After Niven had won the Academy Award, Goldwyn called with an invitation to his home. 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. In happier times with Goldwyn, he had observed this same picture sitting on Goldwyn's piano. Now years later, the picture was still in exactly the same spot. As he was looking at the picture, Goldwyn's wife Frances said, 'Sam never took it down.'

A 2009 biography of Niven contained assertions, based on information from his widow and a good friend of Niven, that he had an affair with Princess Margaret, who was 20 years his junior.

🎂 Upcoming Birthday

Currently, David Niven is 111 years, 1 months and 25 days old. David Niven will celebrate 112th birthday on a Tuesday 1st of March 2022.

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