David Niven Biography

in full James David Graham Niven

(1909 - 1983)

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Related Works

  • Films
  • 1936 The Charge of the Light Brigade
  • 1938 The Dawn Patrol
  • 1939 Bachelor Mother
  • 1939 Wuthering Heights
  • 1939 Raffles
  • 1942 The First of the Few
  • 1944 The Way Ahead
  • 1946 A Matter of Life and Death
  • 1947 The Bishop's Wife
  • 1948 Bonnie Prince Charlie
  • 1948 Enchantment
  • 1950 The Elusive Pimpernel
  • 1950 Happy Go Lovely
  • 1951 Soldiers Three
  • 1953 The Moon is Blue
  • 1953 The Love Lottery
  • 1954 Happy Ever After
  • 1954 Carrington VC
  • 1956 Around the World in 80 Days
  • 1956 The Birds and the Bees
  • 1956 The Silken Affair
  • 1957 The Little Hut
  • 1957 Oh Men! Oh Women!
  • 1957 Bonjour Tristesse
  • 1957 My Man Godfrey
  • 1958 Separate Tables
  • 1959 Ask Any Girl
  • 1960 Please Don't Eat the Daisies
  • 1961 The Guns of Navarone
  • 1961 The Best of Enemies
  • 1962 Guns of Darkness
  • 1963 55 Days at Peking
  • 1964 The Pink Panther
  • 1964 Bedtime Story
  • 1965 Lady L
  • 1965 Where the Spies Are
  • 1967 Eye of the Devil
  • 1967 Casino Royale
  • 1968 The Extraordinary Seaman
  • 1968 Prudence and the Pill
  • 1968 The Impossible Years
  • 1968 Before Winter Comes
  • 1969 The Brain
  • 1970 The Statue
  • 1972 King, Queen, Knave
  • 1974 Vampira
  • 1974 Paper Tiger
  • 1976 No Deposit, No Return
  • 1976 Murder by Death
  • 1977 Candleshoe
  • 1978 Death on the Nile
  • 1979 Escape to Athena
  • 1980 Rough Cut
  • 1980 The Sea Wolves
  • 1982 Trail of the Pink Panther
  • 1983 Curse of the Pink Panther
  • Autobiography
  • 1971 The Moon's A Balloon
  • 1975 Bring on the Empty Horses
» More

(born March 1, 1909, Kirriemuir, Angus, Scot.—died July 29, 1983, Château-d'Oex, Switz.) British stage and motion-picture actor who personified dapper charm.

Born to a longtime military family, Niven attended Sandhurst Military Academy. He made his way to Hollywood in the mid-1930s and began performing as an extra. His first major roles were in Dawn Patrol (1938) and Wuthering Heights (1939). He rapidly became known as a steady, reliable actor who usually specialized in light comedy.Niven served as an officer in the British army's commando unit during World War II, and following the war he returned to films. Though known for his sure touch with light comedy, he also proved to be a substantial dramatic actor, winning an Academy Award for his role in Separate Tables (1958). Among his best-known films are The Moon Is Blue (1953), Around the World in 80 Days (1956), The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Pink Panther (1964), and Death on the Nile (1978). He also appeared on stage and on two television series. He published a novel, Go Slowly, Come Back Quickly (1981), and two autobiographical volumes, The Moon's a Balloon (1971) and Bring on the Empty Horses (1975).Niven performed in movies until the year of his death, even though he suffered in his later life from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also called Lou Gehrig's disease). His last film was The Curse of the Pink Panther (1983).


Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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