Actor, producer. Most remembered for his dapper English roles in such films as the Pink Panther series, "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1956), and numerous other films, he won the Academy Award for Best Male Performance for his role in "Separate Tables" (1958).
David Niven
James David Graham Niven (1 March 1910 in London, England; † 29 July 1983 in Château-d'Oex, Switzerland), was the son of a British Army Captain who was killed at Gallipoli in 1915, he attended Stowe School and Sandhurst Military Academy, where he was commissioned and served two years with the Highland Light Infantry. Leaving the army in 1931, he worked at a variety of jobs before trying his hand at acting. His first role was in "There Goes the Bride" (1932). When Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, he immediately returned to England and enlisted in the British Army, serving in the commandos and rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During the war he also made two British propaganda movies "The First of the Few "(1942) and "The Way Ahead" (1944). Despite six years absence from the American screen, he came in second in a 1945 American popularity poll of British Actors. In 1945, General Dwight David Eisenhower presented him with the Legion of Merit (then called Legionnaire of the Order of Merit).
After the war, he continued to act in numerous films, including "The Guns of Navarone" (1961), "Bonjour Tristesse" (1958), "Death on the Nile" (1978), and the Pink Panther series of films. He was considered for the role of 'James Bond' in the film "Dr. No" (a role that went to Scottish actor Sean Connery) but did play the role in the film "Casino Royale" (1967). He wrote two autobiographies, "The Moon's a Balloon" (1971) and "Bring on the Empty Horses" (1975), and had two shows on television.
He was married twice, and had two sons by his first wife and two daughters by his second. His son, David Jr, is also an actor. During his last film, "The Curse of the Pink Panther" (1983), he could barely speak as he was dying, and his speaking voice was dubbed in by his good friend, comedian and voice mimic Rich Little, who requested no credit in the film. This secret was kept for many years.
The actor David Niven was buried on August 3rd 1983 in this tiny Swiss mountain resort after modest ceremonies attended by his family, Prince Rainier of Monaco, the actress Audrey Hepburn and other friends. Mr. Niven died here Friday, July 29th 1983 after a year-long battle with a muscle-wasting disease.
He was 73 years old. He made nearly 100 films during his 40-year-career, and won an Oscar for ''Separate Tables.''
Mr. Niven was buried in a simple grave in the village churchyard. The violinist Yehudi Menuhin led pupils from his nearby music school in Mendelssohn's Octet for Strings in F at the ceremony. He said he had chosen the work by the composer, who loved Scotland, in honor of Mr. Niven's birthplace.
Besides Mr. Menuhin, celebrities at the funeral were Prince Rainier of Monaco, whose late wife, Princess Grace, was a former film star and close friend of Mr. Niven's; Miss Audrey Hepburn, who lives close by, and the author William F. Buckley Jr.
During David Niven’s funeral, the largest wreath came from the porters at Heathrow Airport with a card reading “To the finest gentleman who ever walked through these halls. He made a porter feel like a king.”
R.I.P.