<Archive obituary> David Niven (1910-83)
Michael Rhodes
<The Times, July 30, 1983>
<DAVID NIVEN>
<Debonair film star and raconteur>
David Niven, the film actor, died in Switzerland yesterday after an
extended illness, at the age of 73.
He was a popular star of the traditional type, establishing a screen
persona that became instantly recognizable and was repeated, more or
less, through film after film. His range as an actor was limited and
he was probably at his best in light comedy; but what mattered was
that for millions of filmgoers on both sides of the Atlantic he summed
up the archetypal English gentleman, witty, debonair, immaculate in
dress and behaviour but with mischief lurking not far from the
surface.
He came to films almost by accident, and with no previous acting
experience, but through a combination of luck, knowing the right
people and force of personality he managed not only to break into
Hollywood but to survive in a tough and ruthless world. It says much
for his staying power that he was still in regular demand after nearly
five decades. Surprisingly few of his 90-odd films stay in the memory,
however, mainly because he was content to take what was available
rater than stick out for good parts. He reckoned that it was enough to
be so well paid for doing what he enjoyed.
Niven was born in Kirriemuir, Scotland, on March 1, 1910, the son of
an army officer who was killed in the First World War. He had an
unsettled childhood, being pushed by an unsympathetic step-father into
a succession of barbaric prep schools from which he either absconded
or was expelled. Later he went to Stowe and on to Sandhurst to train
for the army. He served as an officer with the Highland Light
Infantry, mainly on Malta, but resigned his commission after three
years and took a succession of casual jobs in Canada and the United
States, from selling liquor to promoting pony racing.
In the mid 1930s he arrived in Hollywood to try his luck as a film
extra. He registered with Central Casting as "Anglo Saxon Type Number
2008" and though it was an axiom of the film industry that extras
rarely graduated into stars, Niven proved an exception. He was
fortunate both with his contacts and in being in the right place at
the right time. Hollywood was busy filming British subjects and
recruiting British actors and Niven fitted happily into an expatriate
colony that included Cary Grant, Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone,
Herbert Marshall and the imperious C. Aubrey Smith, who ran the
Hollywood cricket club.
After abortive screen tests for other producers, Niven was put under
contract by Sam Goldwyn and though the relationship was not always
harmonious it lasted for 14 years. His first important part came in
1936 in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (whose star, Errol Flynn,
became a close friend and drinking companion) ; Niven played a gallant
young officer who dies trying to get through the enemy lines. He
supported Ronald Colman in "The Prisoner of Zenda", played opposite
Flynn in a re-make of "The Dawn Patrol" and in formidable competition
with Laurence Olivier gave a creditable performance as Edgar Linton in
William Wyler's 1939 film of "Wuthering Heights". His first star
billing, and first real chance to show his gift for comedy, came in
"Bachelor Mother", with Ginger Rogers, and he was appropriately cast
as "Raffles" the gentleman burglar.
By this time the Second World War had started and Niven decided to
return to Britain to play his part. He joined the Rifle Brigade,
rising from second lieutenant to colonel and served in Normandy,
Holland, Belgium and Germany. He was twice given leave so he could
appear in films: "The First of the Few", with Leslie Howard, which
told the story of the Spitfire, and "The Way Ahead", made by Carol
Reed as a quasi propaganda piece for the British Army. Just after the
war Niven appeared as an R.A.F. pilot in Powell and Pressburger's
elaborate allegorical fantasy, "A Matter of Life and Death".
In 1946 hr returned to Hollywood but found it difficult after such a
long absence, to pick up the threads of his career and there followed
a period of undistinguished parts in mediocre films. This professional
trough coincided with a personal tragedy when his wife, at the age of
25, was killed in an accidental fall, leaving two small sons. Niven's
second wife, whom he married in 1948, was a leading Swedish model,
Hjordis Tersmeden; they had two adopted daughters.
During the 1950s Niven re-established himself as a popular leading man
and better parts came his way. He was chosen by Otto Preminger for
"The Moon is Blue", a comedy that gained notoriety by running into
censorship problems, and in 1956 he played Phineas Fogg in Mike Todd's
lavish spectacular, "Around the World in 80 Days". Two years later
Niven won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of the bogus major in
the film of Terence Rattigan's play, "Separate Tables", an honour that
brought his career to a critical peak. But still he made a high ratio
of indifferent films, interspersed with more worthy vehicles: among
the latter were "Ask Any Girl", a good comedy with Shirley MacLaine; a
successful war film, "The Guns of Navarone": a blockbuster "55 Days at
Peking"; and "The Pink Panther", in which his suave jewel thief was a
perfect foil to Peter Sellers as the accident prone Inspector
Clouseau.
Released in 1964, "The Pink Panther" proved to be one of Niven's last
big commercial successes at the cinema. He continued to make one and
two films a year but he probably had mlre impact with a series of
television commercials for instant coffee. In 1971, with the
publication of an autobiography, "The Moon's a Balloon", he required a
new reputation as a best-selling author. Niven was a born raconteur
and the book was essentially a succession of funny stories, drawn from
his life in the forces and in films and literally sprinkled with
famous names. The formula proved astonishingly successful and led to a
second volume of reminiscences, concentrating on Hollywood
personalities and called "Bring On the Empty Horses". Together the two
books sold more than ten million copies. In 1981 Niven published a
long novel with a Hollywood setting, "Go Slowly, Come Back Quickly".
In the early 1950s he formed, with Charles Boyer and Dick Powell, a
company, Four Star Television, to produce films for the small screen;
it made more than 2,000 and helped to launch the careers of several
Hollywood stars. Niven had his own series on television and appeared
in the popular comedy show, "The Rogues"; later he was much in demand
for chat shows, where his gift for anecdote made him an ideal subject.
END