Born in London, England, on March 1, 1910, James David Graham Nevins was named David after the Saint’s Day on which he was born, St. David, patron saint of Wales. His father, William Edward Graham Nevins, died at the age of twenty-five during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915, and his mother, Julia de Gacher, remarried Sir Thomas Comyn-Platt. He once wrote that as a child he felt superior to others and jokingly attributed this to the fact when reciting the Lord’s Prayer in church, he could have sworn that the words were meant to read, “Our Father, who art a Niven.”
As a young man, he trained at the Royal Military Academy and served two years with the Highland Light Infantry. It was here he learned the gentlemanly bearing that was to become his trademark for all of his adult life, both on and off screen.
He arrived in Hollywood during the 1930s and worked as an extra in westerns. In 1935, he got a walk-on part in “Mutiny On The Bounty,” which was quickly followed by a long term contract with Samuel Goldwyn. This led to many starring roles for Niven, including “Bachelor Mother” (1939) with Ginger Rogers. During this time, he met and became good friends with Clark Gable. When his first wife died tragically at the age of 28 from a terrible fall at the home of Tyrone Power, it was Gable who comforted him, drawing on feelings about the loss of his own young wife, Carol Lombard, in a plane crash during the war. Niven remarried in 1948 and remained with his second wife until his death on July 29, 1983.
After Great Britain declared war in 1939, David Niven was one of the first actors to rejoin the army. Despite the fact that he served in the armed forces, he managed to play in two films during that time, both for the war effort. These were “The First of the Few” (1942) and “The Way Ahead” (1944).
After the war, he returned to Hollywood, and was made Legionnaire of The Order of Merit, the highest American order that can ever be earned by a foreigner. General Dwight D. Eisenhower presented it to him.
David Niven appeared in over 90 films during his prolific career. Which are some of YOUR favorites?