David Niven

Also known as James David Graham Niven

British actor and novelist (1910–1983)

OverviewAI-generated

David Niven was an actor whose professional career spanned from 1935 to 1983. Born on March 1, 1910, he died on July 29, 1983. He had four children.

Niven is recognized in the Academy Award Best Actor collection. He is also included in the Hollywood Walk Of Fame collection and the Legion Of Merit collection.

Synthesized by Vinony from 8 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Graham
Gender: male
Citizenship: United Kingdom
Place of birth: London
Place of death: Château-d’Oex
Spouse: Hjördis Genberg
Occupation: novelist
Educated at: Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Languages spoken: English language
Native language: British English
Award: star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Conflict: World War II
Military branch: British Army
Military rank: Lieutenant Colonel
Image: David Niven Allan Warren.jpg
Height: 181
Number of children: 4
Work location: United Kingdom

Show 14 more facts

start of work period: 1935-00-00
end of work period: 1983-00-00
birth name: David Graham Niven
Commons category: David Niven
date of birth: 1910-03-01
date of death: 1983-07-29
cause of death: ALS
manner of death: natural causes
Commons gallery: David Niven
nominated for: Academy Award for Best Actor
place of burial: Canton of Vaud
name in native language: David Niven
allegiance: United Kingdom
unmarried partner: Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll

Sources (8)

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Encyclopedic overview

James David Graham Niven (/ˈnɪvən/; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards in addition to nominations for a BAFTA Award and two Emmy Awards.

Born in central London to an upper-middle-class family, Niven attended Heatherdown Preparatory School and Stowe School before gaining a place at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. After Sandhurst, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry. Upon developing an interest in acting, he found a role as an extra in the British film There Goes the Bride (1932). Bored with the peacetime army, he resigned his commission in 1933, relocated to New York, then travelled to Hollywood. There, he hired an agent and had several small parts in films through 1935, including a non-speaking role in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). This helped him gain a contract with Samuel Goldwyn.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “David Niven” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.