David Niven - ©Theda Bara

The name I present in this post is that of the excellent British actor, born in London, England, David Niven, famous for his films in the United States and Europe.

David Niven won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1959 for his performance in the film “Separate Tables” (1958), playing the role of “Major Angus Pollock”. He was the only actor/actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actor in the same year he served as master of ceremonies.

In addition to the 1959 Academy Award for Best Actor, David Niven won two Golden Globes: Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy in 1954, for “The Moon Is Blue” (1953), playing the role of “David Slater”, and Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama in 1959 for “Separate Tables”.

David Niven has two stars on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame: one at 6384 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Picture category, and the second at 1623 Vine Street in the Television category.

James David Graham Niven, born on March 1, 1910, at Grosvenor Gardens House, London, United Kingdom, died on July 29, 1983, in Château-d’Oex, Switzerland, at the age of 73.

David Niven was married twice, the first to British actress Primula Rollo (1918-1946), daughter of Sir William Rollo (1885-1900), a British aviation hero. Primula and David were married from 1940 to 1946, leaving the actor a widower. The couple had two sons: film producer David Niven Jr. (1942-) and businessman Jamie Niven (1945-); After the death of his first wife, David Niven married Swedish actress and model Hjördis Paulina Genberg (1919–1997) from 1948 to 1983. The couple had two daughters, British government administrative assistant Fiona Niven (1950–) and Kristina Niven (1961–1977). In November 1977, while David Niven was in Egypt filming “Death on the Nile” (1978), playing the role of “Colonel Race”, he received news that his daughter Kristina had died in a car accident in Geneva, Switzerland, at the age of 16.