Niv : the authorized biography of David Niven / Graham Lord.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lord, Graham, 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Niven, David, 1910-1983.

Niven, David.

Actors--Great Britain--Biography.

Actors.

Great Britain.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 370 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), portraits ; 25 cm

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Other Title:

Biography of David Niven

David Niven

Place of Publication:

New York : T. Dunne Books, 2004.

Summary:

Twenty Years after his death, David Niven is remembered with warmth, affection, and as one of the funniest and most lovable men who ever lived. For more than forty years, from the late 1930s, he portrayed on-screen the impeccable values of a lost breed of English gentlemen-handsome, beautifully spoken, elegantly dressed, witty, with perfect manners, and utterly charming, Niv, as his friends called him, was much the same off-screen. Both men and women were enchanted by his charisma, humor, and joie de vivre. In addition to his countless cinematic triumphs, including his Oscar-winning performance in Separate Tables, Niven also enjoyed tremendous success with his hilarious autobiography The Moon's a Balloon and Hollywood memoir Bring on the Empty Horses, which sold millions of copies and confirmed him as one of the great raconteurs.

Yet behind those twinkling eyes, Niven's life was punctuated by tragedy and he was often deeply unhappy. From the death of his father when Niven was five to the stepfather he loathed, through to the death of his beloved first wife and his volatile and disturbing second marriage, tragedy and hardship were never far away. Yet through it all Niven was determined to make people laugh. "Life is so bloody awful," he said, "that it's the duty of all of us to cheer other people up," and he did until the day he died. Written with the full cooperation and assistance of Niven's children, Niv is the authorized account of a remarkable life. Graham Lord has interviewed scores of people from all over the world, among them Niven's ninety-six-year-old sister Grizel and his great friends Lauren Bacall, John Hurt, Patrick Macnee, Roderick Mann, Sir Roger Moore, Sir John Mills, Sir John Mortimer, Michael Parkinson, Fiona Thyssen, Sir Peter Ustinov, and Robert Wagner. Using new material from Niven's private papers, manuscripts, unpublished stories, and correspondence, Lord has written a fresh, revealing, funny, and deeply poignant portrait of a brave and brilliant man. Niv is a fitting tribute to one of Hollywood's greatest heroes.

Contents:

1 'The Most Poisonous Little Bastard' 1910-1923 1

2 The Making of an English Gentleman 1923-1928 16

3 Sandhurst and the Hairy-Legged Irish 1928-1933 34

4 A Swordsman in Hollywood 1933-1937 56

5 A Circus Going on Inside 1937-1939 86

6 The WAAF, Phantom and SHAEF 1939-1945 101

7 The Widower and the Model 1945-1949 131

8 Skating on Thin Ice 1949-1955 163

9 Around and on Top of the World 1955-1959 187

10 Chateau d'Oex and the Cote d'Azur 1959-1962 205

11 Shampoo, Beakers and Fernet Branca 1962-1969 222

12 The Moon's a Balloon 1969-1972 253

13 The Grumpy Bestseller 1972-1977 270

14 'Wodehouse With Tears' 1977-1983 294.

Notes:

Originally published: London : Orion Media, 2003.

Includes filmography: pages [340]-348.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [349]-355) and index.

ISBN:

031232863X

OCLC:

55947933

Publisher Number:

9780312328634