David Niven
As a boy, whenever I seemed to watch a film
it either starred Errol Flynn or David Niven. The two were
great friends and it was reading The Moon's A Balloon, his
brilliant autobiography, and the follow up book, Bring On
The Empty Horses, that I was introduced to my first dose of
stunning wit. What a life David Niven had... Was he truly
an actor? Or was he an adventurer who saw acting as a bit
of a laugh? The truth, I believe, is he was a larger than
life character who appears to have charmed everyone with whom
he came into contact. As an actor, David Niven only really
played himself, the quintessential English gentleman, but
every performance is polished and completely natural and 100%
the role required, and he gave a lot more to a part. His natural
humour was always a twinkle in his eye.
My favourite David Niven film is, perhaps, The
Elusive Pimpernel, but the list of his credits is very long
and The Bishop's Wife where David Niven stars with Cary Grant
and Loretta Young is another big stand out film. But we must
not forget the classics in which David Niven starred, Charge
Of The Light Brigade, with his friend, Errol Flynn, The Guns
of Navarone and Around The World in 80 Days, which is probably
his most famous role as Phileas Fogg...
Tim Rees
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