David Niven Biography

Fast Facts

• After serving in the armed forces across Europe, he moved to New York City in 1933 where he would find odd jobs as a whisky salesman, rodeo promoter and later a gun cleaner in Mexico
• Quote: "I've been lucky enough to win an Oscar and write a best seller -- my other dream would be to have a painting in the Louvre․ The only way that's going to happen is if I paint a dirty one on the wall of the gentlemen's lavatory․"
• He gained instant success after signing a contract with MGM in the mid-1930s and would eventually appear in more than 19 films in the next four years
• Following a second tour of service during WWII, he returned to entertainment in both film and television through the 1960s
• Shortly after being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease, his final appearance in Hollywood came as host of the American Film Institute tribute to Fred Astaire in 1981
• Married both of his two wives within weeks of meeting them