NIV The Authorized Biography of David Niven

by Lord, Graham

• ISBN13: 9780312328634
• ISBN10: 031232863X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-12-14
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Summary

For more than 40 years, David Niven portrayed onscreen the impeccable values of a lost breed of English gentlemen - handsome, elegantly dressed, well-mannered, and utterly charming. Yet behind those twinkling eyes, Niven was often deeply unhappy. From the death of his father when Niven was five, his mother's neglect and the stepfather who loathed him, to the death of his beloved first wife and his volatile marriage to his second wife, tragedy and hardship were never far away. Using new material from Niven's private papers, manuscripts, unpublished stories and correspondence, Lord has written a touching account of one of Hollywood's greatest heroes.

Author Biography

Graham Lord is the author of many bestselling biographies (on James Herriot, Dick Francis, Jeffrey Bernard, and Arthur Lowe) as well as several novels, all of which are published in the UK. He is a former editor of the Sunday Express in London and has also written regularly for The Daily Telegraph, The Times, and the Daily Mail. He currently lives in France and is working on his latest book, a biography of John Mortimer.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	ix
Preface	xiii
One 'The Most Poisonous Little Bastard' 1910-1923	1	(15)
Two The Making of an English Gentleman 1923-1928	16	(18)
Three Sandhurst and the Hairy-Legged Irish 1928-1933	34	(22)
Four A Swordsman in Hollywood 1933-1937	56	(30)
Five A Circus Going on Inside 1937-1939	86	(15)
Six The WAAF, Phantom and SHAEF 1939-1945	101	(30)
Seven The Widower and the Model 1945-1949	131	(32)
Eight Skating on Thin Ice 1949-1955	163	(24)
Nine Around and on Top of the World 1955-1959	187	(18)
Ten Chateau d'Oex and the Côte d'Azur 1959-1962	205	(17)
Eleven Shampoo, Beakers and Fernet Branca 1962-1969	222	(31)
Twelve The Moon's a Balloon 1969-1972	253	(17)
Thirteen The Grumpy Bestseller 1972-1977	270	(24)
Fourteen 'Wodehouse With Tears' 1977-1983	294	(39)
Postscript 1983-2003	333	(7)
Filmography	340	(9)
Acknowledgements and Bibliography	349	(7)
Index	356