- published: 11 Jul 2014
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James David Graham Niven (1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983), was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther. He was awarded the 1958 Academy Award for Best Actor in Separate Tables.
Born in London, Niven attended Heatherdown and Stowe before gaining a place at Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He was gazetted a Lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry. Having developed an interest in acting, he left the Highland Light Infantry, travelled to Hollywood and had several minor roles in film. He first appeared as an extra in the British film There Goes the Bride (1932). From there, he hired an agent and had several small parts in films from 1933, 1934 and 1935, including a non-speaking part in MGM's Mutiny on the Bounty. This brought him to wider attention within the film industry and he was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, Niven returned to England, and rejoined the army and was recommissioned as a lieutenant.
Actors: Miriam Margolyes (actress), Alison Steadman (actress), Heidi Klum (actress), Geoffrey Rush (actor), Emilia Fox (actress), Peter Vaughan (actor), Steve Pemberton (actor), Ray Donn (actor), John Lithgow (actor), Nigel Havers (actor), Stephen Fry (actor), Stanley Tucci (actor), Mackenzie Crook (actor), Emily Watson (actress), Charlize Theron (actress),
Plot: The professional and personal life of actor and comedian 'Peter Sellers (I)' (qv) was a turbulent one. His early movie fame was based primarily on his comic characterizations, often of bumbling and foreign-accented persons, characters which he embodied. As his movie fame rose, he began to lose his own personal identity to his movie characters, leading to self-doubt of himself as a person and a constant need for reassurance and acceptance of his work. This self-doubt manifested itself in fits of anger and what was deemed as arrogance by many. In turn, his personal relationships began to deteriorate as his characterizations were continually used to mask his problems. His first wife, Anne Howe, left/divorced him and his relationships with his parents and children became increasingly distant. His relationship with his second wife, Swedish actress 'Britt Ekland' (qv), was based on this mask. In his later life, he tried to rediscover himself and his career with what would become his penultimate film role, that of Chance in _Being There (1979)_ (qv).
Keywords: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, acting, actor, actress, adultery, airplane-trip, animated-credits, animated-sequence