David Niven Jr. is a British

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

and

script writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

who was an executive at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

and

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. He is the son of actor

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

and Primula Rollo.

Career

Niven was the head of the

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent a ...

in Europe, which he left for Columbia Pictures in 1970. His many clients included Robert Woods. He was managing director of Paramount Pictures England until 1975, when he turned his focus to film production. In 1976, he produced '' The Eagle Has Landed'', and in 1979, he produced ''

Escape to Athena ''Escape to Athena'' is a 1979 British adventure comedy war film directed by George P. Cosmatos. It stars Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven, Stefanie Powers, Claudia Cardinale, Richard Roundtree, Sonny Bono and Elliott Gould. The film i ...

'', which starred his father. He was nominated for a

Primetime Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in 1985 as Executive Producer of ''

The Night They Saved Christmas ''The Night They Saved Christmas'' is a 1984 American made-for-television fantasy drama film directed by Jackie Cooper and executive produced by Jack Haley Jr. and Robert Halmi Jr. The film, about an oil company dynamiting in the North Pole in ...

'' which he co-wrote with James C. Maloney. Niven was a regular on the 1990 edition of '' To Tell the Truth'', which was hosted by

Gordon Elliott Gordon Elliott may refer to: * Gordon Elliott (journalist) Gordon Elliott (born 30 September 1956) is a British Australian journalist and producer, radio and television personality, based now in the United States. He was the executive produc ...

making 14 appearances. During the 1990s he was the chair emeritus of the Recording Artists, Actors and Athletes against Drunk Driving (R.A.D.D) group in Hollywood, and founder of the bicycle safety group See a Child, Save a Child. In 2002 he successfully campaigned for a Child Safety Day and Week which was accepted by the City of Los Angeles. At a book launch by

Jackie Collins Jacqueline Jill Collins (4 October 1937 – 19 September 2015) was an English romance novelist and actress. She moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and spent most of her career there. She wrote 32 novels, all of which appeared on ''The New York Time ...

in 1987, Niven was asked if he would ever write a book about his life, to which he replied "But how can I when everything, everything, I have ever done, said or thought appears in Jackie's novels."'There's nothing left,' he laments. 'I don't know why the headings on some of the chapters shouldn't be, 'I'd like to dedicate this to...' " Niven's acting credits include ''

Rush Hour 3 ''Rush Hour 3'' is a 2007 American buddy action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner, written by Jeff Nathanson, and starring Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Max von Sydow, Hiroyuki Sanada, Noémie Lenoir, Yvan Attal and Youki Kudoh. It is the third ...

'' and ''

The Cool Surface ''The Cool Surface'' (released in the Philippines as ''The Playmate'') is a 1994 thriller film written and directed by Erik Anjou and starring Robert Patrick, Teri Hatcher, Cyril O'Reilly, Matt McCoy, Shannon Dobson and Ian Buchanan. Plot A wri ...

''. Away from film, Niven invested in the restaurant Drones, in Pont Street, London in 1972, which he recommended be named after

Bertie Wooster Bertram Wilberforce Wooster is a fictional character in the comedic Jeeves stories created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. An amiable English gentleman and one of the "idle rich", Bertie appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intelligenc ...

's fictional club. At his request a picture of his father was positioned on the wall. The restaurant was later run by

Marco Pierre White Marco Pierre White (born 11 December 1961) is a British chef, restaurateur, and television personality. He has been dubbed "the first celebrity chef" and the ''enfant terrible'' of the UK restaurant scene. In January 1995, aged 33, White became ...

's restaurant group White Star Group. The location changed under new owners and closed in 2007.

Personal life

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

was Niven's godfather, and gave him a silver cocktail shaker with the inscription "Because, my Godson dear, I rather / Think you'll turn out like your father." Niven knew

Jane Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...

and

Peter Fonda Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...

, Nancy and

Frank Sinatra Jr. Francis Wayne Sinatra Group note. (; January 10, 1944 – March 16, 2016), professionally known as Frank Sinatra Jr., was an American singer, songwriter, and conductor. He was the son of singer and actor Frank Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy ...

, and

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also know ...

growing up. Niven was married to actress and producer

Barbara Niven Barbara Lee Niven (née Bucholz; born February 26, 1953) is an American actress, writer and producer, best known for her performances in Hallmark and Lifetime movies, and for television roles in ''Pensacola: Wings of Gold'', ''One Life to Live'' ...

from 1993 to their divorce in 1998. He had previously had a relationship with

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring r ...

during the 1960s. He married his second wife Beatrice Anne Reeve, daughter of

Annette de la Renta Annette de la Renta (born 24 December 1939) is an American philanthropist and socialite, the widow of the Dominican fashion designer Oscar de la Renta. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973. Birth and childho ...

in 2000, but divorced in 2005. In 2009 he sold his house on

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...

for $5 million. In 1994 Niven and his brother Jamie gave the Online Archive of California their father's archive. In 2009 Michael Munn released a biography of his father,

, by which Niven Jr. was horrified. Niven and his brother had been close to their father and they challenged many of the claims in the book.

Filmography

Producer/Executive Producer

* ''The Eagle Has Landed'' (1976) *''

'' (1979) * ''Monsignor'' (1982) * ''Better Late Than Never'' (1983) *''

Kidco ''Kidco'' is a 1984 American comedy film directed by Ronald F. Maxwell and starring Scott Schwartz, Clifton James, Charles Hallahan, Maggie Blye, and Vincent Schiavelli. Although the premise sounds far-fetched, the film was based on the 1979 pur ...

'' (1984) *''

That's Dancing! ''That's Dancing!'' is a 1985 American compilation film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that looked back at the history of dancing in film. Unlike the ''That's Entertainment!'' series, this film not only focuses specifically on MGM films, but als ...

'' (1985) *''Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente'' (1985) *''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic'' (1990) *''

'' (1993) * ''Blue Flame'' (1993) *''R.A.D.D: Drive My Car'' (1994) * ''The Girl With Hungry Eyes'' (1995) *''To Oz: Making of a Classic'' (2009)

Acting

* ''Lisa'' (1989) *''

'' (1993) *''

'' (2007)

Appearances

*'' To Tell the Truth'' (1990–91) * ''Biography'' (1995) *''The 100 Most Memorable TV Moments'' (2004) *''

The Hollywood Greats ''Hollywood Greats'' is a BBC Television series, which originally ran from 1977 to 1985. The film critic Barry Norman wrote and narrated a series of in-depth profiles on major Hollywood film personalities, in which he interviewed surviving assoc ...

'' (2005) *''Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind'' (2020)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Niven, David Jr. English film producers English male film actors Living people Male actors from London Year of birth missing (living people)