Mazel: Hebrew, generally defined as good fortune or good luck.
One of the bestselling memoirs of all time, David Niven’s The Moon’s a Balloon is an account of one of the most remarkable lives Hollywood has ever seen. Via vt1708s for mac os. David Niven, pictured, reveals in the latest extract from his glorious memoirs, the suavest British actor of all chased women with abandon — and proved to be a master in the art of seduction In 1924, Hearst had organised a trip aboard his yacht, Oneida. Among others on. Instead, I turned to my other old Hollywood oracle: David Niven, whose memoirs of Hollywood, Bring on the Empty Horses and The Moon’s a Balloon, are compulsory reading—and not just for the soulless. Urbane, kind, and funny, Niven is a terrific raconteur, and somehow his assertions feel completely reliable.
One of the problems with Hollywood memoirs is separating fact from fiction.
Movie stars are usually determined to preserve the myths that nourished their celebrity. Every once in a while comes along a Hollywood biography that actually reveals almost as much as it conceals, but for the most part it is wise to approach Hollywood memoirs with a wary eye.
David Niven’s best-selling and compulsively readable autobiography The Moon’s a Balloon is a perfect example of an actor constructing a reality that is true—sorta.
Early in the volume, Niven writes eloquently about Nessie, a lovely, 17 year-old Piccadilly prostitute with whom he loses his innocence. Naturally, this tough but vulnerable tart becomes young Niven’s tender lover. At the time Niven was a 14 year-old student at Stowe. Niven will have us believe that Nessie visits his school where they go for picnics and chat amiably with his headmaster. Clearly, Niven is playing fast and loose with facts.
Player software for mac. Nessie is at best a composite of several prostitutes. Niven was an obsessive womanizer. More likely, Nessie was a tough little Cockney who did her job and then moved on. But Niven instinctively understood that the character of a whore with a heart of gold would be irresistible to his readers. And it is. Nessie and Niven feel like a couple right out of Charles Dickens.
However, there is one minor incident in Niven’s witty and elegantly written book that has the feel of unvarnished truth. Oddly enough, it deals with Niven and Jews.
In 193o, after graduating from Sandhurst, a military academy, Niven is commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry.
Setting sail for Malta to join his regiment, Niven etches a vivid portrait of the stifling class consciousness aboard ship:
Naval officers were by far the most relaxed and friendly. Those in the air force were rather hearty and condescending, and the Army officers were pretty much what I expected: firm believers in the doctrine that second lieutenants speak when they are spoken to and at no other time. Their wives were nearly all much worse than their husbands, so I clung like a drowning man to a very attractive Jewish couple whom nobody spoke to and who were simply taking a sea voyage as far as Alexandria.
One wonders what sort of welcome they would receive there today, but at the time Mr. and Mrs. Marks were a boon and a blessing. On the voyage they invited me to sit at their table and took me with them when we went ashore in Marseilles. We spent the day at Arles, where I was initiated into the glories of the art galleries and the Roman amphitheater.
Landing in Malta:
The Marks pressed an antique Hebrew silver amulet into my hand for good luck and waved from the upper deck till I could no longer see them.
Niven never mentions this generous Jewish couple again. There is no neat ending, no surprise meeting with the Marks when Niven is a Hollywood star.
Niven, a product of his class and time, probably never met a Jew previous to this voyage. The British were infected with polite anti-Semitism—today it’s no longer polite—but Niven, an outsider, feels a kinship with the despised Jews.
And one can only wonder if the Jewish amulet—probably a mezuzah—helped bring Niven the amazing mazel that led to his Hollywood career.
Niven probably starred in more terrible movies than any other Hollywood star. Forever in need of cash to fund a lavish lifestyle, Niven was compelled to take jobs in less than stellar production. But do check out his spectacular work in Dawn Patrol 1938, Bachelor Mother, 1939, The Bishop’s Wife, 1947, and Separate Tables, 1958 for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
There are two David Nivens who have been introduced to the film industry, and both are related, one is the father, the other the son. This article focuses on the latter, the son, commonly known as David Niven Jr. Like his father, he is a British film actor and producer. Niven has worked as an executive at major film production companies like Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures. Learn more about David Niven in the following sections.
David Niven Bio
David Niven was born on December 15, 1942, in London as David William Graham Niven Jr. He was born the son of Primula Susan Rollo and David Niven, the famous Hollywood actor who once played James Bond. Niven’s mother, Primula Rollo, also known as Primmie, was the daughter of the then famous London lawyer William Rollo.
His father, David Niven, was also a well-known English novelist and memoirist. He starred in several notable films, including A Matter of Life and Death, in which he played the role of Squadron Leader Peter Carter, Around the World in 80 Days, in which he played the role of Phileas Fogg, and Pink Panther, in which he impersonated the role of Sir Charles Lytton.
The older Niven won an Oscar in 1958 for his role in the film Separate Tables. Niven Jr. has a younger brother named James Graham Niven, who is an art auctioneer and patron of the arts.
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He lost his mother, Primula Rollo, in a domestic accident at a very young age. This happened not long after the Niven family moved to Hollywood to further the acting and production career of the older David Niven. Rollo was visiting a friend and playing hide-and-seek when she walked through a door and thought it led to a closet when in reality it led to a step into the basement. Rollo fell and broke his skull.
Career
The career of David Niven Jr. is a dwarf compared to that of his father. He seemed to stick more to his behind-the-scenes role as a film producer and never really made much of an impact in his acting career.
He made his debut as a producer in 1976 with the film The Eagle Has Landed, after which he produced several other films and documentaries, many of which he produced as an executive. These include the film Escape to Athena (1979), Monsignor (1982), Better Late than Never (1983), Kidco (1984), and the documentary That’s Dancing, which he produced in 1985.
In 1984, Niven Jr. also produced the TV movie The Night They Saved Christmas and the TV movie documentary Minnelli about Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic in 1987 and 1990.
In 1993 he was executive producer of these films, Blue Flame, Psycho Cop Returns, and The Cool Surface. His other productions in the mid-90s include R.A.D.D.: “Drive My Car” and “Girl with the Hungry Eyes”.
Among the films in which he acted are Lisa (1989), in which he played the role of the flower shop patron, The Cool Surface (1993), in which he played the role of the peeping Tom, and Rush Hour 3, in which he appeared as a British foreigner.
David Niven Books
David Niven seemed to have stalled his career in 1995 for no official reason. However, he turned up in 2009 to make the short documentary film To Oz! The Making of a Classic. Ubuntu for mac g5.
David Niven Autobiography
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Relationship with Barbara Niven,Wife and Kids
David Niven Jr. was married to Barbara Niven (née Barbara Lee Buholz) between 1993 and 1998, which increased the duration of their marriage to five years. Like David, Barbara Niven is an American actress and producer. She can look back on a career spanning several decades and has appeared in numerous films and television programs. In several Lifetime and Hallmark films, she is more active on the small screen.
Barbara is best known for her roles in television series such as Cedar Cove, One Life to Live, and Pensacola: Wings of Gold. She remains active in her acting career, especially in Hallmark films.
Barbara’s divorce from David Nivien Jr. was her third divorce, having previously separated from her first two husbands, including Ronald Garrison and David Alexander. Since their divorce, things between the two became very quiet about their love life.
David Niven Autobiography Book
Their short-lived marriage produced a daughter named Jessica Niven. According to her IMDB profile, she appeared in 2017 in The Derelict: A Star Trek Fan Production.