David Niven Explains How He Got An Iron Cross in WWII | The Dick Cavett Show
Dick Cavett welcomes British actor David Niven to the show who describes his experiences in WWII including how he got a German Iron Cross.
Date aired - February 15th 1972 - David Niven
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Dick Cavett has been nominated for eleven Emmy awards (the most recent in 2012 for the HBO special, Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again), and won three. Spanning five decades, Dick Cavett’s television career has defined excellence in the interview format. He started at ABC in 1968, and also enjoyed success on PBS, USA, and CNBC.
His most recent television successes were the September 2014 PBS special, Dick Cavett’s Watergate, followed April 2015 by Dick Cavett’s Vietnam. He has appeared in movies, tv specials, tv commercials, and several Broadway plays. He starred in an off-Broadway production ofHellman v. McCarthy in 2014 and reprised the role at Theatre 40 in LA February 2015.
Cavett has published four books beginning with Cavett (1974) and Eye on Cavett (1983), co-authored with Christopher Porterfield. His two recent books -- Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets (2010) and Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic moments, and Assorted Hijinks(October 2014) are both collections of his online opinion column, written for The New York Times since 2007. Additionally, he has written for The New Yorker, TV Guide, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere.
#thedickcavettshow #DavidNiven #DickCavett #GloriaSwanson
What's your favourite David Niven interview on the show?
David Niven has one of the greatest ever quotes for me. When interviewed on (the UKs) "Parkinson" chat show when talking affectionally about Errol Flynn opined "you always knew where you stood with Errol because he'd ALWAYS let you down !
@@lyndamcardle4123 he also said the only thing reliable about Errol was his unreliability!
Indeed he did Richard.....same thing really....but, with regard to David Niven, what a really nice man and so humble too.
For David Niven to say something so clearly negative about someone means (unfortunately) that it was well-deserved. He strikes me as the sort of English gentleman who was pained by mentioning someone in a negative light.
Even though I'm Irish to the core, David Niven has been a role model to me: to swear that you are a card-carrying coward, but to quite deliberately go in harm's way when you feel it necessary. My kind of man.
I met David Niven once. He was in London filming a movie in 1979 and he happened to come out of the hotel where he was staying at the same time as I was passing. I asked him for an autograph and he couldn't have been nicer or more obliging. He was exactly the kind of decent English chap, with impeccable dress and manners, that you saw on the big screen.
That's a nice story - thanks!
His books were hysterical.
No you never, don’t lie
His book the moons a balloon 🎈, is excellent
and Bring on the Empty Horses.@@wilfredwilde9559
David Niven was the combination of charm, extreme wit, and graciousness. In these 39 years after his passing, he was a delight on the screen, and I do miss what he had represented as one of the silver screen's great actors.
you mean grace
David Niven didn't talk much about his Military Service out of respect for those who made the ultimate sacrifice, however he was trained as a British Commando and after the D-Day Invasion he served in a secret reconnaissance and signals unit which located and reported German positions to senior military commanders.
Phantom Signals Unit.
A man to respect. He knew & saw a lot of bad. No need to brag or make the audience cry.
Served along side my best mate’s grandfather, Charles Moore, who was awarded MC.
He managed to star in a few movies and do work with the Army Film & Photographic Unit. AND, from Wiki : "Niven was also given a significant if largely unheralded role in the creation of SHAEF's military radio efforts conceived to provide entertainment to American, British and Canadian forces in England and Europe. In 1944 he worked extensively with the BBC and SHAEF to expand these broadcast efforts. He also worked extensively with Major Glenn Miller, whose Army Air Force big band, formed in the US, was performing and broadcasting for troops in England. Niven played a role in the operation to move the Miller band to France prior to Miller's December 1944 disappearance while flying over the English Channel." Hardly gave him time to get involved in the real, shooting War, despite his tales about bullets whizzing around his ears.
Erm, he was in the Phantom Signals unit. He only made two films during the war, and was posted near me in Chilham, Kent for the pre-D-Day deception plan. Maybe better research might help you? @@Baskerville22
Defines his war experience with the statement 'We muddled through'. The most British thing ever said.
The dude was born in 1910. Definitely old school Englishman. He's the type of fellow to tell a Jerry "I'm terribly sorry old chap, but I must put a bullet through your head now. Frightful business this war. Please don't think any less of me. Just following orders; you know how that goes".
Love this, I am a Brit. I love the way describes crossing a bridge " There were holes you popped into, in case of any (German) rudeness " Brilliant, so British, it just couldn't be said by anyone else that way, unless they were British.
I am Frand I can listen to David Niven for hours, so brilliant funny and humble. A pure delight of British Humor
So understated 😊
What beautiful diction he had!!
Aww what a nice reply section , bless you all
Not the awful brexit british of today
He was in for 6 1/2 years! He mentions landing at Normandy like it was nothing! Where have these men gone?!
He did quite a few movies during the war, so it couldn’t have been all bad. Also he was attached to the GHQ Liaison Regiment so got first dibs at pretty much everything that was good. Still, he volunteered to risk his neck when no one would have though the worse of him if he’d stayed in Hollywood for the duration.
@@sirrathersplendid4825 He was also a Commando and served in the war. Six and have years is a long time.
We are a generation of men raised by woman.
@@happybaals David Niven and the Greatest Generation men didn't have mothers?
Hard times make hard men. Soft times...
David Niven was in the thick of it in WW2 so humble so modest thank you for your service Lt Col Niven 💜💚🩵
"So they had some holes they would pop in if there was any rudeness". What an absolute legend this man was. Class act.
I was thinking exactly the same thing. What an absolute gent :)
A classic piece of understatement, completely missed by the American audience.
He goes to to call a play that went wrong a disaster 😂
So very British.
@@tonynewton2250 I'm an American and I didn't miss a syllable - classic British understament of a situation that was otherwise deadly.
David Niven, James Mason, Laurence Olivier, ...Consummate gentlemen from a bygone time. Gone but not forgotten.
he was great in SEPERATE TABLES
You forgot Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin, I guess.....
@@MakeSomeNoiseAgencyPlaylists And Archibald leach and Gary cooper.
I read that Niven disliked Mason because the latter was a conscientious objector and refused to serve in the forces during the war.
@@johncorrall1739there's a very good article in this week's Vanity Fair magazine about Cary Grant and also his dear friend Randolph Scott that's here online and for free if you've never read it before . You will be convinced that Cary Grant studied and absorbed Randolph Scott's class and charm as people are saying Archibald Leach was nothing like the Cary Grant he became until he lived with Randolph Scott who came from money and was known to be very charming , carefree and debonair. It's an excellent story
Could you imagine any "stars" of today slogging through 5 years of war, death, hardship and deprivation and being as low key as this man?
Twenty years ago, Pat Tillman did. Sorrowfully, he lost his life to friendly fire. RIP
Yes. But wars, weapons, and reasons for joining army are different from then so invalid comparison.
@@cuebj Curious if you’ve ever served?
They did ,,, didn’t you see saving private Ryan.?
@@paulpski9855yes but some of us question that friendly fire because yes he was speaking out against the war ... number of us feel what happened to him was rather suspicious😢 .
A little anecdote in memory of David Niven…….. many , many years ago at the age of 19 /20 , I was under the “ three line whip “ of my parents to meet my parents for lunch . I arrived early and sat down on a sofa at a table with other chairs to wait. This in the foyer of the River Room of a once elegant London hotel. I waited and waited , becoming more nervous (we were not quite as “ sophisticated “ as the youth of today - a parental summons was to be obeyed and respected ) . Mr. Niven came up to me. . I recognised him immediately which flustered me even more and he asked if I knew how to play backgammon. On hearing no, he pulled out of his document case , a travelling backgammon set and set about teaching me. My parents arrived and to my utter astonishment , both he and my father shook each other warmly by the hand saying , “good god, how are you “? Not once did Mr. Niven played the famous actor part which emphasises how , throughout his life , he never forgot , indeed kept up with his old friends and chums. Even better ….when I later married, my rather wonderful father -in - law and Niv were almost indistinguishable , side by side in looks. They used to take great enjoyment both , when my father -in -law was approached for an autograph by people thinking it was Niv , as he signed in his own name W. . . . . .. .B . . . . . . Niv was a truly self effacing , modest and loyal friend, a gentleman and loyal man to all old chums , a man whom will remain much missed as indeed will be my father and all those greats , of whatever business, profession , service .
What a brilliant story
Loved this, thanks for sharing! :)
That's lovely isn't it?
Thanks for sharing your story. Love from Greece 🇬🇷
Nice story, thanks for sharing.
He barely mentions his wartime experiences. But for anyone who hasnt read his books, "The Moon's a Balloon" and "Bring on the Empty Horses", they are an utter joy.
They really are. It says so much for the life he lived that he could leave out the war and still have so much to write about.
David Niven graduated from the British Military Academy at Sandhurst and was commissioned an officer. He served as a professional soldier for several years before getting out of the army and pursuing an acting career. He returned to the colours when the war broke out, and is noted for always declining to discuss his actions in combat. Peter Ustinov was his batman (called an orderly in the US) during the war
David Niven with Peter Ustinov as his batman. Imagine the conversations!
@@KakuiKujira One wonders what would have happened to Ustinov without someone like Niven with a sense of humor. From his own accounts, he was the worst soldier ever (probably not entirely true).
@@KakuiKujira I would so much of enjoyed listening to that two very intelligent and witty men
WOW....great info
Didn’t he have to have Ustinov as his batman because otherwise they wouldn’t be able to freely fraternise because Niven was an Officer (Major I believe) and Peter was a Private? Two great actors, I loved David Niven in any rôle.
spoken like a true veteran. doesn't want to exalt his actions, other chaps suffered worse etc. Greatest generation.
David Niven was an absolute classy man. From this interview, this is one of the very rare times he talked about his wartime experiences even though he was in the British equivalent of the modern Special Forces - the SOE. Unlike many other actors, he voluntarily returned to Britain when war was declared and gave up a successful career in Hollywood after nearly a decade of hard work.
I don't think he was in SOE. He did commando training and served in 'Phantom' which was a special communications unit.
Ask Joan Collins.
Keep in mind he graduated from Sandhurst Military Academy before going to Hollywood so the Brits would want him back because he was a trained officer. All the same it was commendable in the highest that he returned to service his homeland.
@@faeembrugh correct, he commanded 'A Squadron' of the GHQ Liaison Regiment.. a reconnaissance unit.
@@schizoidboy I thought he was kicked out of the Army prior to the war due to an "incident" with high explosives ????
David Niven. Extraordinary story teller. Devoid of ego. Wonderful human being. Forever immortalised by his eternal films and interviews. Thank you for this. 🎭
He wrote beautifully. Check out The Moon is a Balloon or any of the six books he authored. He tells stories of Bogart, Flynn and Gable to name a few. Wonderful glimpses of the Golden age of Hollywood, his interesting life and the many greats he met along the way.
RIP David Niven. A truly irreplaceable man.
He told a story, relating to war stories, that some time afterwards he was asked by some American friends, when he was due to visit the Ardennes region if he would look for their son's grave. He found it and realised there were thousands of other young Americans in the same cemetery. He said no story he had to tell could do justice to the losses suffered in that battle.
I like how he described being shelled as ‘ a bit of rudeness’.
They actually allow each other to speak. They listen. Something we should practice these days.
..and the interviewer here doesn't guffaw and belly laugh over the interviewee while they are trying to talk..
Every time Dick had his show canceled his main rival for the time slot, Johnny, would have him on to talk about his next move.... Craig Ferguson knew how to do it.
@@atcmoran7097 I tried to watch a US sitcom made in the past decade, every time there was a pause in dialog someone off camera would push the laugh track button... "Would you like something to drink" 😆😆😆😆 "Yes" 🤣🤣🤣🤣😆😆😆🤣😆🤣🤣😆
Dick Cavett was the quintessential late night talk show host/interviewer.
People have no attention spans these days. Other than myself and a few other gentlemen.
We visited his grave a year or so ago, it took us ten minutes to find it walking the graveyard row by row. Just a modest grave amongst the locals in the small Swiss town of Chateux d’Oex where he passed away. A wonderful man.
I was a student in London in the early 80s and walked past him one evening in South Kensington. He looked so thin and careworn, shortly before his passing, that I didn't say anything. Wish I could have thanked him for all that he did.
It sounds like you saw him when his horrible debilitating disease was starting to take effect ... I can't remember what it was called I don't know if it was Lou Gehrig's Disease or similar to that but you probably saw him around the time he already knew he had it and knew he was going to have a horrible end ... ? I'll never forget seeing a photo of him in a wheelchair someone had captured from a telephoto lens from a distance spying on him and he was so skinny that he looked rubbery and it was just really awful to see him like that 😢 .
@@gardensofthegodsYes, a sad ending to what Dylan Thomas might have called 'A Roaring Life'. Pardon the question, but do you live in Colorado Springs?
Niven! One of the most effortlessly funny interviewees whichever talks show he was on
Michael Caine’s very funny, he’s like a comedian.
Marvelous life David had. Touche' old boy! Rest in peace!
A true gentleman with a sense of humour, etiquette and bravery all of the qualities that make a good man, unlike many today.
How characteristic of David Niven to refer to battlefield artillery shelling as 'rudeness'. Delightful!
He said if he had known about Nebelwurfers (a nine barrelled mortar) he never would have left America
They don't make 'em like that anymore. David Niven was a class act.
Niven served in what was titled "Phantom Squadron" which was a Special Forces unit, all manner of rumours were put about in regards to their role; the Brits will never acknowledge this , but I have it on good authority that they wore German uniforms on regular occasions and created chaos behind German front lines. BTW Im a retired Army Officer with an abiding passion for miltary history. and interesting contacts.
they should make a movie about that. Incidentally. Didn't the Nazis do something like that?
@@gerarduspoppel2831 - Yes, during the battle of the Bulge in December 1944 the Germans ran a ruse called Operation Greif under Otto Skorzeny with about two dozen English speaking soldiers dressed in British and US uniforms to spread confusion in the Allied lines.
I think Phantom was just a reconnaissance unit more formally known as the GHQ Liaison Regiment, and its task was to identify actual locations of allied units on the ground and report them back so that the high commanders had a better idea what was going on during an operation.
Wow there needs to be a movie or a miniseries about this ... a lot of people would want to watch it . If they were to make this I would hope they could find someone who actually does look and sound like David Niven . Nothing worse than a movie where they have an actor who looks nothing like the person the story is about . I was unable to take seriously and enjoy the series about Henry VIII with the actor who was so lean and in shape and looked nothing in the face like Henry VIII . ( Rhys Meyers I think his name was ? ) ... or Anthony DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes ? No resemblance not even the same shape head or face and I couldn't get past maybe the first half hour ... that was it , never finished watching .
@@gardensofthegods Which Henry VIII series do you refer to? Because when he was young Henry was "lean and in shape" - he only became fat and gout ridden after he suffered an accident jousting that aggravated a previous wound and couldn't be treated properly. If you're referring to "Wolf Hall" - the first series ends about the time of Henry's accident.
David Niven , always a gentleman , always underspoken and always a pleasure to listen to ! Classic !
I am a combat veteran awarded the purple heart in Vietnam and I don’t care who you are or what your day if you were there in any of the branches of service in my book you’re a hero you did not run to Canada‘s and you deserve as much recognition as anyone else whether you were an actor of Coco Baker you helped and you were there that’s what matters you stuck by your country and your country man
Jimmy Stewart my favourite actor for service and acting!
not sure what you mean by running to Canada in reference to Mr. Niven. Canada went to war the same time Britain did, so running to Canada wouldn't make any diff. If you mean Americans who didn't go to Viet Nam but went to Canada....well that was maybe disloyal in your mind but most people would realize your country had no business sending you or any other American to Nam. I also served in my army so my opinion is different than yours but just as valid so we can leave it at that and no ill will meant. Let's just be glad we both made it home.
David Niven was a great man. Sadly missed Loved him in the films, A Matter of Life and Death and Disney's Candleshoe with Jody Foster. Very versatile actor. Bit of trivia. David Nivern's mother was Welsh and was born the county of Breconshire, Wales. The reason she named him David was because he was born on St'' David's Day, 1st of March.
Bravery is not the absence of fear but doing your job when scared.
Also..has to be noted..Niven had been “asked to leave” his old Regiment (The Highland Light Infantry) due to some high jinks with his CO’s staff car in the 1930’s..on outbreak of war Niven did return from Hollywood to do his bit..but still the HLI would NOT have him back.. Dejected he went to one of the clubs in London..It May well have been the Guards Club..and met a friend in there who was a Brigadier (from The Rifle Brigade) and after telling him of his “woes” and misfortune with the HLI the Brigadier stated..”..don’t worry..The Rifle Brigade will take you...” Marvellous story..Niven was an all time great a real gentleman of the highest order and those that knew him knew he had a great spark and also a spark for mischief too...very sorely missed...and my wonderful Grandparents that so inspired me in both my childhood with these stories told by my Grandfather and also into adulthood...great..in fact..SUPERB people
What a wonderful man. The title had me though , because only one Englishman was actually Awarded the iron cross and that was Eddie Chapman, a wonderful double agent (and rogue) whom the Germans never suspected was actually working for us Brits. Ian Fleming was working for British Secret Service at the time and when he wrote "James Bond" he wanted David Niven for the film role; interestingly Eddie Chapman bore a passing resemblance to David Niven! "Agent Zig-Zag" a great book that tells Eddies story.
David Niven actually did play James Bond in "Casino Royale".
I read Agent Zig and Zag as an e-book for bedtime over several nights because it is so good that binge reading, it would have been over too soon.
Bond was modeled on the actor Sir Christopher Lee,I believe he was related to Fleming. Lee was,in his own words,working for a unit nicknamed "the department of ungentlemanly behaviour.......famously told Sir Peter Jackson he didn't need to imagine the sound of someone being stabbed to death.......I can imagine the set going very quiet as they digested this
Slight problem, David Niven was not an Englishman he was Scottish
Born in London, though to descendants of a Scottish family. He did joke he was born in the highlands, which probably muddied the water.@@jerrymyphone5849
I started working about 40 years ago, I'm now 56. Almost all the people I worked with were due to retire and were in WW2. You couldn't get anything out of them. If you did wrong, 'I fought Germans for you' was a reply. Glimpses though, a Wellington rear gunner, a Desert Rat. Thanks.
I'm the same age as you and had the same experience when I started work, they would say very little and if they did they downplayed what they did and never glorified the war, except maybe those who died. The thing that got me about these men and women in their 60's at the time, was how ordinary they were, but when it mattered they did the most extraordinary things, no doubt many of those extraordinary deeds went untold to their grave or only known by those who were there.
Same age, same experience as you.
Yes they were a different breed and had a lot more class than the generations that came after them ... my father and so many of my relatives who have passed on all came from that generation . They were down to earth , and for the most part didn't brag ... they did have a lot more class and I never knew anyone from that generation to take a cheap shot at anyone . I was born in '58 and regrettably remember too many of the older people of the hippie generation and regrettably a lot of them became the yuppies ... but sadly a lot of them introduced the bad manners , lack of good breeding and also hypocrisy . It wasn't uncommon for a number of them to take a cheap shot at someone by psychologically or verbally hitting them below the belt . I think some of the subsequent generations after the ones who fought in World War II have become more heartless and more about bragging and definitely narcissistic . Imagine if social media and the internet had come out in the 1940s ... can you picture any of those people conducting themselves and flirting with the camera and making total fools of themselves the way some people do today ? No ... there's definitely something wrong with the way people are today .
its only people that didnt serve in wars that want to dwell on them and go back and dissect them and relive them, either that or career soldiers, or sociopaths. normal people remember fondly the day they got OUT of the war. why dwell on the horrors? also i guess theres bit of guilt for being one of those who didnt die when so many others did.
Many of his stories were somewhat embellished but he was an amazing raconteur and was always careful never to seek any glory or approval for his WW2 service.
One must embellish, dear boy. Makes for a delightful story, what?
Embellishment is forgivable when the person has lead a remarkable life like the Nivens, Ustinovs, Welles', etc did. It's nobodies who never achieved anything that should be looked down on for making stuff up.
@@johnbull1568 Bullshit, a lies a lie.
Love it, Niven what a class act.
I loved him. His books were marvelous.
Man I loved David Niven. He was such a gentleman with the most hysterical sense of humor. I miss the actors and actresses from back then. The movies were better then too.❤
We will never see the likes of this splendid man again ! Unfortunately ! A real gentleman and a hero .
I miss him...He was already old when I was a kid but he was still a very active actor back then... He had that typical British sense of humor and a lot of class too...Not to mention his patriotism...
There's a whole generation of entertainers who served in the world wars. Remarkable era.
My personal favourite was the fantastic Spike Milligan, he wrote some extremely funny books about his time in the War, mainly in the North Africa conflict.
Yes, a whole raft of entertainers and broadcasters who between them shaped entertainment into the 1970s and beyond.
I remember reading one of the tributes to the late motorsports commentator Murray Walker after his death last year. One of his colleagues recollected being in the commentary box at the Nurburgring with him in the 1990s, prior to the start of the German Grand Prix. Murray looked out across the Eifel Mountains and said "I can remember driving a tank through there!"
Such a class act, the epitome of what it is to be a gentlemen. Also a wonderful story teller. His book 'Bring on the Empty Horses' is one of my absolute favorites. Stories from the golden age of Hollywood both hilarious and touching.
Try the moons a balloon another niven autobiography
He wrote two books "the moons a ballon " and "bring on the empty horses " both of these books are informative with a light heart hugely enjoyable reads...what an admirable life David had...
One of the most humble and respected actors of his time! If you have never seen a David Niven movie, do yourself a favor!
I love old Hollywood stories like this.
My Father looked like David's twin brother. but void of all his talents. I always repected and loved his work. and his demeaner as a person. So long after my father passed I got to see him again every time I watched David on any screen. be it the big one or the little one. class act and Man. he is missed even today. ECF.
One of the stories I recall . He was in charge of a column of armoured cars. They were about to attempt to run the Gauntlet of the Germans. to cheer his men up he said "it's all right for you lot .you only have to do this once. After the war is over I shall have to do this all over again with Errol Flynn". He had left the British army in less than perfect circumstances .before his acting career after " borrowing and wrecking " an officers car. So it took some determination on his part to get back in. if you enjoy hearing him speak you will probably enjoy his Auto biography/ Hollywood memoirs which are just as witty . "Bring on the empty horses" and "The moon's a balloon"
What a wonderful man David Niven seemed to be, humble, funny, gentle and intelligent. Wow!
"what was the closest shave you had in WWII'? Niven's face gives it away without having to say there are too many stories for this show. what a Stud.
I have always felt that asking a veteran to tell a 'real' story is the height of intrusive rudeness. It is very different from discussing a fictional event. The questioner is basically asking someone to detail the violent death of friends and colleagues. It's just not done, is it. To me, the look on David's face is one of disdain and anger.
@@FortyCoupleyeah i like Cavett but that was a faux pas
The moons a balloon One of the best books I have ever read David nivens life story 👍
1:40 "...nobody's more terrified than me. I got the Iron Cross though, which is something" killed me lol how was the audience not laughing?! Also when he said "John McClane" I laughed again thinking it was another joke and did a double take trying to line up Die Hard with the Dick Cavett Show chronologically and realized he meant a real person. I love seeing Niven in movies and it's so cool to see his off screen personality as well
I noticed the near silence, too, while I'm sitting on my bed saying: What? What? Maybe they couldn't hear, he had a low voice, or being Yanks thought at first it was a British medal. Wonder if it was First Class like Adolfs?
Probably because they had no idea what an Iron Cross was.
These men were class acts…. I remember watching these interviews when I was young…. There were many in Hollywood who were in World War II and served with distinction…. Salute!!
My grandad only told me 2 stories about his 6 years in Burma, and one of them was about a 'Captain Kirk'. He couldn't understand why I found the name funny.
This reminds me of Christopher Lee. None of us really knew what he did during the war until after he died. He never talked about it. He was a total badass.
Are you talking about Niven or Lee? Because it wasn't until after he died that we found out that Lee had touched up his resume somewhat.
What a charming man!
Utter definition of a Gentleman. Huge space left in the world when his like 'leave'.
Niven was pure class.
My grandfather served in A unit in WWII along side the actor Chuck Connors, from the old TV series, The Rifleman. Grandpa died just before I was born, but grandma told the story: Connors refused to be regarded as anything special because he was on television, just another soldier doing his duty. Quite a different breed from the weenies we have amusing us today
If Chuck Connors was known for anything, it was for minor league baseball--broadcast television (and his TV career) didn't start until much later. (His TV debut was 1958.)
@@drostropod9794 Story reeks of BS
Connors served in the United States Army for the duration of World War II as a tank-warfare instructor at West Point at the beginning and then in the infantry. He received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his service in the Pacific theater and in the post-war occupation of Japan. He was honorably discharged from the Army. He remained involved with military organizations and often visited military bases and hospitals. After the war, he played professional basketball before beginning his acting career. He regularly attended military reunions and events to connect with fellow veterans. Yes, he was an advocate for veterans’ issues and supported various military charities throughout his life. Connors rarely talked about his military service, but he was proud of his service.
What a fantastic moment with a great actor. I did not know that he fought in WW2. I loved him in the original Casino Royale.
Class act. He never spoke about the war really which showed he had nothing but respect for the fallen. Also, he left Hollywood days after war was declared to rejoin the army.
a man with a tragic brutal past and it never seemed to make him bitter .
got a lot of respect for folks who went off to the 2nd world war - even though I'm sure desperately fearful - and afterwards many of them like Niven, Tony Bennett and Jimmy Stewart essentially refused to talk about the fighting out of respect to those who never made it back.
Indeed, Stewart refused to do any films based on WW2, had it stipulated in his contracts with the studios that he would not do them. Flew B25 bombers over Germany, part of the air offensive that had tremendous losses.
Most of my Dad's squadron didn't make it back.
@@danieldrinkwalter2393 James Stewart finished the war as a Colonel. One of the first movies he made after returning to Hollywood was It's a Wonderful Life. He agreed to do the movie after only hearing the plot synopsis. I will always wonder if he did it for all the guys who didn't come back, to 'earn this', as a much later movie exhorted it's hero.
Please keep posting these wonderful interviews from this fantastic show.
DN was always a delight in my view.
Comments on the war from Niven are few and far between. He says very little in Moon. I never read Horses so I don't know if he says more (I suspect not). So, I was very pleased to hear a story from him on the topic. This also confirms for me that he was in Normandy and at Carentan. I really wish he had written a full volume covering his time in the war - to be published only after his death.. to satisfy his modesty. Most WW2 vets I've met are reluctant to say much.
My grandad spent 6 years in Burma, and I only know he went through some real gnarly stuff from my grandmother. The only stories he would tell me were funny and odd things that happened over there, never anything about combat or the horrible things he saw and did.
I worked for a WW2 veteran for several years doing landscaping around his house and a few other odds and ends. I asked him once about his time in the war. He quickly told me that he didn't want to discuss it. I never asked again. He was a good man and great on a banjo too.
I just loved David Niven. I could watch him for hours
His books about his life...The moon's a balloon and Bring on the empty horses are a fantastic way to spend many happy hours.
GREAT books. I still laugh when I think of all his crazy experiences.
I sat in his school chair. About as close I got to this class act of a man
David Nivens seems like such an earnest decent guy I can't help but appreciate his ability to let others claim glory for their exploits while avoiding his own.
David Niven used my great uncles VC in the film Carrington VC.
Incredibly humble. If he was anywhere near Cherbourg when the Nazi's still held it - he was in the thick of it.
The line 'like some terrible leering gopher' just had me in tears. Brilliant!
When words flowed easily between host and guest back when both were witty, charming, and eloquent.
Niven was the gentleman we should all aspire to be...
Very interesting story indeed, David was such a great storyteller as well as an amazing actor
Guys like Niven and J Stewart are bigger than life. John Wayne stayed at home
Great interview. Something about Clark Gable: he flew 5 missions as a gunner despite being an captain. He had lost his wife (Carole Lombard) in a tragic war bond tour accident. I think he'd basically given up on life. Wanted it to end. As to that, there's an indication in the Gregory Peck movie, "Twelve O'Clock High," ground officers snuck on missions. Maybe it happened maybe not. .... that movie, released in 1949, should have starred Jimmy Stewart but I think Jimmy Stewart was too impacted by the war to act that out.
Clark Gable also shot a lot of fantastic footage from the bombers for the war service. It's in color and is spectacular. Gable was assigned to go to Britain to film "Combat America", a propaganda movie about air gunners. “Gable was assigned to our squadron but not to a particular crew,” said Cowley. “The group controlled his assignments. They wanted him to have an *outer-wing* aircraft with a clear view of the skies for his air-to-air photography, He stayed with us right up from 1942 to 1945 and I can tell you, they didn’t put him on the milk runs. He took a lot of pictures of flak bursting beside his aircraft.” Records indicate that Gable flew five combat missions but Cowley and other veterans remember that he flew many more. “They were very real missions in which he could have been wounded or killed,” said Chrystopher J. Spicer, an Australian scholar who has scrutinized Gable’s career. “His film Combat America makes a valuable contribution to our historical knowledge of the war from the flyer’s perspective these days.”
@@macmcleod1188 very good information. I understand that Hitler knew about Gable... Would really like to have taken him as prisoner had he needed to have bailed out.
@@macmcleod1188 "Twelve O'Clock High," Gregory Peck, has a scene in which the field exec, the admin type, plus a doctor, plus a chaplain are supposed to have taken flights as gunners. The implication being that everybody wanted a hand and didn't want solely a field job. ... Granted, this is hollywood, but Clark Gable's experience explains what World War II must have been like. I sailed with men who had been repeatedly torpedo during World War II, ACTION IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC stuff. ... It humbled me as a 19-year-old cadet in 1979. I later sailed with a man named Harold Foss who not only sailed during World War ii, but continue to sale after my brief sea time as a young engineer.
David Niven, what a class act, the real deal.
Wow what a way to get the iron cross !
Absolute legend.
He seems a very humble and very classy fella.
What an absolute Gentleman.
The humility of this man. Like our Jimmy Stewart. "I was terrified most of the time", "There were people who had it worse than me". He served the entire war. Simply incredible. Gives me a different perspective now when I watch him in old movies. Wonderful man.
Watch him in Paper Tiger. He wrote two books too that are a must read. The Moons a Balloon and Bring On the Empty Horses.
David Niven comes across as a really nice and well grounded guy despite going thought the war as a soldier doing the boots on the ground thing.
For a better idea of the “popping off” at Carentan that Niven referred to, rewatch “Band of Brothers” or “Saving Private Ryan” to get a better perspective of that bridge.
Why are there no actors of Nivens class these days? .
A wonderful unassuming gentleman actor who wasn't full of his own self importance who should have been Sir David Niven for his services to acting.
If anyone ever gets the chance thy should read some of his books. I was never overly fond of autobiographies but David Niven turned me on that. He had a lovely writing style, an adventure packed life & was a true gentleman. He could actually fill a tome with his life, I find many biographies now are of shallow people who are only famous for being famous, no substance to their books; which are usually ghost written anyway.
David Niven's books, The Moons a Balloon and Bring on the Empty horses are brilliant reading material.
@@chattonlad9382 Really good aren't they!? I read them a number of times. If you get a chance also read Dear Me, Peter Ustinov's autobiography. Another great raconteur with links to Niven; being his former batman in the military & lifelong friend.
When I was a little boy in the 60s, I wanted David Niven to be my friend. I told myself that when I was older I would try to be like him. He was a role model for me.
Classy, witty and gracious, not to mention humble. Strange how I wound up here , given the fact my own father was on Omaha Beach on June 6, only to be captured outside Saint Lo a week later. For Niven to have served that long in that conflict is nothing short of miraculous . . . one would never guess that from talking with him. A true gentleman, through and through. Cavett annoys . . . frequently, but it's nice to see David Niven for sure! Thank you for posting this.
He left the cushy life to go and fight. What a man.
We muddled along, totally British understatement, shelling any rudeness
A very brave and humble man.
Mr. Niven was always reluctant to talk about his military service. He never mentioned the fact that he was instrumental in recruiting M.R. Clifton James to impersonate Field Marshal Montgomery in an effort to misguide the Germans. In the film “I Was Monty’s Double” he was represented by a character played by Sir John Mills.
Talked the talk and walked the walk. A humble man and a great actor.
David Niven...a true class act!
Mr. Niven's autobiography "Bring On The Empty Horses" is a terrific read.
So we'll spoken. A most enjoyable interview. It was refreshing to see Dick Cavett actually conversing and not interrupting David Niven with zingers and one liners as is common practice today.
Words can’t describe the level of humility and integrity this gentleman displays. Not to mention hilarious.
One of the greatest actors of all time .