The Moon's a Balloon : The Guardian's Number One Hollywood Autobiography

About the book

ONE OF THE BESTSELLING MEMOIRS OF ALL TIME WITH OVER FIVE MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE Discover the heartfelt, laugh-out-loud account of one of Hollywood's greatest actors and, above all, greatest men Debonair English wit and humourist extraordinaire, star of The Pink Panther, Casino Royal and Around the World in 80 Days, few Hollywood actors are remembered as fondly as David Niven. In this bestselling autobiography, Niven shows how, even as an unknown young man, he knew how to live the good life, regaling us with tales of school expulsion and wartime hi-jinks. However, it is his accounts of working and partying with the legends of the silver screen - from Lawrence Oliver and Vivien Leigh to Elizabeth Taylor, Noel Coward and dozens of others - that turn this memoir into an outright masterpiece. An intimate, gossipy, warm and above all charming account of life inside Hollywood's dream factory, The Moon is a Balloon is a classic to be read and enjoyed time and again. *** 'An immensely enjoyable, witty and racy memoir' Sunday Times 'Forthright, bawdy, and often hilarious, zany and zestful, his anecdotes should keep you entertained for hours' Sunday Express 'Niven's life was Wodehouse with tears' John Mortimer

Reviews

An immensely enjoyable, witty and racy memoir. Sunday Times

Quotes

An immensely enjoyable, witty and racy memoir. * Sunday Times * Forthright, bawdy, and often hilarious, zany and zestful, his anecdotes should keep you entertained for hours. * Sunday Express * Niven's life was Wodehouse with tears. -- John Mortimer

David Niven Biography

James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, 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 included Squadron Leader Peter Carter in A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Sir Charles Lytton ("the Phantom") in The Pink Panther (1963), and James Bond in Casino Royale (1967). Born in London, Niven attended Heatherdown Preparatory School and Stowe School before gaining a place at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. After Sandhurst, he joined the British Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry. Upon developing an interest in acting, he found a role as an extra in the British film There Goes the Bride (1932). Bored with the peacetime army, he resigned his commission in 1933, relocated to New York, then travelled to Hollywood. There, he hired an agent and had several small parts in films through 1935, including a non-speaking role in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). This helped him gain a contract with Samuel Goldwyn. Parts in major motion pictures followed, including Dodsworth (1936), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), and The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). By 1938, he was starring as the leading man in other 'A' films. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, Niven returned to Britain and rejoined the army, being recommissioned as a lieutenant. In 1942, he co-starred in the morale-building film about the development of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter, The First of the Few (American title Spitfire), which was enthusiastically endorsed by Winston Churchill. Niven resumed his acting career after his demobilisation, and was voted the second-most popular British actor in the 1945 Popularity Poll of British film stars. He appeared in A Matter of Life and Death (1946), The Bishop's Wife (1947) with Cary Grant, and Enchantment (1948), all of which received critical acclaim. Niven later appeared in The Elusive Pimpernel (1950), The Toast of New Orleans (1950), Happy Go Lovely (1951), Happy Ever After (1954), and Carrington V.C. (1955) before scoring a big success as Phileas Fogg in Michael Todd's production of Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Niven appeared in many shows for television and nearly 100 films. He also began writing books, with considerable commercial success. In 1982, he appeared in Blake Edwards' final Pink Panther films Trail of the Pink Panther and Curse of the Pink Panther, reprising his role as Sir Charles Lytton.

Early life and family

James David Graham Niven was born on 1 March 1910 at Belgrave Mansions, Grosvenor Gardens, London, to William Edward Graham Niven (1878–1915) and his wife, Henrietta Julia (née Degacher) Niven (1878–1932). He was named David after his birth on St David's Day. Niven later claimed he was born in Kirriemuir, in the Scottish county of Angus in 1909, but his ... Read full biography