LYCOS RETRIEVER 
David Niven: Samuel Goldwyn
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In 1935 David Niven was embarking on a new career. He had just been signed by legendary Hollywood producer Sam Goldwyn. Niven was an unknown and Goldwyn did not sign unknowns - well, not until he signed Niven.
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Following his military discharge, the 6ft tall Niven wandered the world working odd jobs ranging from a lumberjack to a gunnery instructor for Cuban revolutionaries to (by his own account) a petty thief. He became a Hollywood extra in 1935, and eventually came to the attention of producer Samuel Goldwyn, who had been building up a stable of attractive young contract players. Having made his speaking debut in Without Regret (1935), Niven quickly learned how to successfully get through a movie scene. After several secondary roles for Goldwyn, he was loaned out for a lead role in the 20th Century Fox feature Thank You, Jeeves (1936). The actor formed lasting friendships with several members of Hollywood's British community -- notably Errol Flynn, with whom he briefly lived -- and was quite popular with the American-born contingent as well, especially the ladies.
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Niven arrived in Hollywood, armed with nothing more than a letter of introduction addressed to Fred Astaire. It is speculated that as Fred's sister Adele had recently married into the English aristocracy, that the letter came from her and her husband Lord Charles Cavendish. From this first meeting, Niven went on to develop a close friendship with Astaire that would last until Niven's death. As a friend of Astaire, Niven was able to break into movie work. He first worked as an extra in westerns, then had a walk-on part in the 1935 version of Mutiny On The Bounty. He then landed a longterm contract as a supporting player with independent film producer Samuel Goldwyn, which firmly established his career and enabled him to become a leading man in many films.
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At the onset of World War II, Niven was one of the first film stars to join (or, in his case, reenlist in) the military. Recruited twice for dramatic propaganda films, First of the Few and The Way Ahead, he was otherwise inactive in pictures for almost six years. Discharged as a colonel, he returned to Goldwyn and appeared in a number of forgettable films, with the exception being the silly but heartwarming comedy The Bishop's Wife, which has become a Christmas classic. His growing dissatisfaction with the studio resulted in a contractual release. Now middle-aged, Niven began his freelancing period without much luck; poor choices of scripts damaged his box-office drawing power.
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Niven's years with MGM were sometimes stormy, as when he initially refused to take the thankless role of Edgar Litton, second-fiddle to Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier) for the affections of Cathy (Merle Oberon) in "Wuthering Heights" (1939). He was ... loathe to suffer the dictatorial ways of director William Wyler, experienced first-hand during the filming of "Dodsworth" (1936), but acquiesced rather than suffer MGM's threatened suspension. Niven, who returned to military service during World War II, eventually becoming a lieutenant-colonel, was at the bottom of MGM's list after the war, and Goldwyn's loaning him out to other studios boded well for the actor. Before the war, audiences knew him primarily as the "hero's best chum", but the British directing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger finally nailed down the charming Niven persona in his best starring performance to that time, "A Matter of Life and Death/Stairway to Heaven" (1946). Although he continued to star in films, it would be another decade before his career would receive a comparable bump.
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Niven first worked as an extra in westerns, then had a walk-on part in the 1935 version of Mutiny On The Bounty. He then landed a longterm contract as a supporting player with independent film producer Samuel Goldwyn, which firmly established his career and enabled him to become a leading man in many films, such as the RKO comedy Bachelor Mother (1939) with Ginger Rogers.
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Samuel Goldwyn