James Bond filmography by Connery, was selected as the third-greatest hero in cinema history by the American Film Institute. When Sean Connery had been cast in November 1961, David Niven had been Fleming's choice for the role as the actor reflected his image of the character. In 1965 producer Charles Feldman signed Niven to play Sir James Bond for "Casino Royale", a film not made by Eon Productions. Connery and Peter Sellers had both turned down the role. Niven was 56 when he played Bond and his characterisation was that of an elderly man who had won the Victoria Cross at the Siege
David Niven Isandlwana (1879), during the Zulu War. Born William Hitchcock, he and his brother Henry had followed the lead of their father, Walter Henry Hitchcock, in assuming their mother's maiden name of Degacher in 1874. David Niven's father, William Niven, was of Scottish descent; his paternal grandfather, David Graham Niven, (1811–1884) was from St. Martin's, a village in Perthshire. William served in the Berkshire Yeomanry in the First World War and was killed during the Gallipoli campaign on 21 August 1915. He was buried in Green Hill Cemetery, Turkey, in the Special Memorial Section in Plot F. 10. Niven's mother, Henrietta