David Niven along with a card that read: 'To the finest gentleman who ever walked through these halls. He made a porter feel like a king.'" In 1985, Niven was included in a series of British postage stamps, along with Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Sir Charles Chaplin, Peter Sellers and Vivien Leigh, to commemorate "British Film Year". David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, memoirist and novelist. His many roles included Squadron Leader Peter Carter in "A Matter of Life and Death", Phileas Fogg in "Around the World in 80 Days", and
A Matter of Life and Death (film) most were believed to have had epilepsy – as did John Bunyan, who is seen in the film serving as the conductor for Dr. Reeves. The film was originally suggested by a British government department to improve relations between the Americans in the UK and the British public, following Powell and Pressburger's contributions to this sphere in "A Canterbury Tale" two years earlier, though neither film received any government funding nor input on plot or production. There was a degree of public hostility towards American servicemen stationed in the UK prior to the D-Day invasion of Europe. They were viewed