(Kirriemuir, Scotland, March 1, 1909—1983) (real name, James David Graham Niven) Urbane, quintessential British actor who was perfectly cast as retired Sir James Bond in the Casino Royale spoof. Surrounded by ineptitude and forced by international events to accept one final mission, Sir James is a throwback to the hell-for-leather adventure heroes of World War I and the 1920s—roughly paralleling Niven’s own career as a top studio actor in countless films of sophisticated wit and derring-do.