<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The wife of one of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/hollywood" rel="" target="" title="Hollywood"><span>Hollywood</span></a><span>'s biggest stars died in a freak accident during a game of hide-and-seek on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" rel="" target="" title="May 19, 1946"><span>May 19, 1946</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A group of A-listers were at a party in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/los-angeles" rel="" target="" title="Los Angeles"><span>Los Angeles</span></a><span> when they suggested playing 'Sardines'.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A variation of hide-and-seek, Sardines is played in the dark, with everybody at the party looking for one person.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-may-17-what-happened-on-this-day-lenin-was-a-mushroom/5b590056-7dcf-4ce7-a69b-f70811f2de87"><strong><span>Russian TV audience tricked into believing Lenin was a mushroom</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When a person finds the person hiding, they hide with them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The game finally ends when the most unsuccessful seeker finds everybody else hiding in a confined space, crammed like sardines in a tin.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Playing the game that night was party host Tyrone Power, </span><a href="https://www.nine.com.au/entertainment/latest/longest-hollywood-movies-top-10-all-time/e7fb3fe8-5653-4201-a76d-33e89db468f3" rel="" target="" title="Rex Harrison"><span>Rex Harrison</span></a><span>, </span><a href="https://9now.nine.com.au/today/richard-wilkins-movie-reviews-the-joker-joaquin-phoenix/90b99376-79fd-47fd-a72f-73c5c55a3b48" rel="" target="" title="Cesar Romero"><span>Cesar Romero</span></a><span>, and </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-2-what-happened-on-this-day-oscars-streaker/907cefe5-53e5-4314-9c4c-5f0a41520694" rel="" target="" title="David Niven"><span>David Niven</span></a><span> and his wife Primmie.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-may-19-what-happened-on-this-day-primmie-niven/c495f45a-eb30-4679-9a1e-737519ff2e80" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Nivens had just relocated to Hollywood six weeks earlier following his service in the British Army during </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-may-16-what-happened-on-this-day/a5ec9842-f878-48d7-bf79-5b5cce819570" rel="" target="" title="World War II"><span>World War II</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Primmie had been chosen to be the first to hide, and the lights were switched off.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During the search, fashion designer Oleg Cassini opened a door to what he thought was a closet.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I found a door, opened it, and almost lost my balance," Cassini said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It led to a lower level, a garage-like area with a cement floor, but the first step was very tricky, greater than expected."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But before he closed the door, Cassini heard a soft moaning sound from the bottom of the staircase.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Primmie Niven had made the same mistake as Cassini, but she had fallen down the hard stairs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She was rushed to hospital but died after surgery two days later.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-may-15-what-happened-on-this-day-larry-bader-fritz-johnson/dc94547b-999d-4a04-a841-f700bda23f37" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>TV presenter's secret past not even he knew about</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Primmie and I were married six years ago. She has given me two little boys and complete happiness. I am infinitely lucky," her widower said in a statement read at her funeral.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She always longed to come to California after the war and share my life here. They were the six happiest weeks of her life."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In subsequent years, David Niven would go from being a minor actor to a major star, winning an Oscar at one of the four ceremonies he hosted during his career.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He married a Swedish supermodel in 1948 and would be later romantically linked to Princess Margaret.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cassini would go on to become the White House "Secretary of Style" for </span><a href="https://honey.nine.com.au/latest/jackie-kennedy-onassis-life-in-photos/05b283ae-d5e1-4822-9207-3ef836f4dddc" rel="" target="" title="Jackie Kennedy"><span>Jackie Kennedy</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/today-in-history-may-13-what-happened-on-this-day-ben-carlin/96d8cca3-9989-4b73-a5e8-c744954b1795"><strong><span>Australian adventurer circumnavigates the globe in a modified Ford</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span></span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" target="" title="For more from our Today in History archive, click here."><strong><span>For more from our Today in History archive, click here</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>