Biography

Nils Asther

Jump to

Nils Asther was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1897 and raised in Malmö, Sweden, by his wealthy Swedish parents. After attending the Royal Dramatic Theater School in Stockholm, he began his stage career in Copenhagen. His film debut came in 1916 when the director Mauritz Stiller cast him in the lead role (as an aspiring actor, appropriately enough) in the Swedish film Vingarne (1916). After working with Victor Sjöström in Sweden and Michael Curtiz in Germany, Asther moved to Hollywood in 1927, where his exotic looks landed him romantic roles with co-stars such as Greta Garbo, Pola Negri, and Joan Crawford. Although his foreign accent was a hindrance in "talkies", his Hollywood career continued until 1934 when he was blacklisted for breaking a contract and went to Britain for four years. After his return to Hollywood in 1938, his career declined and by 1949 he was driving a truck. In 1958, he returned to Sweden, where he remained until his death, making occasional appearances in television and on stage.
- IMDb mini biography by: Lyn Hammond

Proposed to Greta Garbo in 1929. She turned him down.
He had one daughter, Evelyn Roseta Duncan Asther. She was born on January 29, 1931 in Bavaria and died on November 26, 2011 in Fresno, California at age 80.
On October 11, 1939, he signed a 90 day trial contract to have Zeppo Marx represent him for motion picture and the entertainment industries.

Like Garbo, I have been given many labels by the newspapers, 'Very nearly as handsome as Valentino'... 'the masculine version of that mysterious fascination with Garbo's.' But I am tired of being just a screen lover, and I hope someday to get a chance to be myself. I am rather like Greta in that I like to be alone. I love peace and quiet. Hollywood is really no place for me. I stagnate here... I only feel awake when the air is fresh and crisp as in my native Scandinavia.
It is a difficult task for me, Nils Asther, to tell the story of my life. I am not a pleasant person. I am not gay and amusing and social. I am ingrown, introspective, analytical. To speak of things that affect me deeply and to speak of them honestly is a burden.

Suggest an edit or add missing content