Nils Asther

Actor
Nils Asther

About

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Birth Place
Denmark
Born
January 17, 1897
Died
October 13, 1981

Biography

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Dashing, smooth leading man of late silent films and the first decade of talkies, in the USA from 1927. Tall and often mustachioed, Asther proved a capable and attractive romantic lead opposite Greta Garbo in "The Single Standard" (1929) and Barbara Stanwyck in "The Bitter Tea of General Yen" (1933). He continued playing supporting roles into the 1940s....

Filmography

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Suddenly, a Woman! (1967)
Mr. Rossen
That Man from Tangier (1953)
Henri
Samson and Delilah (1950)
Prince
The Feathered Serpent (1948)
Professor Paul Evans
Son of Lassie (1945)
Olav
Love, Honor and Goodbye (1945)
Tony Linnard

Photos & Videos

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Laugh, Clown, Laugh - Lobby Cards
4 Photos
Bitter Tea Of General Yen (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Ready For The Slaughter
Storm at Daybreak - Lobby Card
1 Photo
0 Photos
Bitter Tea Of General Yen, The (1933) -- (Movie Clip) It Will Do You Good

Family & Companions

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Vivian Duncan
Wife
Actor. Second wife; appeared in "Topsy and Eva" (1927) together.

Biography

Dashing, smooth leading man of late silent films and the first decade of talkies, in the USA from 1927. Tall and often mustachioed, Asther proved a capable and attractive romantic lead opposite Greta Garbo in "The Single Standard" (1929) and Barbara Stanwyck in "The Bitter Tea of General Yen" (1933). He continued playing supporting roles into the 1940s.

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Suddenly, a Woman! (1967)
Mr. Rossen
That Man from Tangier (1953)
Henri
Samson and Delilah (1950)
Prince
The Feathered Serpent (1948)
Professor Paul Evans
Son of Lassie (1945)
Olav
Love, Honor and Goodbye (1945)
Tony Linnard
Jealousy (1945)
Peter Urban
The Hour Before the Dawn (1944)
Kurt van der Breughel
The Man in Half Moon Street (1944)
Julian Karell
Bluebeard (1944)
Inspector Lefevre
Alaska (1944)
Tom LaRue
Submarine Alert (1943)
Dr. Arthur Huneker
Mystery Broadcast (1943)
Ricky Moreno
Night Monster (1942)
Agor Singh
The Night Before the Divorce (1942)
Victor Roselle
Sweater Girl (1942)
Professor Henri Menard
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day (1941)
Constanzo Labardi
Flying Blind (1941)
Eric Karolek
Night of January 16th (1941)
Bjorn Faulkner
Forced Landing (1941)
Colonel Jan Golas
The Man Who Lost Himself (1941)
Peter Ransome
Madame Spy (1934)
Captain Franck
The Love Captive (1934)
Doctor [Alexis] Collender
Love Time (1934)
Franz Schubert
Crime Doctor (1934)
Eric Anderson
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
General Yen
Storm at Daybreak (1933)
[Captain] Geza [Petery]
If I Were Free (1933)
Tono Casanove
By Candlelight (1933)
Prince Alfred von Rommer
The Right to Romance (1933)
Dr. Helmuth "Heppie" Heppling
But the Flesh Is Weak (1932)
Prince Paul
Letty Lynton (1932)
Emile Renaul
The Washington Masquerade (1932)
[Henri] Brenner
The Sea Bat (1930)
Carl
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
The Single Standard (1929)
Packy Cannon
Wild Orchids (1929)
Prince De Gace
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
Luigi
Loves of an Actress (1928)
Raoul Duval
Dream of Love (1928)
Mauritz
The Blue Danube (1928)
Erich von Statzen
The Cardboard Lover (1928)
André
The Cossacks (1928)
Prince Olenin
Our Dancing Daughters (1928)
Norman
Sorrell and Son (1927)
Kit Sorrell, as a man
Topsy and Eva (1927)
George Shelby

Life Events

1921

Earliest feature credits are those in his native Sweden, where he worked with directors including Victor Sjostrom

1927

Hollywood debut

1928

Began playing romantic leads in Hollywood films

Photo Collections

 
4 Photos
Laugh, Clown, Laugh - Lobby Cards
Here are a few Lobby Cards from MGM's Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928), starring Lon Chaney and Loretta Young. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
1 Photo
Storm at Daybreak - Lobby Card
Here is a lobby card from MGM's Storm at Daybreak (1933), starring Kay Francis. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.

Videos

Movie Clip

Bitter Tea Of General Yen (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Ready For The Slaughter Second scene for Barbara Stanwyck as Megan, arrived in strife-torn China to marry her missionary fiancè (Gavin Gordon, who appears shortly), with Clara Blandick her (probably racist) host, wondering aloud about an encounter with the title character, whose name she didn’t get, Frank Capra directing, in Columbia’s The Bitter Tea Of General Yen, 1933.
Bitter Tea Of General Yen, The (1933) -- (Movie Clip) It Will Do You Good Innocent American Megan (Barbara Stanwyck), having been separated from her missionary fiancè in a riot t in revolutionary China, awakens to meet Mah-Li (Toshia Mori) for the first time and General Yen (Nils Asther), her somewhat scary rescuer, for the second, in Frank Capra's The Bitter Tea Of General Yen, 1933.
Bitter Tea Of General Yen, The (1933) -- (Movie Clip) For Some Nameless Brats? Chinese warlord General Yen (Nils Asther) is counseled by his crooked American business associate Jones (Walter Connolly) and unmoved by brave missionary Dr. Bob Strike (Gavin Gordon, fiancè of top-billed Barbara Stanwyck) in Frank Capra's The Bitter Tea Of General Yen, 1933.
Bitter Tea Of General Yen, The (1933) -- (Movie Clip) The Third Invitation American missionary bride and semi-willing captive Megan (Barbara Stanwyck) is startled from a nap (actually an erotic dream in which he himself appeared_ by General Yen (Nils Asther) but once more rebuffs his advances in Frank Capra's The Bitter Tea Of General Yen, 1933.
Bitter Tea Of General Yen (1933) -- (Movie Clip) I Learned A Terrible Lesson Framing and scale from Columbia and director Frank Capra, opening the first feature shown (to surprisingly weak box office) at Radio City Music Hall, Clara Blandick greeting fellow missionaries in China, Emmett Corrigan the sanguine bishop, in The Bitter Tea Of General Yen, 1933, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther.
Bitter Tea Of General Yen (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Megan Dreams Much remarked upon sequence, stretching Production Code boundaries, Barbara Stanwyck as Megan, the American bride-to-be, somewhat willingly in the maybe-protective custody of the powerful Chinese warlord title character, played by Swedish-born Nils Asther, dozes into provocative realms, directed by Frank Capra, in The Bitter Tea Of General Yen, 1933.
Night Monster (1942) -- (Movie Clip) I Didn't Send For Any Psychiatrist Butler Rolf (Bela Lugosi) inducts shrink Dr. Harper (Irene Hervey) and crime writer pal Dick (Don Porter), leading to the first scene for Ralph Morgan as Ingston, lord of the spooky manor, hoisted by driver Laurie (Leif Erikson) and introducing Nils Asther as guru-like Singh, early in Universal's Night Monster, 1942.
Night Monster (1942) -- (Movie Clip) They Call It Cosmic Substance The paralyzed master of the house Ingster (Ralph Morgan) gives the floor to his yogi (Nils Asther as Agor Singh) who explains to the group (doctors Francis Pierlot and Frank Reicher, butler Bela Lugosi, mystery writer Don Porter, shrink Irene Hervey and patient Fay Helm) about creepy Eastern theories, in Universal’s programmer Night Monster, 1942.
Wild Orchids (1929) -- (Movie Clip) Mr. And Mrs. Sterling Exposition and spectacle from MGM, which clearly sent somebody, though not principals Greta Garbo and Lewis Stone, to San Francisco, disembarking, in the opening of Wild Orchids, 1929, co-starring Nils Asther.
Wild Orchids (1929) -- (Movie Clip) Any Big Game In Java? Having just sailed from San Francisco for Java, Lillie (Greta Garbo), wife of Sterling (Lewis Stone), who's taking over a tea plantation, meets the only other billed actor in the picture, Nils Asther as Prince de Gace, beating a servant, then befriending her husband, early in Wild Orchids, 1929.
Single Standard, The (1929) -- (Movie Clip) Want To See A Fight? Fleeing rain and wolves on the San Francisco streets, heroine Arden (Greta Garbo) comes upon a modern art exhibit and it's improbable prize-fighter turned-painter honoree "Packy," (Garbo's fellow Swede Nils Asther), in The Single Standard, 1929, from an Adela Rogers St. Johns novel.
Bluebeard (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Opening Credits pening credit sequence followed by violence and warnings giving 19th century Parisians substantial cause for alarm in Edgar G. Ulmer's Bluebeard, 1944, starring John Carradine.

Trailer

Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day - (Original Trailer) The eighth entry in the series reaches Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day (1941) but things don't work out as planned.
Son Of Lassie - (Original Trailer) Peter Lawford and his dog are trapped behind enemy lines in World War II in the sequel to Lassie Come Home (1943).
Right To Romance, The - (Original Trailer) A plastic surgeon (Ann Harding) jeopardizes her marriage when she must operate on her husband's ex-girlfriend in The Right to Romance (1933).

Companions

Vivian Duncan
Wife
Actor. Second wife; appeared in "Topsy and Eva" (1927) together.

Bibliography

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