--- name: "Nils Asther" canonical: "https://film.one/person/nils-asther" fi1m_id: "nils-asther" imdb_id: "nm0039989" tmdb_id: 29036 wikidata_id: "Q722861" roles: ["Actor"] born: "16 January 1897" died: "13 October 1981" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-25T01:14:56.454910+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Nils Asther ## Identity Nils Asther - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/nils-asther - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** nils-asther - **IMDb ID:** nm0039989 - **TMDB ID:** 29036 - **Wikidata ID:** Q722861 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nils_Asther, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q722861, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0039989/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29036 Actor. Born 16 January 1897 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Died 13 October 1981. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 16 January 1897, Copenhagen, Denmark - **Died:** 13 October 1981 - **Also known as:** Nils Anton Alfhild Asther - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nils_Asther, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q722861, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0039989/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29036 ## Biography Nils Asther was a Danish-born Swedish actor. Born Nils Anton Alfhild Asther on 17 January 1897 in Copenhagen, he grew up in Malmö, Sweden, and trained at the Royal Dramatic Theater School in Stockholm before beginning his stage career. He made his film debut in Sweden in 1916 and worked in Germany before moving to Hollywood in 1927. Asther appeared in over seventy feature films between 1916 and 1963, including sixteen silent pictures. He is noted for roles opposite Greta Garbo in *Wild Orchids* (1929) and *The Single Standard* (1929), and for playing the title character in Frank Capra’s *The Bitter Tea of General Yen* (1933). His Hollywood career declined after a blacklist in the mid-1930s; he worked in Britain before returning to the United States. Asther moved back to Sweden in 1958, where he continued occasional stage, film and television work until the early 1960s. He died in Stockholm on 13 October 1981. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *The Bitter Tea of General Yen* (1932), Fi1m 65, as General Yen — [page](https://film.one/film/the-bitter-tea-of-general-yen.md) ## Complete filmography (66) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Gudrun* (1963), as Mr. Roscoe - *Lady in White* (1962), as Simon Ek - *Svenska Floyd* (1961), as Vincent Mitella - *When Darkness Falls* (1960), as Vicar Tord Ekstedt - *That Man from Tangier* (1953), as Henri - *The Feathered Serpent* (1948), as Paul Evans - *Love, Honor and Goodbye* (1945), as Tony Linnard - *Jealousy* (1945), as Peter Urban - *Son of Lassie* (1945), as Olav - *The Man in Half Moon Street* (1945), as Dr. Julian Karell - *Alaska* (1944), as Thomas Leroux - *Bluebeard* (1944), as Inspector Lefevre - *The Hour Before the Dawn* (1944), as Kurt van der Breughel - *Mystery Broadcast* (1943), as Ricky Moreno - *Submarine Alert* (1943), as Dr. Arthur Huneker - *Night Monster* (1942), as Agor Singh - *Sweater Girl* (1942), as Prof. Henri Menard - *The Night Before the Divorce* (1942), as Victor Roselle - *The Night of January 16th* (1941), as Bjorn Faulkner - *Flying Blind* (1941), as Eric Karolek - *Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day* (1941), as Constanzo Labardi - *Forced Landing* (1941), as Col. Jan Golas - *The Man Who Lost Himself* (1941), as Peter Ransome - *Make-Up* (1937), as Bux - *Guilty Melody* (1936), as Galloni - *The Marriage of Corbal* (1936), as Varennes - *Abdul the Damned* (1935), as Kadar Pasha, Chief of Police - *Do You Remember?* (1935), as (archive footage) - *Love Time* (1934), as Franz Schubert - *The Love Captive* (1934), as Dr. Alexis Collender - *The Crime Doctor* (1934), as Gary Patten - *Madame Spy* (1934), as Capt. Franck - *By Candlelight* (1933), as Prince Alfred Von Rommer - *If I Were Free* (1933), as Tono Casanove - *The Right To Romance* (1933), as Dr. Helmuth Heppling - *Storm at Daybreak* (1933), as Capt. Geza Petery - *The Bitter Tea of General Yen* (1932), as General Yen — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/the-bitter-tea-of-general-yen.md) - *The Washington Masquerade* (1932), as Henri Brenner - *Letty Lynton* (1932), as Emile Renaul - *But the Flesh Is Weak* (1932), as Prince Paul - *The Sea Bat* (1930), as Carl - *The Single Standard* (1929), as Packy Cannon - *Wild Orchids* (1929), as Prince de Gace - *Dream of Love* (1928), as Prince Mauritz - *The Cardboard Lover* (1928), as Andre - *Our Dancing Daughters* (1928), as Norman - *Loves of an Actress* (1928), as Raoul Duval - *The Cossacks* (1928), as Prince Olenin Stieshneff - *Laugh, Clown, Laugh* (1928), as Count Luigi Ravelli - *The Blue Danube* (1928), as Erich von Statzen - *Sorrell and Son* (1927), as Christopher 'Kit' Sorrell - *Topsy and Eva* (1927), as George Shelby - *Hotelratten* (1927), as Fürst Ladrone - *Crooks in Tails* (1927), as George Valeska - *Wrath of the Seas* (1926), as Torpedooffizier Günther Adenried - *The Sweet Girl* (1926), as The Prince's Son - *The Golden Butterfly* (1926), as Andy McFarland - *Adventure Mad* (1926), as Reginald Ellis - *Carl XII:s Courier* (1924), as Stanislaus, Potockis nevö - *The Norrtull Gang* (1923), Actor - *Love's Crucible* (1922), as Apprentice - *The Gyurkovics Boys* (1920), as Bandi Gyurkovics - *A Trip to Mars* (1918), as Martian citizen - *Retten sejrer* (1918), Actor - *Hittebarnet* (1917), Actor - *The Wings* (1916), as Aspiring actor ## Gallery - ![Film actor Nils Asther. Subjects (LCTGM): actors (1928)](https://film.one/media/person/3853623/gallery-638d9233de2a.jpg) Film actor Nils Asther. Subjects (LCTGM): actors (1928) — Ruth Harriet Louise, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Film_actor_Nils_Asther_%28SAYRE_2732%29.jpg/1280px-Film_actor_Nils_Asther_%28SAYRE_2732%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Portrait of film star Nils Asther](https://film.one/media/person/3853623/gallery-9d2bb736395e.jpg) Portrait of film star Nils Asther — Clarence Sinclair Bull, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Nils_Asther_Screen-secrets-album_0012.jpg/1280px-Nils_Asther_Screen-secrets-album_0012.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Publicity still for The Cardboard Lover (1928) featuring Marion Davies and Nils Asther](https://film.one/media/person/3853623/gallery-d7a83d87d9c3.jpg) Publicity still for The Cardboard Lover (1928) featuring Marion Davies and Nils Asther — Employee(s) of Cosmopolitan Productions, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Publicity_still_for_The_Cardboard_Lover_%281928%29_04.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Ann Harding and Nils Asther in The Right to Romance, 1933](https://film.one/media/person/3853623/gallery-44868951b164.jpg) Ann Harding and Nils Asther in The Right to Romance, 1933 — Photographer not credited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Ann_Harding_and_Nils_Asther_in_%27The_Right_to_Romance%27%2C_1933.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Nils Asther](https://film.one/media/person/3853623/gallery-43e206beb8fe.jpg) Nils Asther — Image via TMDB - ![Nils Asther](https://film.one/media/person/3853623/gallery-d1fc58667f15.jpg) Nils Asther — Alexander Binder (* 1888 in Alexandria; † 25. Februar 1929 in Berlin)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/WP_Nils_Asther.jpg/1280px-WP_Nils_Asther.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Nils Asther (1897–1981), Danish-born Swedish stage and film actor, partly active in Hollywood. Seen here in a still from his film debut in the 1916 Swedish film](https://film.one/media/person/3853623/gallery-2bca4a143bfd.jpg) Nils Asther (1897–1981), Danish-born Swedish stage and film actor, partly active in Hollywood. Seen here in a still from his film debut in the 1916 Swedish film — Probably Julius Jaenzon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Asther%2C_Nils_in_Vingarne_1916.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) ## Awards ### Other awards — 1 won - star on Hollywood Walk of Fame 1960: star on Hollywood Walk of Fame (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/nils-asther