Asta Nielsen
Encyclopedia
Asta Nielsen was a Danish
silent film
actress who was one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1910s and one of the first international movie stars. Seventy of Nielsen's 74 films were made in Germany
where she was known simply as Die Asta (The Asta). Noted for her large dark eyes, mask-like face and boyish figure, Nielsen most often portrayed strong-willed passionate women trapped by tragic consequences. Due to the erotic nature of her performances, Nielsen's films were heavily censored in the United States and her work remained relatively obscure to American audiences. She is credited with transforming movie acting from overt theatricality to a more subtle naturalistic style. Nielsen founded her own film studio in Berlin during the 1920s, but returned to Denmark in 1937 after the rise of Nazism in Germany. A private figure in her later years, Nielsen became a collage artist and an author.
, Denmark
, the daughter of an often unemployed blacksmith and a washerwoman. Nielsen's family moved several times during her childhood while her father sought employment. They lived for several years in Malmö
, Sweden
where her father worked in a corn millery and then a factory. After he lost those jobs, they returned to live in the Nørrebro section of Copenhagen. Nielsen's father died when she was fourteen years old. At the age of eighteen, Nielsen was accepted into the acting school of the Royal Danish Theatre
. During her time there, she studied closely with the Royal Danish Actor, Peter Jerndorff. In 1901, twenty-year-old Nielsen became pregnant and gave birth to her daughter, Jesta. Nielsen never revealed the identity of the father, and chose to raise her child alone with the help of her mother and older sister.
Nielsen graduated from the Theater school in 1902. For the next three years she worked at the Dagmar Theatre, then toured in Norway and Sweden from 1905 to 1907 with De Otte and the Peter Fjelstrup companies. Returning to Denmark, she was employed at Det Ny Theater
from 1907 to 1910. Although she worked steadily as a stage actress, her performances remained unremarkable. Danish historian Robert Neiiedam wrote that Nielsen's unique physical attraction, which was of great value on the screen, was limited on stage by her deep and uneven speaking voice.
Urban Gad
's 1910 tragedy Afgrunden ("The Abyss"). Nielsen's minimalist acting style was evidenced in her successful portrayal of a naive young woman lured into a tragic life. Her overt sexuality in the film's "gaucho dance" scene established the erotic quality for which Nielsen became known. The film's success encouraged her to continue making silent films. Nielsen and Gad married and, after making several films, they moved to Germany because her talent was not understood by the Danish film industry.
In 1911 she was contracted to German producer Paul Davidson for $80,000 a year, then the highest salary for a film star. Nielsen is called the first international movie star, challenged only by French comic Max Linder
, also famous throughout Europe and in America by that time. In a Russian popularity poll of 1911 Nielsen was voted the world's top female movie star, behind Linder and ahead of her Danish compatriot Valdemar Psilander
. She remained popular on both sides through World War I
and in 1915 (before the United States' entry into it) she visited New York City
to study American film techniques.
In 1924 she was famously co-starred with that other great Scandinavian diva, Greta Garbo
, months before Garbo left for Hollywood and MGM. Nielsen continued as a legend of the screen in Germany. After the Nazis came to power she was offered her own studio by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Understanding the implications well, she instead fled the country home to Denmark.
She worked in film until start of sound movies. Nielsen made only one feature movie with sound, but was unable to adapt and retired from the screen. Thereafter, Nielsen acted only on stage. Nielsen left Germany in 1936 after the rise of Nazism, returning to Denmark where she wrote articles on art and politics and a two-volume autobiography.
She is considered to be a great movie actress because of her talent of adapting her performing style in accordance with the demands of the film media avoiding theatrical manners. Besides, she was able to play women of extremely various social positions as well as of different psychology
.
, the diarist and philologist, was offered money by Hagedorff.
She was married three times. She died in 1972.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
actress who was one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1910s and one of the first international movie stars. Seventy of Nielsen's 74 films were made in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
where she was known simply as Die Asta (The Asta). Noted for her large dark eyes, mask-like face and boyish figure, Nielsen most often portrayed strong-willed passionate women trapped by tragic consequences. Due to the erotic nature of her performances, Nielsen's films were heavily censored in the United States and her work remained relatively obscure to American audiences. She is credited with transforming movie acting from overt theatricality to a more subtle naturalistic style. Nielsen founded her own film studio in Berlin during the 1920s, but returned to Denmark in 1937 after the rise of Nazism in Germany. A private figure in her later years, Nielsen became a collage artist and an author.
Early life
Asta Sofie Amalie Nielsen was born in the Vesterbro section of CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, the daughter of an often unemployed blacksmith and a washerwoman. Nielsen's family moved several times during her childhood while her father sought employment. They lived for several years in Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
where her father worked in a corn millery and then a factory. After he lost those jobs, they returned to live in the Nørrebro section of Copenhagen. Nielsen's father died when she was fourteen years old. At the age of eighteen, Nielsen was accepted into the acting school of the Royal Danish Theatre
Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first serving as the theatre of the king, and then as the theatre of the...
. During her time there, she studied closely with the Royal Danish Actor, Peter Jerndorff. In 1901, twenty-year-old Nielsen became pregnant and gave birth to her daughter, Jesta. Nielsen never revealed the identity of the father, and chose to raise her child alone with the help of her mother and older sister.
Nielsen graduated from the Theater school in 1902. For the next three years she worked at the Dagmar Theatre, then toured in Norway and Sweden from 1905 to 1907 with De Otte and the Peter Fjelstrup companies. Returning to Denmark, she was employed at Det Ny Theater
Det Ny Theater
Det Ny Teater is an established theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, first opened in 1908. It is based in a building which spans a passage between Vesterbrogade and Gammel Kongevej in Copenhagen's theatre district on the border between Vesterbro and Frederiksberg....
from 1907 to 1910. Although she worked steadily as a stage actress, her performances remained unremarkable. Danish historian Robert Neiiedam wrote that Nielsen's unique physical attraction, which was of great value on the screen, was limited on stage by her deep and uneven speaking voice.
Film career
Nielsen began her film career in 1909, starring in directorFilm director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Urban Gad
Urban Gad
Peter Urban Gad was a Danish film director. He directed 40 film between 1910 and 1927. His wife Asta Nielsen starred in 30 of his films. Also in his debut the famous movie Afgrunden from 1910. They moved to Germany in 1911 where Gad worked until 1922.His uncle was Paul Gauguin...
's 1910 tragedy Afgrunden ("The Abyss"). Nielsen's minimalist acting style was evidenced in her successful portrayal of a naive young woman lured into a tragic life. Her overt sexuality in the film's "gaucho dance" scene established the erotic quality for which Nielsen became known. The film's success encouraged her to continue making silent films. Nielsen and Gad married and, after making several films, they moved to Germany because her talent was not understood by the Danish film industry.
In 1911 she was contracted to German producer Paul Davidson for $80,000 a year, then the highest salary for a film star. Nielsen is called the first international movie star, challenged only by French comic Max Linder
Max Linder
Max Linder was an influential French pioneer of silent film.-Birth and early career:Born Gabriel-Maximilien Leuvielle in Saint-Loubès, Gironde, France to a Catholic wine-growing family, he grew up with a passion for the theatre and as a young man joined a theatre troupe touring the country...
, also famous throughout Europe and in America by that time. In a Russian popularity poll of 1911 Nielsen was voted the world's top female movie star, behind Linder and ahead of her Danish compatriot Valdemar Psilander
Valdemar Psilander
Valdemar Psilander was a Danish silent film actor, who was the highest paid performer of his period and received critical acclaim as the greatest male lead during the golden era of Danish cinema.-Early life:...
. She remained popular on both sides through World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and in 1915 (before the United States' entry into it) she visited New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to study American film techniques.
In 1924 she was famously co-starred with that other great Scandinavian diva, Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
, months before Garbo left for Hollywood and MGM. Nielsen continued as a legend of the screen in Germany. After the Nazis came to power she was offered her own studio by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Understanding the implications well, she instead fled the country home to Denmark.
She worked in film until start of sound movies. Nielsen made only one feature movie with sound, but was unable to adapt and retired from the screen. Thereafter, Nielsen acted only on stage. Nielsen left Germany in 1936 after the rise of Nazism, returning to Denmark where she wrote articles on art and politics and a two-volume autobiography.
She is considered to be a great movie actress because of her talent of adapting her performing style in accordance with the demands of the film media avoiding theatrical manners. Besides, she was able to play women of extremely various social positions as well as of different psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
.
Assistance to Jews during World War II
During the Second World War she provided money for Allan O. Hagedorff, a young Dane living in Germany, to assist Jews. Using money provided by Nielsen, Hagedorff sent so many food parcels to the Theresienstadt concentration camp that he was warned by the Gestapo. Among others, Victor KlempererVictor Klemperer
Victor Klemperer was a businessman, journalist and eventually a Professor of Literature, specialising in the French Enlightenment at the Technische Universität Dresden. His diaries detailing his life under successive German states—the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany and the German...
, the diarist and philologist, was offered money by Hagedorff.
She was married three times. She died in 1972.
Quotes about Asta Nielsen
Selected films
- Afgrunden (The AbyssThe Abyss (1910 film)The Abyss is a 1910 Danish black-and-white drama film, directed by Urban Gad.-Cast:*Asta Nielsen ... Magda Vang*Robert Dinesen ... Knud Svane*Poul Reumert ... Rudolf Stern*Emilie Sannom ... Lily d'Estrelle...
) directed by Urban Gad, 1910 - Balletdanserinden (The Ballet Dancer) directed by August BlomAugust BlomAugust Blom was a Danish film director, production leader and pioneer of silent films during the "golden age" of Danish filmmaking from 1910 to 1914.-Career:...
, 1911 - Engelein (The Angel), 1914
- Reigen, 1920 (Eng. Merry-Go-Round)
- Mata Hari, 1920
- Die Spionin, 1921, In which she also played Mata HariMata HariMata Hari was the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida "M'greet" Zelle , a Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan, and accused spy who was executed by firing squad in France under charges of espionage for Germany during World War I.-Early life:Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was born in Leeuwarden, Friesland,...
- Fräulein Julie, 1921 (English, Miss JulieMiss JulieMiss Julie is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg dealing with class, love, lust, the battle of the sexes, and the interaction among them...
) - HamletHamlet (1920 film)Hamlet is a 1921 film adaptation of the William Shakespeare play of the same name starring Danish silent film actor Asta Nielsen. It was directed by Svend Gade and Heinz Schall....
, 1921 - Die freudlose GasseDie freudlose GasseJoyless Street , a film based on the novel by Hugo Bettauer and directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst in France, is one of the first films of the "New Objectivity“ movement. Greta Garbo stars in her second major role...
, 1925 (Eng. Joyless Street), directed by Georg Wilhelm PabstGeorg Wilhelm Pabst-Biography:Pabst was born in Raudnitz, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary , the son of a railroad employee.Returning from the United States, he was in France when World War I began... - Dirnentragödie, 1927 (Eng. Tragedy of the Street)
External links
- FemBiography
- Hotel-Pension Funk – A hotel in Berlin located in Asta Nielsen's former domicile
- Laughing Bodies, Eccentric Gestures; Retrospective on Female comics and Divas in the films of the 1910s at the Austrian Film Museum
- Photographs and literature