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Early life
Film career
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Asta Sofie Amalie Nielsen was born in the Vesterbro section of
Copenhagen, 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. |
