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Early life
Film career
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11 September 1881 - 24
May 1972
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. |
