Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Asta Sofie Amalie Nielsen (September 11, 1883 - May 24, 1972) was a Danish actress and sex symbol of the 1910s and 1920s in German silent films. She was nicknamed The Silent Muse. She was born in the Danish town of Vesterbro to a coppersmith Father and a washerwoman Mother. They both died before she was fifteen. She studied acting at the Royal Theatre School of Copenhagen. She became the most famous stage actress across Scandinavia while she toured. In 1909, director Urban Gad encouraged her to become a silent screen actor and she starred in the 1910 film Afgruden. The film was a success so she was encouraged to continue making silent films. Nielsen and Gad soon married then moved to Germany. She worked in film until talkies became popular, continuing acting only on stage. She died in 1972 shortly after her fifth marriage. See also: List of Danes External link Asta Nielsen at IMDB.com This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.