“The Male Greta Garbo”: Handsome Portrait Photos of Nils Asther in the 1920s and ’30s

Born 1897 in Copenhagen, Denmark, Swedish actor Nils Asther left for Hollywood in 1927 where his first film was Topsy and Eva. By 1928 his good looks had made him into a leading man, playing opposite such stars as Pola Negri, Marion Davies and Joan Crawford.

Asther grew a thin mustache which amplified his suave appearance. One of his most popular films was Our Dancing Daughters, starring Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown, Anita Page, and Dorothy Sebastian. He was cast opposite Greta Garbo in Wild Orchids as the tempting Javanese Prince De Gace.

Asther appeared in over seventy feature films between 1916 and 1963, sixteen of which were produced in the silent era. He is mainly remembered today for two silent films -The Single Standard and Wild Orchids - he made with fellow Swede Greta Garbo, and his portrayal of the title character in the controversial pre-Code Frank Capra film The Bitter Tea of General Yen.

In 1960, Asther was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star at 6705 Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the film industry. He died in 1981 at a hospital in Stockholm, aged 84.

Take a look at these vintage photos to see portrait of a young and handsome Nils Asther in the 1920s and 1930s.