Asche, Oscar (1871-1936), was an Australian actor, playwright, theatrical manager, and producer. He is mainly remembered as Abu Hasan in Chu Chin Chow, a musical play that he also directed and for which he wrote the words. With himself as producer, it ran continuously at His Majesty’s Theatre in London for a record-breaking 2,238 performances from 1916 to 1921. Asche staged the comic opera The Maid of the Mountains (1917), which also had a long run. Asche appeared in a few British films during the 1930’s.
Thomas Stange Heiss Oscar Asche was born on Jan. 26, 1871, in Geelong Victoria, to Scandinavian parents. He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School. He studied theater in Norway before making his London stage debut in 1893. He acted with the Frank Benson company from 1893 to 1901 and with the Beerbohm Tree company from 1902 to 1907, the year he became manager of His Majesty’s Theatre. Asche wrote an autobiography, Oscar Asche, His Life (1929). He died on March 23, 1936.
