Asche was born in
Geelong,
Victoria, Australia. His father, Thomas, born in Norway, studied law at
Christiania University; he did not pursue a legal career in Australia because he failed to master the English language. After being a digger, a mounted police officer and a storekeeper, Thomas Asche became a prosperous hotel-keeper and publican in
Melbourne and
Sydney. He began training with an architect who soon died. Next worked as a
jackaroo and then in an office, but he wished to be an actor, and soon began to study acting in Norway. At
Bergen, Asche was instructed in deportment, voice production and theatre arts. He began to study acting in Christiania,
Early stage career In 1893 Asche played the role of Roberts in
Man and Woman at the
Opera Comique in London, and for the next eight years, he was engaged by the
F. R. Benson Company. He travelled to America to repeat the role on
Broadway in 1902.
Actor-manager years '' In 1904 Asche became
co-manager with
Otho Stuart of the
Adelphi Theatre on a three-year lease. Their productions included
The Prayer of the Sword, ''A Midsummer Night's Dream
, The Taming of the Shrew
, Measure for Measure, Count Hannibal'' (which he wrote with
F. Norreys Connell) and
Rudolf Besier's
The Virgin Goddess. In 1906 he played King Mark in
J. Comyns Carr's play
Tristram and Iseult at the
Adelphi Theatre, with Lily Brayton as Iseult and
Matheson Lang as Tristram. He produced the play
Kismet in London in 1911, also playing the leading role, Hajj. The production ran for two years, and a successful tour in Australia followed in 1911–12, with
Kismet, ''A Midsummer Night's Dream
, and Antony and Cleopatra. the production ran for 2,238 performances, from 31 August 1916 to 22 July 1921. The run easily broke the existing record of 1,466 performances, set by Charley's Aunt'' in the 1890s. The new record stood for decades. The show drew some criticism for the ladies' scanty costumes, which Tree described as "more navel than millinery", but it was just what war-weary audiences wanted.
Chu Chin Chow also played in New York City in 1917 and Australia in 1920. Also during the run of
Chu Chin Chow, Asche directed the hit London production of
The Maid of the Mountains for
Robert Evett and the
George Edwardes Estate, which had an outstanding run of 1,352 performances. After the success of
Chu Chin Chow, Asche wrote another musical that opened on Broadway in 1920 under the name
Mecca and then in London the following year under the name
Cairo. In 1922, Asche visited Australia again, under contract to
J. C. Williamson Ltd., and played Hornblower in
John Galsworthy's
The Skin Game, Maldonado in Pinero's
Iris, his usual roles in
Chu Chin Chow and
Cairo, the title character in
Julius Caesar, and in other Shakespeare plays. was a failure. In 1933 Asche made his last stage appearance in
The Beggar’s Bowl at the
Duke of York's Theatre. Asche also made appearances in seven films between 1932 and 1936, including in
Two Hearts in Waltz Time (1934), as the
Spirit of Christmas Present in the 1935 film
Scrooge, and in
The Private Secretary (1935). He also wrote several books, including his autobiography, but these ventures did not solve his financial troubles. In his final years, Asche became obese, poor, argumentative and violent. He and his wife separated, but, at the end, he returned to her and died at the age of 65 in
Bisham, Berkshire, of coronary thrombosis. He was buried in the riverside cemetery there. He had no children. ==Writings==