Zita Johann was a successful New York City stage actress who appeared in numerous hit productions during the 1930s and 1940s. She tried her hand at a movie career, but found that she did not like the pace, the people, nor the products of Hollywood. It's a shame, because Johann could command the screen with personality and beauty like few other actresses could, then and now. She appeared in seven films, including the brilliant starring turn in Universal's 1932 classic "The Mummy" opposite Boris Karloff, before quitting movies for good. (And presumably before, according to legend, phoning a studio executive and asking why his company created such rubbish.)
In 1986, Johann returned once more to the screen, appearing in "Raiders of the Living Dead," a quirky and barely watchable zombie movie that may well have caused her to reevaluate the rubbish of the 1930s as perhaps not so terrible after all.
Zita Johann passed away in 1993 at the age of 89.
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