Zita Johann
Acting
Biography
Zita Johann (born Elisabeth Johann) was an Austrian-American stage and screen actress, best known for her dual role as Helen Grosvenor / Princess Ankhesenamón in the 1932 film The Mummy. Born July 14, 1904 in Temesvar, Austria-Hungary (which is today part of Romania), Johann immigrated to the United States when she was approximately seven years old. After appearing in school plays and with the Theatre Guild Repertory Company, she made her Broadway debut in 1924. Although she signed a contract with MGM—which included a script approval clause, unique for the time—her tenure there was very brief, and she would later make her big screen debut in D.W. Griffith's The Struggle in 1931. Her defining role in The Mummy would come the next year, although her working relationship with director Karl Freund was acrimonious. After seven films, she left the Hollywood system entirely—later stating that she felt it was exploitive—and returned to theater, in addition to penning plays and film scripts. A deeply spiritual person, Johann described herself as a "mystic" and would pray before each performance to fully surrender herself to a role. She also did community service and taught acting classes for children and people with learning disabilities. She was married and divorced three times, including a four-year marriage to actor John Houseman from 1929 to 1933. In her later years, she bought a home in Rockland County, New York, where she remained for decades, never having children or remarrying. Johann died of pneumonia in Nyack, New York, on September 24, 1993.
Known For
An ancient Egyptian priest named Imhotep is revived when a British archaeological expedition finds his mummy and one of the researchers accidentally reads an ancient life-giving spell. Imhotep escapes from the field site and searches for the reincarnation of the soul of his lover.
The Mummy
Based on an AJ Cronin novel, a disgraced doctor exiled to the Canary Islands, meets and falls in love with a married woman.
Grand Canary
A young couple's marriage is jeopardized by the husband's descent into alcoholism.
The Struggle
A couple of young, out-of-work archaeologists in Egypt discover evidence of the burial place of the ancient Egyptian princess Ananka. After receiving funding from an eccentric magician and his beautiful daughter, they set out into the desert only to be terrorized by a sinister high priest and the living mummy Kharis who are the guardians of Ananka’s tomb.
The Mummy's Hand
Nora Moran, a young woman with a difficult and tragic past, is sentenced to die for a murder that she did not commit. She could easily reveal the truth and save her own life, if only it would not damage the lives, careers and reputations of those whom she loves.
The Sin of Nora Moran
Documentary featured on the Classic Monster Collection and Monster Legacy Collection for The Mummy (1932).
Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed
A Portuguese tuna fisherman catches his bride with his first mate.
Tiger Shark
This drama offers a few slices from the lives of those who live, work, and travel upon a luxurious trans-atlantic ocean liner.
Luxury Liner
In an abandoned prison, a doctor has revived executed convicts as the living dead. Teenager, Jonathan creates a laser gun from a videodisc player and pursues the walking dead, aided by his girlfriend and grandfather. Also tracking down the zombies is a tabloid reporter.
Raiders of the Living Dead
An "imaginative biography" of Anton Cermak, mayor of Chicago who was killed in the line of fire during an assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami on February 15, 1933.
The Man Who Dared
Profile of the actress Zita Johann