Zalla Zarana

Rozalija Sršen
1921 Rozalija Sršen age 24
Born	Rozalija Sršen 12 juli 1897  Slovenia Žužemberk, Slovenian

Zalla Zarana was an actress whose real name was Rozalija Sršen. She is considered to be the first Slovenian actress to have succeeded in Hollywood.

She was born on July 16, 1897 in Žužemberk (Lower Carniola region) in Austria-Hungary and died on July 12, 1967 in Hollywood. She was married to Theo Lohman. After her arrival in the USA, she stayed with her aunt in San Francisco. She did not speak English when she arrived and went to an evening school, where she took classes in English, typewriting and accounting. She accompanied her German friend Isabelle Grenner to Los Angeles in 1917 where she wanted to become an actress. She went from director to director in order to get a chance as an actress. Eventually she succeeded and played a small role as a Spanish dancer. She worked as background artist in Western movies of William S. Hart and got her first more important role in 1923 in the serial movie The Wheel of Fortune. She played in 20 movies. Her biggest success was probably the film The Show directed by Tod Browning.

Zalla Zarana at the Internet Movie Database