ZITA JOHANN'S NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE

If you spend any time reading about Hollywood history, you will notice that the social phenomenon of "six degrees of separation" presents itself many times over. The theory suggests that any two people are linked by no fewer than six social connections anywhere in the world. It's no wonder, as Hollywood has always been known as a rather close-knit community. In the context of this post, Charles Manson and record producer Terry Melcher and Manson and Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson is one example of the six degrees of separation theory.

Even more interesting, I think, is how much closer some of these connections actually intersect. For instance, who would have thought an up-and-coming screenwriter who would later become one of Hollywood's most famous personalities and a petite Hungarian actress who preferred to stay at home and quietly out of the limelight would be intimately linked?

Academy Award and Golden Globe winner John Huston was the son of Academy Award winner Walter Huston (Best Supporting Actor, THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE). His daughter is Academy Award winner Angelica Huston (Best Supporting Actress, PRIZZI'S HONOR). Known as "an eccentric rebel of epic proportions", Huston directed a long list of now-classic films such as THE MALTESE FALCON, KEY LARGO, THE AFRICAN QUEEN, THE MISFITS and CHINATOWN. During his early years in Hollywood, Huston was described as a "lusty, hard-drinking libertine", which set the stage for what was to come.

Zita Johann in Photoplay April 1933, around the time of her accident.
Photograph by Otto Dyer.

In 1933, the 26-year old Huston was in a romantic relationship with the 28-year old Zita Johann, who had recently starred in her role as Helen Grosvenor/Princess Anck-es-en-amon with Boris Karloff in Universal's THE MUMMY, . While still married to her husband, actor John Houseman (they divorced in September 1933), she began dating Huston. Just two months after THE MUMMY premiered on December 22, 1932, during the day of Thursday, February 24, 1933 the inebriated Huston was driving with Johann in the passenger seat when he collided with a parked car (some sources falsely report that it was a palm tree) on the corner of Franklin and Grace Avenues in central Hollywood. The impact threw Johann through the windshield (seat belts were not a standard feature in motor vehicles at the time). She was hospitalized in critical condition and suffered head trauma: a concussion and a two-inch scalp laceration.

Huston was later charged and convicted of drunk driving. He was fined $30 (the equivalent of a little over $700 in today's dollars). Johann declined to press any charges, but did what any other smart woman would do: she dumped him.

Just six months later, on September 25, it happened again. Huston borrowed a car reportedly owned by Norwegian-American stage and screen actress Greta Nissen and while rolling down Sunset Blvd., he stopped and picked up a hitchhiker (a later newspaper report noted that the passenger was William Miller, a friend of Huston's). He continued on in an eastbound direction at approximately 30 mph, and a few blocks later struck and killed a woman who had walked out into the lane of traffic from between parked cars between Sunset Blvd. and Gardner St.

The woman was Brazilian actress and dancer Tosca Rouilien (aka Diva Tosca), the wife of Raoul Roulien, famously known as "Brazil's Rudolph Valentino". A newspaper account reported that she had been hurled 36 feet as a result of the impact. Huston carried her to his car and rushed her to a nearby hospital where she died two days later on September 27, 1933. She was buried in Glendale, CA.

Luckily for him, in this case Huston was sober and had not been drinking. Consequently, he was absolved of any wrong doing after a court inquest. Nevertheless, according to his autobiography, he was traumatized by the incident and exiled himself to Europe for the proverbial smoke to clear and "drifted" for several years before returning to the States where he would become a powerful force in Hollywood. He did not give up drinking.

As for Zita Johann, after four months she recovered from her injuries. In her biography, "Guest Parking", by Rick Atkins (BearManor Media, 2011), she wrote: "Fractured my hips in the accident. I recovered, but with age it's been disabling me." She played in only five more films, the last inexplicably in a bit part as a Librarian in the 1986 horror stinker, RAIDERS OF THE LIVING DEAD. Perhaps director Sam Sherman charmed her into coming out of retirement after 50 years away from the industry. Afterwards, she spent the rest of her life performing a variety of community and charity services and teaching acting to children.