Anna was 12 years old when she got her first film role as an extra. At
16, she had the excellent part of an Arabian slave girl in The Thief of Bagdad
(1924) starring Douglas Fairbanks.
In the 20's she reached stardom by
appearing in films which espoused Oriental mystery themes, which during
the time were a kind of fad for movie goers. In 1929 she made films in
Britain and Germany. She made some stage appearances with her most
notable probably being Circle of Chalk in which she co-starred
with Laurence Olivier.
The films she made in the late 30's and early
40's were primarily crime dramas, with her usually playing some
mysterious villainess. Her last picture was Portrait in Black in which she co-starred with Lana Turner.
