Born Anita Donna Dooley in New York City of Italian and Irish parentage. She began her show business career in a Shubert revue and in the Ziegfield follies. After her success on the stage, she decided to give Hollywood a try. Hired by Paramount, she made successful films in vamp roles. Nita starred along with John Barrymore in “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” (1920) and with Rudolph Valentino in “Blood and Sand” and “Cobra.” She hit her peak in Cecil B. Demille’s “The Ten Commandments.” Nita was married once to J. Searle Barclay until his death in the 1950s. She did not remarry or have children. With the advent of talking films, her career was over due to her thick New York accent. She then traveled to Europe to appear in a few silent films in 1929 and then retired from the screen.