Zarana was born on July 16, 1897[Note 1] in Žužemberk, in the region of Lower Carniola in Austria-Hungary.

She left for the United States at age seventeen and moved in with her aunt in San Francisco.

She accompanied her German-born friend Isabelle Grenner to Los Angeles in 1917 and sought to become an actress.

She worked as an extra in westerns with William S. Hart and earned high-profile roles in 1922 as the femme fatale in two low-budget shoot-em-ups, Back Fire, with Jack Hoxie, and Silver Spurs, starring Lester Cuneo.

Her career was modest, but she shared scenes with future stars, like Stan Laurel and Gary Cooper, and was cast in small roles in major productions, such as Mae Murray's flashy friend in The Merry Widow, directed by Erich von Stroheim, and a freak show half-lady opposite John Gilbert in The Show, directed by Tod Browning.