Profile Text
Birth Name: Vinita Strauss
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: December 7, 1986
Ethnicity: English, along with German, one eighth Polish, some Irish, Scottish, and Cornish, possibly 1/128th Ojibwa First Nations, French-Canadian, Swiss-German, Dutch, distant Welsh
Nita Strauss is an American rock musician and guitarist. She is a member of rock bands Alice Cooper, along with Alice Cooper ; We Start Wars, and The Starbreakers, and was also previously a member of metalcore/deathcore band As Blood Runs Black, heavy metal band The Iron Maidens, and hard rock band Femme Fatale. She starred on the show Paradise City . She is also known as Mega Murray, Hurricane Nita, and The Hurricane.
Nita is said to be a descendant of Austrian composer Johann Strauss. This does not appear to be accurate.
She is married to drummer Josh Villalta.
Nita’s paternal grandfather was Ernest Edward Strauss (the son of Dr. Frederick Bismark Strauss, MD and Marie Elizabeth Ball). Ernest was born in Bismarck, North Dakota. Frederick was the son of Ernest Louis Strauss, who was a German emigrant, from Baden; and of Mary Theresa Walter, whose parents were also from Baden. Nita’s great-grandmother Marie was the daughter of Edward Perry Ball, whose father was an English emigrant, from Devon; and of Elizabeth Esch, whose father was an Alsatian emigrant, from Croettwiller, Bas-Rhin, and whose mother was English, from Mendham, Suffolk.
Nita’s paternal grandmother was Kathleen Lucille Hunt (the daughter of Frank Wesley Hunt and Mary Adella Williams). Kathleen was born in Michigan, and had partly deep American roots. Frank was the son of Thomas William Hunt and Matilda Ellen Teets, whose maternal grandparents were English. Nita’s great-grandmother Mary was the daughter of Jeremiah Williams, who may have been of one eighth Ojibwa First Nations ancestry; and of Mary Elizabeth Gartland, whose mother was Irish.
Nita’s maternal grandfather was Walter Winslow Lewis Jr. (the son of Walter Winslow Lewis and Theresa Martha Kowalik). Nita’s grandfather Walter was born in Alameda, California. Nita’s great-grandfather Walter was the son of Henry Winslow Lewis, who had deep American roots; and of Henrietta Charlotte Schneider, whose parents were German. Nita’s great-grandmother Theresa was the daughter of Thomas F. Kowalik and Mary W. Majrowesz, who were ethnic Polish emigrants, from Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, now Poland.
Nita’s maternal grandmother was Kasey Rogers (born Josie Imogene Rogers, the daughter of Eben Elijah Rogers and Ina Mae Mocabee). Kasey was born in Morehouse, Missouri, and had deep roots in the U.S. She was an actress, writer, and women’s motocross racing activist. Eben was the son of Alfred H. Rogers and Katurah Lucinda Stanley. Ina was the daughter of John Grant Mocabee and Hetha Jane Ewell.