Zasu Pitts
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1894-01-02
Day of Death
1963-06-07 (69 years old)
Place of Birth
Parsons, Kansas, USA
Zasu Pitts
Biography
Zasu Pitts was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas and comedies, transitioning successfully to mostly comedy films with the advent of sound films. She may be best known for her performance in Erich von Stroheim's epic silent film Greed.
Based on her performance, von Stroheim labeled Pitts "the greatest dramatic actress". He also featured her in his films The Honeymoon (1928), The Wedding March (1928), War Nurse (1930) and Walking Down Broadway, released as Hello, Sister! (1933). However, for the most part, with the advent of sound Pitts was mostly relegated to comedy parts. A bitter disappointment was when she was replaced in the classic war drama All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) by Beryl Mercer after her initial appearance in previews drew unintentional laughs, despite her intense performance. She had viewers rolling in the aisles in Finn and Hattie (1931), The Guardsman (1931), Blondie of the Follies (1932), Sing and Like It (1934) and Ruggles of Red Gap (1935). In 1936 and 1937 she portrayed Hildegarde Withers in two movies, succeeding Edna May Oliver as the spinster sleuth, but they were not well received.
In the 1950s she started focusing on television. This culminated in her best known series role, playing second banana to Gale Storm on CBS's The Gale Storm Show (1956) (also known as Oh, Susannah) in the role of Elvira Nugent ("Nugie"), the shipboard beautician. In 1961, Pitts was cast opposite Earle Hodgins in the episode "Lonesome's Gal" on the ABC sitcom, Guestward, Ho!, set on a dude ranch in New Mexico. In 1962, Pitts appeared in an episode of CBS's Perry Mason, "The Case of the Absent Artist". Her final role was as Gertie, the switchboard operator in the Stanley Kramer comedy epic It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).
Acting
(1964)
The Big Parade of Comedy
as Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
(1963)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
as Gertie - Switchboard Operator
(1963)
The Thrill of It All
as Olivia
(1961)
Teenage Millionaire
as Aunt Theodora
(1959)
Disneyland '59
as Self
(1957)
This Could Be the Night
as Mrs. Shea
(1955)
The Silent Partner
as Selma
(1954)
Francis Joins the WACS
as Valerie Humpert
(1952)
Denver and Rio Grande
as Jane Dwyer
(1950)
Francis
as Valerie Humpert
(1949)
(1947)
Life with Father
as Cousin Cora Cartwright
(1947)
The Perfect Marriage
as Rosa
(1946)
Breakfast in Hollywood
as Elvira Spriggens
(1946)
Dear Miss Gloria
as Guest star
(1943)
Let's Face It
as Cornelia Pigeon
(1942)
Tish
as Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
(1942)
Mexican Spitfire at Sea
as Miss Pepper
(1942)
So's Your Aunt Emma!
as Aunt Emma Bates
(1942)
The Bashful Bachelor
as Geraldine
(1941)
Niagara Falls
as Emmy Sawyer
(1941)
Broadway Limited
as Myra Pottle
(1941)
Miss Polly
as Pandora Polly
(1941)
Weekend for Three
as Anna, Craig's Maid
(1941)
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
as Emily Pepper
(1941)
Uncle Joe
as Julia Jordan
(1940)
It All Came True
as Miss Flint
(1940)
No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
(1939)
Eternally Yours
as Cary Bingham
(1939)
Nurse Edith Cavell
as Mme. Moulin
(1939)
Naughty But Nice
as Aunt Penelope Hardwick
(1939)
Mickey the Kid
as Lilly Handy
(1939)
The Lady's from Kentucky
as Dulcey Lee
(1937)
52nd Street
as Letitia Rondell
(1937)
Forty Naughty Girls
as Hildegarde Withers
(1937)
Wanted!
as Winnie Oatfield
(1936)
Mad Holiday
as Mrs. Fay Kinney
(1936)
13 Hours by Air
as Miss Harkins
(1936)
Sing Me a Love Song
as Gwen Logan
(1936)
The Plot Thickens
as Hildegarde Withers
(1935)
Hot Tip
as Belle McGill
(1935)
Ruggles of Red Gap
as Mrs. Judson
(1935)
Going Highbrow
as Cora Upshaw
(1935)
The Affair of Susan
as Susan Todd
(1935)
She Gets Her Man
as Esmeralda
(1935)
Spring Tonic
as Maggie Conklin
(1934)
Dames
as Matilda Hemingway
(1934)
Three on a Honeymoon
as Alice Mudge
(1934)
Sing and Like It
as Annie Snodgrass
(1934)
The Meanest Gal in Town
as Tillie Prescott
(1934)
Their Big Moment
as Tillie Whim
(1934)
Two Alone
as Esthey Roberts
(1934)
The Gay Bride
as Mirabelle
(1934)
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
as Miss Hazy
(1934)
Love Birds
as Araminta Tootle
(1934)
And She Learned About Dames
as Herself
(1934)
Private Scandal
as Miss Coates
(1933)
Meet the Baron
as Zasu
(1933)
Professional Sweetheart
as Elmerada
(1933)
Hello, Sister!
as Millie
(1933)
The Bargain of the Century
as Zasu
(1933)
Asleep in the Feet
as Zasu
(1933)
Mr. Skitch
as Maddie Skitch
(1933)
Her First Mate
as Mary Horner
(1933)
One Track Minds
as Zasu Pitts
(1933)
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
as Sybby 'Sib'
(1933)
They Just Had to Get Married
as Molly Hull
(1933)
Out All Night
as Bonny
(1933)
The Vanishing Frontier
as Aunt Sylvia
(1933)
Maids a la Mode
as Miss Pitts
(1933)
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
as Connie Clark
(1933)
She Whoops To Conquer
as Beula
(1932)
Is My Face Red?
as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
(1932)
Broken Lullaby
as Anna, Holderlin's Maid
(1932)
Back Street
as Mrs. Dole
(1932)
Make Me a Star
as Mrs. Scudder
(1932)
Once in a Lifetime
as Miss Leyton
(1932)
The Old Bull
as Zasu
(1932)
Blondie of the Follies
as Gertie
(1932)
Shopworn
as Aunt Dot
(1932)
Westward Passage
as Mrs. Truesdale
(1932)
Red Noses
as Miss Pitts
(1932)
Alum and Eve
as Zasu
(1932)
Show Business
as Zasu
(1932)
Strictly Unreliable
as Pitts
(1932)
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
as Gladys Fairweather
(1932)
Roar of the Dragon
as Gabby Woman
(1932)
Strangers of the Evening
as Sybil Smith
(1932)
The Unexpected Father
as Polly Perkins
(1932)
The Crooked Circle
as Nora Rafferty
(1932)
Madison Square Garden
as Florrie
(1932)
Sealskins
as Zasu Pitts
(1932)
The Soilers
as Zasu
(1932)
Destry Rides Again
as Temperance Worker
(1932)
Sneak Easily
as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
(1932)
Steady Company
as Dot
(1931)
The Bad Sister
as Minnie
(1931)
A Woman of Experience
as Katie
(1931)
The Secret Witness
as Bella
(1931)
The Guardsman
as Liesl
(1931)
Seed
as Jennie
(1931)
Penrod and Sam
as Mrs. Bassett
(1931)
Beyond Victory
as Fritzi Mobley
(1931)
Let's Do Things
as Zasu Pitts
(1931)
On the Loose
as Zasu
(1931)
The Big Gamble
as Nora Dugan
(1931)
Their Mad Moment
as Miss Dibbs
(1931)
Catch-As Catch-Can
as ZaSu
(1931)
War Mamas
as Zasu
(1931)
The Pajama Party
as Zasu
(1931)
Finn and Hattie
as Mrs. Hattie Haddock
(1930)
Monte Carlo
as Bertha
(1930)
War Nurse
as Cushie
(1930)
Sin Takes a Holiday
as Annie
(1930)
Honey
as Mayme
(1930)
The Devil's Holiday
as Ethel
(1930)
The Lottery Bride
as Hilda
(1930)
The Squealer
as Bella
(1930)
Passion Flower
as Mrs. Harney
(1930)
No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
(1930)
Little Accident
as Monica
(1930)
River's End
as Louise
(1930)
Free Love
as Ada, the Maid
(1929)
The Locked Door
as Telephone Girl
(1929)
The Dummy
as Rose Gleason
(1929)
Paris
as Harriet
(1929)
Oh, Yeah!
as The Elk
(1929)
The Squall
as Lena
(1929)
This Thing Called Love
as Clara Bertrand
(1929)
Her Private Life
as Timmins
(1929)
The Honeymoon
as Caecilia
(1929)
Twin Beds
as Tillie
(1929)
The Argyle Case
as Mrs. Wyatt
(1928)
The Wedding March
as Cecelia Schweisser
(1928)
Wife Savers
as Germaine
(1928)
Sins of the Fathers
as Mother Spengler
(1928)
13 Washington Square
as The Maid
(1928)
Buck Privates
as Hulda
(1927)
Casey at the Bat
as Camille
(1926)
What Happened to Jones
as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
(1926)
Monte Carlo
as Hope Durant
(1926)
Mannequin
as Annie Pogani
(1926)
Sunny Side Up
as Evelyn
(1926)
Risky Business
as Agnes Wheaton
(1926)
Early to Wed
as Mrs. Dugan
(1926)
Her Big Night
as Gladys Smith
(1926)
The Great Love
as Nancy
(1925)
1925 Studio Tour
as Self
(1925)
Lazybones
as Ruth Fanning
(1925)
Pretty Ladies
as Maggie Keenan
(1925)
Wages for Wives
as Luella Logan
(1925)
The Great Divide
as Polly Jordan
(1925)
Thunder Mountain
as Mandy Coulter
(1925)
(1925)
(1924)
Greed
as Trina
(1924)
Changing Husbands
as Delia
(1924)
The Goldfish
as Amelia Pugsley
(1924)
The Fast Set
as Mona
(1924)
Secrets of the Night
as Celia Stebbins
(1924)
West of the Water Tower
as Dessie Arnhalt
(1923)
Hollywood
as Zasu Pitts
(1923)
Souls for Sale
as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary
(1923)
Three Wise Fools
as Mickey
(1923)
Poor Men's Wives
as Apple Annie
(1923)
Tea- With a Kick!
as 'Brainy' Jones
(1923)
Mary of the Movies
as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
(1922)
For the Defense
as Jennie Dunn
(1922)
A Daughter of Luxury
as Mary Cosgrove
(1921)
Patsy
as Patsy
(1920)
Heart of Twenty
as Katie Abbott
(1920)
Seeing It Through
as Betty Lawrence
(1919)
The Other Half
as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
(1919)
Poor Relations
as Daisy Perkins
(1919)
Better Times
as Nancy Scroggs
(1919)
Men, Women, and Money
as Katie Jones
(1918)
A Society Sensation
as Mary
(1918)
How Could You, Jean?
as Oscar's Sweetheart
(1918)
(1918)
A Lady's Name
as Emily
(1917)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
(1917)
A Little Princess
as Becky
(1917)
A Modern Musketeer
as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
(1917)
'49–'17
as Party Guest (uncredited)
(1917)
Uneasy Money
as Suza - the Editor's Assistant
(1917)
His Fatal Beauty
as Perscilla
(1917)
(1917)