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).
Known For
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)
So's Your Aunt Emma!
as Aunt Emma Bates
(1942)
Mexican Spitfire at Sea
as Miss Pepper
(1942)
The Bashful Bachelor
as Geraldine
(1941)
Weekend for Three
as Anna, Craig's Maid
(1941)
Broadway Limited
as Myra Pottle
(1941)
Niagara Falls
as Emmy Sawyer
(1941)
Uncle Joe
as Julia Jordan
(1941)
Miss Polly
as Pandora Polly
(1941)
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
as Emily Pepper
(1940)
No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
(1940)
It All Came True
as Miss Flint
(1939)
Naughty But Nice
as Aunt Penelope Hardwick
(1939)
Nurse Edith Cavell
as Mme. Moulin
(1939)
Eternally Yours
as Cary Bingham
(1939)
Mickey the Kid
as Lilly Handy
(1939)
The Lady's from Kentucky
as Dulcey Lee
(1937)
Forty Naughty Girls
as Hildegarde Withers
(1937)
52nd Street
as Letitia Rondell
(1937)
Wanted!
as Winnie Oatfield
(1936)
Sing Me a Love Song
as Gwen Logan
(1936)
13 Hours by Air
as Miss Harkins
(1936)
The Plot Thickens
as Hildegarde Withers
(1936)
Mad Holiday
as Mrs. Fay Kinney
(1935)
Ruggles of Red Gap
as Mrs. Judson
(1935)
Hot Tip
as Belle McGill
(1935)
Going Highbrow
as Cora Upshaw
(1935)
Spring Tonic
as Maggie Conklin
(1935)
The Affair of Susan
as Susan Todd
(1935)
She Gets Her Man
as Esmeralda
(1934)
Dames
as Matilda Hemingway
(1934)
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
as Miss Hazy
(1934)
Their Big Moment
as Tillie Whim
(1934)
Sing and Like It
as Annie Snodgrass
(1934)
The Meanest Gal in Town
as Tillie Prescott
(1934)
Two Alone
as Esthey Roberts
(1934)
The Gay Bride
as Mirabelle
(1934)
Private Scandal
as Miss Coates
(1934)
Love Birds
as Araminta Tootle
(1934)
Three on a Honeymoon
as Alice Mudge
(1934)
And She Learned About Dames
as Herself
(1933)
Asleep in the Feet
as Zasu
(1933)
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
as Sybby 'Sib'
(1933)
Hello, Sister!
as Millie
(1933)
Mr. Skitch
as Maddie Skitch
(1933)
Professional Sweetheart
as Elmerada
(1933)
They Just Had to Get Married
as Molly Hull
(1933)
Meet the Baron
as Zasu
(1933)
Maids a la Mode
as Miss Pitts
(1933)
The Bargain of the Century
as Zasu
(1933)
The Vanishing Frontier
as Aunt Sylvia
(1933)
Her First Mate
as Mary Horner
(1933)
Out All Night
as Bonny
(1933)
One Track Minds
as Zasu Pitts
(1933)
She Whoops To Conquer
as Beula
(1933)
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
as Connie Clark
(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)
Once in a Lifetime
as Miss Leyton
(1932)
The Old Bull
as Zasu
(1932)
Make Me a Star
as Mrs. Scudder
(1932)
Show Business
as Zasu
(1932)
Shopworn
as Aunt Dot
(1932)
Westward Passage
as Mrs. Truesdale
(1932)
Roar of the Dragon
as Gabby Woman
(1932)
Alum and Eve
as Zasu
(1932)
Destry Rides Again
as Temperance Worker
(1932)
The Crooked Circle
as Nora Rafferty
(1932)
The Unexpected Father
as Polly Perkins
(1932)
Blondie of the Follies
as Gertie
(1932)
Sealskins
as Zasu Pitts
(1932)
Steady Company
as Dot
(1932)
Red Noses
as Miss Pitts
(1932)
Madison Square Garden
as Florrie
(1932)
Sneak Easily
as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
(1932)
Strictly Unreliable
as Pitts
(1932)
The Soilers
as Zasu
(1932)
Strangers of the Evening
as Sybil Smith
(1932)
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
as Gladys Fairweather
(1931)
The Bad Sister
as Minnie
(1931)
Penrod and Sam
as Mrs. Bassett
(1931)
On the Loose
as Zasu
(1931)
The Secret Witness
as Bella
(1931)
The Pajama Party
as Zasu
(1931)
The Guardsman
as Liesl
(1931)
Catch-As Catch-Can
as ZaSu
(1931)
The Big Gamble
as Nora Dugan
(1931)
Finn and Hattie
as Mrs. Hattie Haddock
(1931)
Beyond Victory
as Fritzi Mobley
(1931)
War Mamas
as Zasu
(1931)
Seed
as Jennie
(1931)
A Woman of Experience
as Katie
(1931)
Let's Do Things
as Zasu Pitts
(1931)
Their Mad Moment
as Miss Dibbs
(1930)
The Devil's Holiday
as Ethel
(1930)
River's End
as Louise
(1930)
Sin Takes a Holiday
as Annie
(1930)
The Lottery Bride
as Hilda
(1930)
War Nurse
as Cushie
(1930)
Monte Carlo
as Bertha
(1930)
Little Accident
as Monica
(1930)
Honey
as Mayme
(1930)
The Squealer
as Bella
(1930)
Passion Flower
as Mrs. Harney
(1930)
Free Love
as Ada, the Maid
(1930)
No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
(1929)
Oh, Yeah!
as The Elk
(1929)
The Honeymoon
as Caecilia
(1929)
Paris
as Harriet
(1929)
The Locked Door
as Telephone Girl
(1929)
Twin Beds
as Tillie
(1929)
This Thing Called Love
as Clara Bertrand
(1929)
The Squall
as Lena
(1929)
The Argyle Case
as Mrs. Wyatt
(1929)
The Dummy
as Rose Gleason
(1929)
Her Private Life
as Timmins
(1928)
The Wedding March
as Cecelia Schweisser
(1928)
Buck Privates
as Hulda
(1928)
Sins of the Fathers
as Mother Spengler
(1928)
13 Washington Square
as The Maid
(1928)
Wife Savers
as Germaine
(1927)
Casey at the Bat
as Camille
(1926)
Early to Wed
as Mrs. Dugan
(1926)
Her Big Night
as Gladys Smith
(1926)
Monte Carlo
as Hope Durant
(1926)
Sunny Side Up
as Evelyn
(1926)
Mannequin
as Annie Pogani
(1926)
What Happened to Jones
as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
(1926)
Risky Business
as Agnes Wheaton
(1926)
The Great Love
as Nancy
(1925)
Pretty Ladies
as Maggie Keenan
(1925)
The Great Divide
as Polly Jordan
(1925)
1925 Studio Tour
as Self
(1925)
Wages for Wives
as Luella Logan
(1925)
Lazybones
as Ruth Fanning
(1925)
Thunder Mountain
as Mandy Coulter
(1925)
(1925)
(1924)
Greed
as Trina
(1924)
Changing Husbands
as Delia
(1924)
The Goldfish
as Amelia Pugsley
(1924)
Secrets of the Night
as Celia Stebbins
(1924)
The Fast Set
as Mona
(1924)
West of the Water Tower
as Dessie Arnhalt
(1923)
Hollywood
as Zasu Pitts
(1923)
Tea- With a Kick!
as 'Brainy' Jones
(1923)
Souls for Sale
as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary
(1923)
Mary of the Movies
as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
(1923)
Three Wise Fools
as Mickey
(1923)
Poor Men's Wives
as Apple Annie
(1922)
For the Defense
as Jennie Dunn
(1922)
A Daughter of Luxury
as Mary Cosgrove
(1921)
Patsy
as Patsy
(1920)
Seeing It Through
as Betty Lawrence
(1920)
Heart of Twenty
as Katie Abbott
(1919)
Men, Women, and Money
as Katie Jones
(1919)
Better Times
as Nancy Scroggs
(1919)
The Other Half
as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
(1919)
Poor Relations
as Daisy Perkins
(1919)
As the Sun Went Down
as Sal Sue
(1918)
(1918)
A Lady's Name
as Emily
(1918)
A Society Sensation
as Mary
(1918)
How Could You, Jean?
as Oscar's Sweetheart
(1917)
A Modern Musketeer
as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
(1917)
A Little Princess
as Becky
(1917)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
(1917)
(1917)
His Fatal Beauty
as Perscilla
(1917)
Uneasy Money
as Suza - the Editor's Assistant
(1917)
'49–'17
as Party Guest (uncredited)
(1917)