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