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
(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)
Dear Miss Gloria
as Guest star
(1946)
Breakfast in Hollywood
as Elvira Spriggens
(1943)
Let's Face It
as Cornelia Pigeon
(1942)
Mexican Spitfire at Sea
as Miss Pepper
(1942)
Tish
as Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
(1942)
The Bashful Bachelor
as Geraldine
(1942)
So's Your Aunt Emma!
as Aunt Emma Bates
(1941)
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
as Emily Pepper
(1941)
Weekend for Three
as Anna, Craig's Maid
(1941)
Uncle Joe
as Julia Jordan
(1941)
Niagara Falls
as Emmy Sawyer
(1941)
Miss Polly
as Pandora Polly
(1941)
Broadway Limited
as Myra Pottle
(1940)
It All Came True
as Miss Flint
(1940)
No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
(1939)
Mickey the Kid
as Lilly Handy
(1939)
The Lady's from Kentucky
as Dulcey Lee
(1939)
Eternally Yours
as Cary Bingham
(1939)
Nurse Edith Cavell
as Mme. Moulin
(1939)
Naughty But Nice
as Aunt Penelope Hardwick
(1937)
52nd Street
as Letitia Rondell
(1937)
Wanted!
as Winnie Oatfield
(1937)
Forty Naughty Girls
as Hildegarde Withers
(1936)
Mad Holiday
as Mrs. Fay Kinney
(1936)
Sing Me a Love Song
as Gwen Logan
(1936)
13 Hours by Air
as Miss Harkins
(1936)
The Plot Thickens
as Hildegarde Withers
(1935)
Spring Tonic
as Maggie Conklin
(1935)
Going Highbrow
as Cora Upshaw
(1935)
Ruggles of Red Gap
as Mrs. Judson
(1935)
Hot Tip
as Belle McGill
(1935)
She Gets Her Man
as Esmeralda
(1935)
The Affair of Susan
as Susan Todd
(1934)
Three on a Honeymoon
as Alice Mudge
(1934)
Two Alone
as Esthey Roberts
(1934)
Sing and Like It
as Annie Snodgrass
(1934)
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
as Miss Hazy
(1934)
Love Birds
as Araminta Tootle
(1934)
Their Big Moment
as Tillie Whim
(1934)
Dames
as Matilda Hemingway
(1934)
The Gay Bride
as Mirabelle
(1934)
Private Scandal
as Miss Coates
(1934)
The Meanest Gal in Town
as Tillie Prescott
(1934)
And She Learned About Dames
as Herself
(1933)
The Bargain of the Century
as Zasu
(1933)
The Vanishing Frontier
as Aunt Sylvia
(1933)
Her First Mate
as Mary Horner
(1933)
Meet the Baron
as Zasu
(1933)
Asleep in the Feet
as Zasu
(1933)
One Track Minds
as Zasu Pitts
(1933)
Out All Night
as Bonny
(1933)
Professional Sweetheart
as Elmerada
(1933)
Maids a la Mode
as Miss Pitts
(1933)
Hello, Sister!
as Millie
(1933)
Mr. Skitch
as Maddie Skitch
(1933)
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
as Sybby 'Sib'
(1933)
(1933)
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
as Connie Clark
(1933)
They Just Had to Get Married
as Molly Hull
(1933)
She Whoops To Conquer
as Beula
(1932)
Broken Lullaby
as Anna, Holderlin's Maid
(1932)
Alum and Eve
as Zasu
(1932)
Red Noses
as Miss Pitts
(1932)
The Crooked Circle
as Nora Rafferty
(1932)
Back Street
as Mrs. Dole
(1932)
Once in a Lifetime
as Miss Leyton
(1932)
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
as Gladys Fairweather
(1932)
Strictly Unreliable
as Pitts
(1932)
Sealskins
as Zasu Pitts
(1932)
The Old Bull
as Zasu
(1932)
Steady Company
as Dot
(1932)
Sneak Easily
as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
(1932)
Madison Square Garden
as Florrie
(1932)
The Unexpected Father
as Polly Perkins
(1932)
Make Me a Star
as Mrs. Scudder
(1932)
Roar of the Dragon
as Gabby Woman
(1932)
Destry Rides Again
as Temperance Worker
(1932)
Is My Face Red?
as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
(1932)
Show Business
as Zasu
(1932)
Strangers of the Evening
as Sybil Smith
(1932)
Shopworn
as Aunt Dot
(1932)
Blondie of the Follies
as Gertie
(1932)
Westward Passage
as Mrs. Truesdale
(1932)
The Soilers
as Zasu
(1931)
Beyond Victory
as Fritzi Mobley
(1931)
Catch-As Catch-Can
as ZaSu
(1931)
Seed
as Jennie
(1931)
War Mamas
as Zasu
(1931)
The Pajama Party
as Zasu
(1931)
The Guardsman
as Liesl
(1931)
The Secret Witness
as Bella
(1931)
Finn and Hattie
as Mrs. Hattie Haddock
(1931)
On the Loose
as Zasu
(1931)
Penrod and Sam
as Mrs. Bassett
(1931)
Their Mad Moment
as Miss Dibbs
(1931)
A Woman of Experience
as Katie
(1931)
The Bad Sister
as Minnie
(1931)
The Big Gamble
as Nora Dugan
(1931)
Let's Do Things
as Zasu Pitts
(1930)
Sin Takes a Holiday
as Annie
(1930)
River's End
as Louise
(1930)
War Nurse
as Cushie
(1930)
The Squealer
as Bella
(1930)
Free Love
as Ada, the Maid
(1930)
Honey
as Mayme
(1930)
Monte Carlo
as Bertha
(1930)
No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
(1930)
The Devil's Holiday
as Ethel
(1930)
Little Accident
as Monica
(1930)
Passion Flower
as Mrs. Harney
(1930)
The Lottery Bride
as Hilda
(1929)
The Honeymoon
as Caecilia
(1929)
Paris
as Harriet
(1929)
The Squall
as Lena
(1929)
The Argyle Case
as Mrs. Wyatt
(1929)
This Thing Called Love
as Clara Bertrand
(1929)
The Dummy
as Rose Gleason
(1929)
The Locked Door
as Telephone Girl
(1929)
Her Private Life
as Timmins
(1929)
Twin Beds
as Tillie
(1929)
Oh, Yeah!
as The Elk
(1928)
Sins of the Fathers
as Mother Spengler
(1928)
The Wedding March
as Cecelia Schweisser
(1928)
13 Washington Square
as The Maid
(1928)
Buck Privates
as Hulda
(1928)
Wife Savers
as Germaine
(1927)
Casey at the Bat
as Camille
(1926)
Risky Business
as Agnes Wheaton
(1926)
Mannequin
as Annie Pogani
(1926)
Monte Carlo
as Hope Durant
(1926)
Early to Wed
as Mrs. Dugan
(1926)
Sunny Side Up
as Evelyn
(1926)
Her Big Night
as Gladys Smith
(1926)
What Happened to Jones
as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
(1926)
The Great Love
as Nancy
(1925)
The Great Divide
as Polly Jordan
(1925)
Thunder Mountain
as Mandy Coulter
(1925)
Pretty Ladies
as Maggie Keenan
(1925)
1925 Studio Tour
as Self
(1925)
Lazybones
as Ruth Fanning
(1925)
Wages for Wives
as Luella Logan
(1925)
(1925)
(1924)
The Fast Set
as Mona
(1924)
The Goldfish
as Amelia Pugsley
(1924)
Greed
as Trina
(1924)
Secrets of the Night
as Celia Stebbins
(1924)
West of the Water Tower
as Dessie Arnhalt
(1924)
Changing Husbands
as Delia
(1923)
Hollywood
as Zasu Pitts
(1923)
Mary of the Movies
as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
(1923)
Three Wise Fools
as Mickey
(1923)
Tea- With a Kick!
as 'Brainy' Jones
(1923)
Souls for Sale
as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary
(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)
As the Sun Went Down
as Sal Sue
(1919)
The Other Half
as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
(1919)
Men, Women, and Money
as Katie Jones
(1919)
Better Times
as Nancy Scroggs
(1919)
Poor Relations
as Daisy Perkins
(1918)
How Could You, Jean?
as Oscar's Sweetheart
(1918)
A Society Sensation
as Mary
(1918)
A Lady's Name
as Emily
(1918)
(1917)
His Fatal Beauty
as Perscilla
(1917)
(1917)
Uneasy Money
as Suza - the Editor's Assistant
(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)
'49–'17
as Party Guest (uncredited)
(1917)
(1917)