Zasu Pitts
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- January 3, 1894
- Died
- June 7, 1963
- Birthplace
- Parsons, Labette County, Kansas, USA
Zasu Pitts (January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) 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).
Filmography
The Big Parade of Comedy 1964
as Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World 1963
as Gertie - Switchboard Operator
The Thrill of It All 1963
as Olivia
Teenage Millionaire 1961
as Aunt Theodora
Disneyland '59 1959
as Self
This Could Be the Night 1957
as Mrs. Shea
Francis Joins the WACS 1954
as Valerie Humpert
Denver and Rio Grande 1952
as Jane Dwyer
Francis 1950
as Valerie Humpert
Lum and Abner 1949
Actor
Life with Father 1947
as Cousin Cora Cartwright
The Perfect Marriage 1947
as Rosa
Breakfast in Hollywood 1946
as Elvira Spriggens
Dear Miss Gloria 1946
as Guest star
Let's Face It 1943
as Cornelia Pigeon
Tish 1942
as Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
So's Your Aunt Emma! 1942
as Aunt Emma Bates
The Bashful Bachelor 1942
as Geraldine
Mexican Spitfire at Sea 1942
as Miss Pepper
Weekend for Three 1941
as Anna, Craig's Maid
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby 1941
as Emily Pepper
Miss Polly 1941
as Pandora Polly
Uncle Joe 1941
as Julia Jordan
Niagara Falls 1941
as Emmy Sawyer
Broadway Limited 1941
as Myra Pottle
No, No, Nanette 1940
as Pauline Hastings
It All Came True 1940
as Miss Flint
Eternally Yours 1939
as Mrs. Bingham
Nurse Edith Cavell 1939
as Mme. Moulin
Mickey the Kid 1939
as Lilly Handy
Naughty but Nice 1939
as Aunt Penelope Hardwick
The Lady's from Kentucky 1939
as Dulcey Lee
52nd Street 1937
as Letitia Rondell
Forty Naughty Girls 1937
as Hildegarde Withers
Wanted! 1937
as Winnie Oatfield
Sing Me a Love Song 1936
as Gwen Logan
The Plot Thickens 1936
as Hildegarde Withers
Mad Holiday 1936
as Mrs. Fay Kinney
13 Hours by Air 1936
as Miss Harkins
The Affair of Susan 1935
as Susan Todd
Hot Tip 1935
as Belle McGill
She Gets Her Man 1935
as Esmeralda
Going Highbrow 1935
as Cora Upshaw
Spring Tonic 1935
as Maggie Conklin
Ruggles of Red Gap 1935
as Mrs. Judson
The Gay Bride 1934
as Mirabelle
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch 1934
as Miss Hazy
Dames 1934
as Matilda Hemingway
Their Big Moment 1934
as Tillie Whim
Private Scandal 1934
as Miss Coates
Love Birds 1934
as Araminta Tootle
Sing and Like It 1934
as Annie Snodgrass
And She Learned About Dames 1934
as Herself
Three on a Honeymoon 1934
as Alice Mudge
Two Alone 1934
as Esthey Roberts
The Meanest Gal in Town 1934
as Tillie Prescott
Mr. Skitch 1933
as Maddie Skitch
Meet the Baron 1933
as Zasu
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men 1933
as Sybby 'Sib'
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby! 1933
as Connie Clark
Mother's Helper 1933
Actor
Her First Mate 1933
as Mary Horner
Professional Sweetheart 1933
as Elmerada
One Track Minds 1933
as Zasu Pitts
Hello, Sister! 1933
as Millie
Out All Night 1933
as Bonny
The Bargain of the Century 1933
as Zasu
The Vanishing Frontier 1933
as Aunt Sylvia
Maids a la Mode 1933
as Miss Pitts
Asleep in the Feet 1933
as Zasu
They Just Had to Get Married 1933
as Molly Hull
She Whoops To Conquer 1933
as Beula
Sneak Easily 1932
as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
Madison Square Garden 1932
as Florrie
The Soilers 1932
as Zasu
Once in a Lifetime 1932
as Miss Leyton
The Crooked Circle 1932
as Nora Rafferty
Alum and Eve 1932
as Zasu
Blondie of the Follies 1932
as Gertie
Show Business 1932
as Zasu
Back Street 1932
as Mrs. Dole
Roar of the Dragon 1932
as Gabby Woman
Make Me a Star 1932
as Mrs. Scudder
Is My Face Red? 1932
as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
The Old Bull 1932
as Zasu
Westward Passage 1932
as Mrs. Truesdale
Strangers of the Evening 1932
as Sybil Smith
The Trial of Vivienne Ware 1932
as Gladys Fairweather
Strictly Unreliable 1932
as Pitts
Destry Rides Again 1932
as Temperance Worker
Shopworn 1932
as Aunt Dot
Red Noses 1932
as Miss Pitts
Steady Company 1932
as Dot
Sealskins 1932
as Zasu Pitts
Broken Lullaby 1932
as Anna, Holderlin's Maid
The Unexpected Father 1932
as Polly Perkins
On the Loose 1931
as Zasu
The Secret Witness 1931
as Bella
War Mamas 1931
as Zasu
The Guardsman 1931
as Liesl
The Pajama Party 1931
as Zasu
Penrod and Sam 1931
as Mrs. Bassett
The Big Gamble 1931
as Nora Dugan
Catch-As Catch-Can 1931
as ZaSu
Their Mad Moment 1931
as Miss Dibbs
A Woman of Experience 1931
as Katie
Let's Do Things 1931
as Zasu Pitts
Seed 1931
as Jennie
Beyond Victory 1931
as Fritzi Mobley
The Bad Sister 1931
as Minnie
Finn and Hattie 1931
as Mrs. Hattie Haddock
Passion Flower 1930
as Mrs. Harney
Free Love 1930
as Ada, the Maid
War Nurse 1930
as Cushie
Sin Takes a Holiday 1930
as Annie
River's End 1930
as Louise
The Lottery Bride 1930
as Hilda
Monte Carlo 1930
as Bertha
The Squealer 1930
as Bella
Little Accident 1930
as Monica
The Devil's Holiday 1930
as Ethel
Honey 1930
as Mayme
No, No, Nanette 1930
as Pauline Hastings
The Honeymoon 1929
as Caecilia
This Thing Called Love 1929
as Clara Bertrand
The Locked Door 1929
as Telephone Girl
Paris 1929
as Harriet
Oh, Yeah! 1929
as The Elk
Her Private Life 1929
as Timmins
The Argyle Case 1929
as Mrs. Wyatt
Twin Beds 1929
as Tillie
The Squall 1929
as Lena
The Dummy 1929
as Rose Gleason
Sins of the Fathers 1928
as Mother Spengler
The Wedding March 1928
as Cecelia Schweisser
Buck Privates 1928
as Hulda
13 Washington Square 1928
as The Maid
Wife Savers 1928
as Germaine
Casey at the Bat 1927
as Camille
Her Big Night 1926
as Gladys Smith
Risky Business 1926
as Agnes Wheaton
Sunny Side Up 1926
as Evelyn
The Great Love 1926
as Nancy
Early to Wed 1926
as Mrs. Dugan
Monte Carlo 1926
as Hope Durant
What Happened to Jones? 1926
as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
Mannequin 1926
as Annie Pogani
Wages for Wives 1925
as Luella Logan
Lazybones 1925
as Ruth Fanning
Thunder Mountain 1925
as Mandy Coulter
Pretty Ladies 1925
as Maggie Keenan
- A Woman's Faith
A Woman's Faith 1925
as Blanche Odile
- The Business of Love
The Business of Love 1925
as Miss Wright
1925 Studio Tour 1925
as Self
- Old Shoes
Old Shoes 1925
Actor
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent 1925
as Judy
The Great Divide 1925
as Polly Jordan
Greed 1924
as Trina
Secrets of the Night 1924
as Celia Stebbins
The Fast Set 1924
as Mona
Changing Husbands 1924
as Delia
The Goldfish 1924
as Amelia Pugsley
Daughters of Today 1924
as Lorena
West of the Water Tower 1924
as Dessie Arnhalt
Tea- With a Kick! 1923
as 'Brainy' Jones
Three Wise Fools 1923
as Mickey
Hollywood 1923
as Zasu Pitts
Mary of the Movies 1923
as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
Souls for Sale 1923
as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary
The Girl Who Came Back 1923
as Anastasia Muldoon
Poor Men's Wives 1923
as Apple Annie
Youth to Youth 1922
as Emily
For the Defense 1922
as Jennie Dunn
Is Matrimony a Failure? 1922
as Mrs. Wilbur
- A Daughter of Luxury
A Daughter of Luxury 1922
as Mary Cosgrove
- Patsy
Patsy 1921
as Patsy
- Heart of Twenty
Heart of Twenty 1920
as Katie Abbott
- Seeing It Through
Seeing It Through 1920
as Betty Lawrence
Poor Relations 1919
as Daisy Perkins
The Other Half 1919
as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
Better Times 1919
as Nancy Scroggs
Men, Women, and Money 1919
as Katie Jones
As the Sun Went Down 1919
as Sal Sue
A Lady's Name 1918
as Emily
The Talk of the Town 1918
Actor
A Society Sensation 1918
as Mary
How Could You, Jean? 1918
as Oscar's Sweetheart
A Modern Musketeer 1917
as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
A Little Princess 1917
as Becky
'49 – '17 1917
as Party Guest (uncredited)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm 1917
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
- His Fatal Beauty
His Fatal Beauty 1917
as Perscilla
- A Desert Dilemma
A Desert Dilemma 1917
Actor
Tillie of the Nine Lives 1917
Actor
- Uneasy Money
Uneasy Money 1917
as Suza - the Editor's Assistant
- Why They Left Home
Why They Left Home 1917
as Mary Mandrake
Credits from TMDB.