Zasu Pitts
Born: 1894-01-02 in Parsons, Kansas, USA
Died: 1963-06-07
Known For: Acting
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).
Filmography
1964
- The Big Parade of Comedy as Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
1963
- Burke's Law as Mrs. Bowie
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World as Gertie - Switchboard Operator
- The Thrill of It All as Olivia
1961
- Teenage Millionaire as Aunt Theodora
1960
1959
1957
- Perry Mason as Daphne Whilom
- This Could Be the Night as Mrs. Shea
1956
1955
1954
- Francis Joins the WACS as Valerie Humpert
1953
- Private Secretary
- General Electric Theater as Aunt Laura
1952
- Denver and Rio Grande as Jane Dwyer
1950
- What's My Line? as Self
- Francis as Valerie Humpert
1949
1948
- The Philco Television Playhouse as Belinda Pryde
1947
- Life with Father as Cousin Cora Cartwright
- The Perfect Marriage as Rosa
1946
- Breakfast in Hollywood as Elvira Spriggens
- Dear Miss Gloria as Guest star
1943
- Let's Face It as Cornelia Pigeon
1942
- Tish as Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
- The Bashful Bachelor as Geraldine
- Mexican Spitfire at Sea as Miss Pepper
- So's Your Aunt Emma! as Aunt Emma Bates
1941
- Uncle Joe as Julia Jordan
- Niagara Falls as Emmy Sawyer
- The Mexican Spitfire's Baby as Emily Pepper
- Miss Polly as Pandora Polly
- Weekend for Three as Anna, Craig's Maid
- Broadway Limited as Myra Pottle
1940
- It All Came True as Miss Flint
- No, No, Nanette as Pauline Hastings
1939
- Eternally Yours as Cary Bingham
- Nurse Edith Cavell as Mme. Moulin
- Mickey the Kid as Lilly Handy
- Naughty But Nice as Aunt Penelope Hardwick
- The Lady's from Kentucky as Dulcey Lee
1937
- 52nd Street as Letitia Rondell
- Wanted! as Winnie Oatfield
- Forty Naughty Girls as Hildegarde Withers
1936
- The Plot Thickens as Hildegarde Withers
- 13 Hours by Air as Miss Harkins
- Sing Me a Love Song as Gwen Logan
- Mad Holiday as Mrs. Fay Kinney
1935
- Going Highbrow as Cora Upshaw
- Spring Tonic as Maggie Conklin
- Hot Tip as Belle McGill
- Ruggles of Red Gap as Mrs. Judson
- She Gets Her Man as Esmeralda
- The Affair of Susan as Susan Todd
1934
- Sing and Like It as Annie Snodgrass
- Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch as Miss Hazy
- Dames as Matilda Hemingway
- Three on a Honeymoon as Alice Mudge
- Their Big Moment as Tillie Whim
- The Gay Bride as Mirabelle
- The Meanest Gal in Town as Tillie Prescott
- Private Scandal as Miss Coates
- Love Birds as Araminta Tootle
- And She Learned About Dames as Herself
- Two Alone as Esthey Roberts
1933
- Professional Sweetheart as Elmerada
- Hello, Sister! as Millie
- Mr. Skitch as Maddie Skitch
- Meet the Baron as Zasu
- The Vanishing Frontier as Aunt Sylvia
- Asleep in the Feet as Zasu
- One Track Minds as Zasu Pitts
- The Bargain of the Century as Zasu
- Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men as Sybby 'Sib'
- Maids a la Mode as Miss Pitts
- Her First Mate as Mary Horner
- They Just Had to Get Married as Molly Hull
- Out All Night as Bonny
- Mother's Helper
- Love, Honor and Oh, Baby! as Connie Clark
- She Whoops To Conquer as Beula
1932
- Broken Lullaby as Anna, Holderlin's Maid
- Sneak Easily as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
- Back Street as Mrs. Dole
- Make Me a Star as Mrs. Scudder
- Sealskins as Zasu Pitts
- Red Noses as Miss Pitts
- Steady Company as Dot
- The Trial of Vivienne Ware as Gladys Fairweather
- Westward Passage as Mrs. Truesdale
- Madison Square Garden as Florrie
- Shopworn as Aunt Dot
- Destry Rides Again as Temperance Worker
- Blondie of the Follies as Gertie
- The Crooked Circle as Nora Rafferty
- Roar of the Dragon as Gabby Woman
- Show Business as Zasu
- Is My Face Red? as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
- Once in a Lifetime as Miss Leyton
- The Unexpected Father as Polly Perkins
- Strictly Unreliable as Pitts
- Alum and Eve as Zasu
- Strangers of the Evening as Sybil Smith
- The Soilers as Zasu
- The Old Bull as Zasu
1931
- The Guardsman as Liesl
- Seed as Jennie
- The Bad Sister as Minnie
- Beyond Victory as Fritzi Mobley
- The Big Gamble as Nora Dugan
- The Secret Witness as Bella
- Finn and Hattie as Mrs. Hattie Haddock
- Their Mad Moment as Miss Dibbs
- Penrod and Sam as Mrs. Bassett
- On the Loose as Zasu
- Let's Do Things as Zasu Pitts
- A Woman of Experience as Katie
- The Pajama Party as Zasu
- War Mamas as Zasu
- Catch-As Catch-Can as ZaSu
1930
- The Squealer as Bella
- Monte Carlo as Bertha
- Honey as Mayme
- Passion Flower as Mrs. Harney
- The Devil's Holiday as Ethel
- Sin Takes a Holiday as Annie
- No, No, Nanette as Pauline Hastings
- River's End as Louise
- The Lottery Bride as Hilda
- Free Love as Ada, the Maid
- Little Accident as Monica
- War Nurse as Cushie
1929
- The Honeymoon as Caecilia
- The Dummy as Rose Gleason
- Paris as Harriet
- The Squall as Lena
- Oh, Yeah! as The Elk
- The Argyle Case as Mrs. Wyatt
- This Thing Called Love as Clara Bertrand
- The Locked Door as Telephone Girl
- Twin Beds as Tillie
- Her Private Life as Timmins
1928
- Buck Privates as Hulda
- Sins of the Fathers as Mother Spengler
- The Wedding March as Cecelia Schweisser
- 13 Washington Square as The Maid
- Wife Savers as Germaine
1927
- Casey at the Bat as Camille
1926
- Risky Business as Agnes Wheaton
- Monte Carlo as Hope Durant
- Early to Wed as Mrs. Dugan
- Mannequin as Annie Pogani
- What Happened to Jones? as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
- Sunny Side Up as Evelyn
- Her Big Night as Gladys Smith
- The Great Love as Nancy
1925
- Lazybones as Ruth Fanning
- Thunder Mountain as Mandy Coulter
- Pretty Ladies as Maggie Keenan
- 1925 Studio Tour as Self
- The Re-Creation of Brian Kent as Judy
- Wages for Wives as Luella Logan
- The Great Divide as Polly Jordan
- Old Shoes
1924
- The Goldfish as Amelia Pugsley
- Changing Husbands as Delia
- Greed as Trina
- Secrets of the Night as Celia Stebbins
- West of the Water Tower as Dessie Arnhalt
- The Fast Set as Mona
- Daughters of Today as Lorena
1923
- Hollywood as Zasu Pitts
- Three Wise Fools as Mickey
- Mary of the Movies as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
- Souls for Sale as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary
- Poor Men's Wives as Apple Annie
- Tea- With a Kick! as 'Brainy' Jones
1922
- A Daughter of Luxury as Mary Cosgrove
- Is Matrimony a Failure? as Mrs. Wilbur
- For the Defense as Jennie Dunn
1921
- Patsy as Patsy
1920
- Seeing It Through as Betty Lawrence
- Heart of Twenty as Katie Abbott
1919
- Better Times as Nancy Scroggs
- As the Sun Went Down as Sal Sue
- Men, Women, and Money as Katie Jones
- The Other Half as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
- Poor Relations as Daisy Perkins
1918
- How Could You, Jean? as Oscar's Sweetheart
- The Talk of the Town
- A Lady's Name as Emily
- A Society Sensation as Mary
1917
- A Little Princess as Becky
- A Modern Musketeer as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
- Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
- Uneasy Money as Suza - the Editor's Assistant
- '49–'17 as Party Guest (uncredited)
- A Desert Dilemma
- Why They Left Home
- Tillie of the Nine Lives
- His Fatal Beauty as Perscilla