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