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