Zasu Pitts
191 movies · 10 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jan 3, 1894
- Died
- Jun 7, 1963 (age 69)
- Place of birth
- Parsons, Labette County, Kansas, USA
- Also known as
- Zazu Pitts · Eliza Susan Pitts · ZaSu Pitts · Za Su Pitts
Biography
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.
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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).
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Zasu Pitts: movies and TV shows
Acting (201)
- 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
- 1963 The Thrill of It All
as Olivia
- 1961 Teenage Millionaire
as Aunt Theodora
- 1960
- 1959
- 1957
- 1957 This Could Be the Night
as Mrs. Shea
- 1956
- 1955
- 1955
- 1954 Francis Joins the WACS
as Valerie Humpert
- 1953
- 1953
- 1952 Denver and Rio Grande
as Jane Dwyer
- 1950 Francis
as Valerie Humpert
- 1949
- 1948
- 1947 Life with Father
as Cousin Cora Cartwright
- 1947 The Perfect Marriage
as Rosa
- 1946 Breakfast in Hollywood
as Elvira Spriggens
- 1946 Dear Miss Gloria
as Guest star
- 1943 Let's Face It
as Cornelia Pigeon
- 1942 Tish
as Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
- 1942 So's Your Aunt Emma!
as Aunt Emma Bates
- 1942 The Bashful Bachelor
as Geraldine
- 1942 Mexican Spitfire at Sea
as Miss Pepper
- 1941 Weekend for Three
as Anna, Craig's Maid
- 1941 The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
as Emily Pepper
- 1941 Miss Polly
as Pandora Polly
- 1941 Uncle Joe
as Julia Jordan
- 1941 Niagara Falls
as Emmy Sawyer
- 1941 Broadway Limited
as Myra Pottle
- 1940 No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
- 1940 It All Came True
as Miss Flint
- 1939 Eternally Yours
as Mrs. Bingham
- 1939 Nurse Edith Cavell
as Mme. Moulin
- 1939 Mickey the Kid
as Lilly Handy
- 1939 Naughty but Nice
as Aunt Penelope Hardwick
- 1939 The Lady's from Kentucky
as Dulcey Lee
- 1937 52nd Street
as Letitia Rondell
- 1937 Forty Naughty Girls
as Hildegarde Withers
- 1937 Wanted!
as Winnie Oatfield
- 1936 Sing Me a Love Song
as Gwen Logan
- 1936 The Plot Thickens
as Hildegarde Withers
- 1936 Mad Holiday
as Mrs. Fay Kinney
- 1936 13 Hours by Air
as Miss Harkins
- 1935 The Affair of Susan
as Susan Todd
- 1935 Hot Tip
as Belle McGill
- 1935 She Gets Her Man
as Esmeralda
- 1935 Going Highbrow
as Cora Upshaw
- 1935 Spring Tonic
as Maggie Conklin
- 1935 Ruggles of Red Gap
as Mrs. Judson
- 1934 The Gay Bride
as Mirabelle
- 1934 Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
as Miss Hazy
- 1934 Dames
as Matilda Hemingway
- 1934 Their Big Moment
as Tillie Whim
- 1934 Private Scandal
as Miss Coates
- 1934 Love Birds
as Araminta Tootle
- 1934 Sing and Like It
as Annie Snodgrass
- 1934 Three on a Honeymoon
as Alice Mudge
- 1934 Two Alone
as Esthey Roberts
- 1934 The Meanest Gal in Town
as Tillie Prescott
- 1933 Mr. Skitch
as Maddie Skitch
- 1933 Meet the Baron
as Zasu
- 1933 Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
as Sybby 'Sib'
- 1933 Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
as Connie Clark
- 1933
- 1933 Her First Mate
as Mary Horner
- 1933 Professional Sweetheart
as Elmerada
- 1933 One Track Minds
as Zasu Pitts
- 1933 Hello, Sister!
as Millie
- 1933 The Bargain of the Century
as Zasu
- 1933 Out All Night
as Bonny
- 1933 The Vanishing Frontier
as Aunt Sylvia
- 1933 Maids a la Mode
as Miss Pitts
- 1933 Asleep in the Feet
as Zasu
- 1933 They Just Had to Get Married
as Molly Hull
- 1933 She Whoops To Conquer
as Beula
- 1932 Sneak Easily
as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
- 1932 Madison Square Garden
as Florrie
- 1932 The Soilers
as Zasu
- 1932 Once in a Lifetime
as Miss Leyton
- 1932 The Crooked Circle
as Nora Rafferty
- 1932 Alum and Eve
as Zasu
- 1932 Blondie of the Follies
as Gertie
- 1932 Show Business
as Zasu
- 1932 Back Street
as Mrs. Dole
- 1932 Roar of the Dragon
as Gabby Woman
- 1932 Make Me a Star
as Mrs. Scudder
- 1932 Is My Face Red?
as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
- 1932 The Old Bull
as Zasu
- 1932 Westward Passage
as Mrs. Truesdale
- 1932 Strangers of the Evening
as Sybil Smith
- 1932 The Trial of Vivienne Ware
as Gladys Fairweather
- 1932 Strictly Unreliable
as Pitts
- 1932 Destry Rides Again
as Temperance Worker
- 1932 Shopworn
as Aunt Dot
- 1932 Red Noses
as Miss Pitts
- 1932 Steady Company
as Dot
- 1932 Sealskins
as Zasu Pitts
- 1932 Broken Lullaby
as Anna, Holderlin's Maid
- 1932 The Unexpected Father
as Polly Perkins
- 1931 On the Loose
as Zasu
- 1931 The Secret Witness
as Bella
- 1931 War Mamas
as Zasu
- 1931 The Guardsman
as Liesl
- 1931 The Pajama Party
as Zasu
- 1931 Penrod and Sam
as Mrs. Bassett
- 1931 The Big Gamble
as Nora Dugan
- 1931 Catch-As Catch-Can
as ZaSu
- 1931 Their Mad Moment
as Miss Dibbs
- 1931 A Woman of Experience
as Katie
- 1931 Let's Do Things
as Zasu Pitts
- 1931 Seed
as Jennie
- 1931 Beyond Victory
as Fritzi Mobley
- 1931 The Bad Sister
as Minnie
- 1931 Finn and Hattie
as Mrs. Hattie Haddock
- 1930 Passion Flower
as Mrs. Harney
- 1930 Free Love
as Ada, the Maid
- 1930 War Nurse
as Cushie
- 1930 Sin Takes a Holiday
as Annie
- 1930 River's End
as Louise
- 1930 The Lottery Bride
as Hilda
- 1930 Monte Carlo
as Bertha
- 1930 The Squealer
as Bella
- 1930 Little Accident
as Monica
- 1930 The Devil's Holiday
as Ethel
- 1930 Honey
as Mayme
- 1930 No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
- 1929 The Honeymoon
as Caecilia
- 1929 This Thing Called Love
as Clara Bertrand
- 1929 The Locked Door
as Telephone Girl
- 1929 Paris
as Harriet
- 1929 Oh, Yeah!
as The Elk
- 1929 Her Private Life
as Timmins
- 1929 The Argyle Case
as Mrs. Wyatt
- 1929 Twin Beds
as Tillie
- 1929 The Squall
as Lena
- 1929 The Dummy
as Rose Gleason
- 1928 Sins of the Fathers
as Mother Spengler
- 1928 The Wedding March
as Cecelia Schweisser
- 1928 Buck Privates
as Hulda
- 1928 13 Washington Square
as The Maid
- 1928 Wife Savers
as Germaine
- 1927 Casey at the Bat
as Camille
- 1926 Her Big Night
as Gladys Smith
- 1926 Risky Business
as Agnes Wheaton
- 1926 Sunny Side Up
as Evelyn
- 1926 The Great Love
as Nancy
- 1926 Early to Wed
as Mrs. Dugan
- 1926 Monte Carlo
as Hope Durant
- 1926 What Happened to Jones?
as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
- 1926 Mannequin
as Annie Pogani
- 1925 Wages for Wives
as Luella Logan
- 1925 Lazybones
as Ruth Fanning
- 1925 Thunder Mountain
as Mandy Coulter
- 1925 Pretty Ladies
as Maggie Keenan
- 1925 A Woman's Faith
as Blanche Odile
- 1925
- 1925 The Great Divide
as Polly Jordan
- 1925 The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
as Judy
- 1924 Greed
as Trina
- 1924 Secrets of the Night
as Celia Stebbins
- 1924 The Fast Set
as Mona
- 1924 Changing Husbands
as Delia
- 1924 The Goldfish
as Amelia Pugsley
- 1924 Daughters of Today
as Lorena
- 1924 West of the Water Tower
as Dessie Arnhalt
- 1923 Tea- With a Kick!
as 'Brainy' Jones
- 1923 Hollywood
as Zasu Pitts
- 1923 Three Wise Fools
as Mickey
- 1923 Mary of the Movies
as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
- 1923 The Girl Who Came Back
as Anastasia Muldoon
- 1923 Poor Men's Wives
as Apple Annie
- 1922 Youth to Youth
as Emily
- 1922 For the Defense
as Jennie Dunn
- 1922 Is Matrimony a Failure?
as Mrs. Wilbur
- 1922 A Daughter of Luxury
as Mary Cosgrove
- 1921 Patsy
as Patsy
- 1920 Heart of Twenty
as Katie Abbott
- 1920 Seeing It Through
as Betty Lawrence
- 1919 Poor Relations
as Daisy Perkins
- 1919 The Other Half
as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
- 1919 Better Times
as Nancy Scroggs
- 1919 Men, Women, and Money
as Katie Jones
- 1919 As the Sun Went Down
as Sal Sue
- 1918 A Lady's Name
as Emily
- 1918
- 1918 A Society Sensation
as Mary
- 1918 How Could You, Jean?
as Oscar's Sweetheart
- 1917 A Modern Musketeer
as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
- 1917 A Little Princess
as Becky
- 1917 '49 – '17
as Party Guest (uncredited)
- 1917 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
- 1917 His Fatal Beauty
as Perscilla
- 1917
- 1917
- 1917 Uneasy Money
as Suza - the Editor's Assistant
+ 1 more credits
Talk shows and appearances (5)
- 1959
- 1950 What's My Line?
1 episode
- 1934
- 1925
- 1923