Zasu Pitts
Acting • Born 1894-01-02 – Died 1963-06-07
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
206 credits
Greed
Movie • 1924
Trina
Blondie of the Follies
Movie • 1932
Gertie
The Thrill of It All
Movie • 1963
Olivia
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Movie • 1963
Gertie - Switchboard Operator
Thunder Mountain
Movie • 1925
Mandy Coulter
13 Washington Square
Movie • 1928
The Maid
The Squealer
Movie • 1930
Bella
Ruggles of Red Gap
Movie • 1935
Mrs. Judson
Life with Father
Movie • 1947
Cousin Cora Cartwright
The Talk of the Town
Movie • 1918
Francis
Movie • 1950
Valerie Humpert
The Big Gamble
Movie • 1931
Nora Dugan
52nd Street
Movie • 1937
Letitia Rondell
Dames
Movie • 1934
Matilda Hemingway
The Honeymoon
Movie • 1929
Caecilia
The Dummy
Movie • 1929
Rose Gleason
Patsy
Movie • 1921
Patsy
Wife Savers
Movie • 1928
Germaine
It All Came True
Movie • 1940
Miss Flint
The Locked Door
Movie • 1929
Telephone Girl
Dear Miss Gloria
Movie • 1946
Guest star
On the Loose
Movie • 1931
Zasu
Oh, Yeah!
Movie • 1929
The Elk
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Movie • 1934
Miss Hazy
Changing Husbands
Movie • 1924
Delia
Eternally Yours
Movie • 1939
Cary Bingham
The Guardsman
Movie • 1931
Liesl
What Happened to Jones?
Movie • 1926
Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
This Could Be the Night
Movie • 1957
Mrs. Shea
The Plot Thickens
Movie • 1936
Hildegarde Withers
Once in a Lifetime
Movie • 1932
Miss Leyton
Shopworn
Movie • 1932
Aunt Dot
Hollywood
Movie • 1923
Zasu Pitts
Monte Carlo
Movie • 1930
Bertha
The Bad Sister
Movie • 1931
Minnie
Strangers of the Evening
Movie • 1932
Sybil Smith
The Crooked Circle
Movie • 1932
Nora Rafferty
Forty Naughty Girls
Movie • 1937
Hildegarde Withers
Mad Holiday
Movie • 1936
Mrs. Fay Kinney
A Little Princess
Movie • 1917
Becky
Meet the Baron
Movie • 1933
Zasu
So's Your Aunt Emma!
Movie • 1942
Aunt Emma Bates
Make Me a Star
Movie • 1932
Mrs. Scudder
Going Highbrow
Movie • 1935
Cora Upshaw
Denver and Rio Grande
Movie • 1952
Jane Dwyer
The Bashful Bachelor
Movie • 1942
Geraldine
Niagara Falls
Movie • 1941
Emmy Sawyer
Broadway Limited
Movie • 1941
Myra Pottle
The Lottery Bride
Movie • 1930
Hilda
Sin Takes a Holiday
Movie • 1930
Annie
Westward Passage
Movie • 1932
Mrs. Truesdale
Pretty Ladies
Movie • 1925
Maggie Keenan
The Squall
Movie • 1929
Lena
Passion Flower
Movie • 1930
Mrs. Harney
Sing and Like It
Movie • 1934
Annie Snodgrass
Let's Face It
Movie • 1943
Cornelia Pigeon
Spring Tonic
Movie • 1935
Maggie Conklin
Mexican Spitfire at Sea
Movie • 1942
Miss Pepper
The Gay Bride
Movie • 1934
Mirabelle
Professional Sweetheart
Movie • 1933
Elmerada
Seed
Movie • 1931
Jennie
Teenage Millionaire
Movie • 1961
Aunt Theodora
Uncle Joe
Movie • 1941
Julia Jordan
Destry Rides Again
Movie • 1932
Temperance Worker
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
Movie • 1933
Sybby 'Sib'
Weekend for Three
Movie • 1941
Anna, Craig's Maid
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
Movie • 1941
Emily Pepper
Mr. Skitch
Movie • 1933
Maddie Skitch
13 Hours by Air
Movie • 1936
Miss Harkins
The Meanest Gal in Town
Movie • 1934
Tillie Prescott
Nurse Edith Cavell
Movie • 1939
Mme. Moulin
Two Alone
Movie • 1934
Esthey Roberts
River's End
Movie • 1930
Louise
The Devil's Holiday
Movie • 1930
Ethel
Finn and Hattie
Movie • 1931
Mrs. Hattie Haddock
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
Movie • 1932
Gladys Fairweather
Is My Face Red?
Movie • 1932
Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
Hello, Sister!
Movie • 1933
Millie
Her First Mate
Movie • 1933
Mary Horner
Roar of the Dragon
Movie • 1932
Gabby Woman
The Bargain of the Century
Movie • 1933
Zasu
The Fast Set
Movie • 1924
Mona
Sealskins
Movie • 1932
Zasu Pitts
Asleep in the Feet
Movie • 1933
Zasu
Show Business
Movie • 1932
Zasu
Risky Business
Movie • 1926
Agnes Wheaton
Beyond Victory
Movie • 1931
Fritzi Mobley
Madison Square Garden
Movie • 1932
Florrie
Steady Company
Movie • 1932
Dot
Catch-As Catch-Can
Movie • 1931
ZaSu
Casey at the Bat
Movie • 1927
Camille
Red Noses
Movie • 1932
Miss Pitts
Penrod and Sam
Movie • 1931
Mrs. Bassett
Lazybones
Movie • 1925
Ruth Fanning
A Woman of Experience
Movie • 1931
Katie
Tish
Movie • 1942
Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
Maids a la Mode
Movie • 1933
Miss Pitts
The Affair of Susan
Movie • 1935
Susan Todd
Sing Me a Love Song
Movie • 1936
Gwen Logan
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
Movie • 1933
Connie Clark
The Other Half
Movie • 1919
Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
The Vanishing Frontier
Movie • 1933
Aunt Sylvia
How Could You, Jean?
Movie • 1918
Oscar's Sweetheart
Three Wise Fools
Movie • 1923
Mickey
The Great Love
Movie • 1926
Nancy
Souls for Sale
Movie • 1923
Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary
A Modern Musketeer
Movie • 1917
A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
Out All Night
Movie • 1933
Bonny
A Daughter of Luxury
Movie • 1922
Mary Cosgrove
War Mamas
Movie • 1931
Zasu
The Soilers
Movie • 1932
Zasu
The Pajama Party
Movie • 1931
Zasu
The Old Bull
Movie • 1932
Zasu
Strictly Unreliable
Movie • 1932
Pitts
Sneak Easily
Movie • 1932
Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
Let's Do Things
Movie • 1931
Zasu Pitts
One Track Minds
Movie • 1933
Zasu Pitts
Alum and Eve
Movie • 1932
Zasu
The Wedding March
Movie • 1928
Cecelia Schweisser
A Society Sensation
Movie • 1918
Mary
She Gets Her Man
Movie • 1935
Esmeralda
The Secret Witness
Movie • 1931
Bella
Naughty But Nice
Movie • 1939
Aunt Penelope Hardwick
Their Big Moment
Movie • 1934
Tillie Whim
No, No, Nanette
Movie • 1930
Pauline Hastings
Miss Polly
Movie • 1941
Pandora Polly
War Nurse
Movie • 1930
Cushie
Monte Carlo
Movie • 1926
Hope Durant
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Movie • 1917
Undetermined Role (uncredited)
'49–'17
Movie • 1917
Party Guest (uncredited)
Heart of Twenty
Movie • 1920
Katie Abbott
Mickey the Kid
Movie • 1939
Lilly Handy
Private Scandal
Movie • 1934
Miss Coates
The Argyle Case
Movie • 1929
Mrs. Wyatt
A Lady's Name
Movie • 1918
Emily
Broken Lullaby
Movie • 1932
Anna, Holderlin's Maid
Breakfast in Hollywood
Movie • 1946
Elvira Spriggens
Their Mad Moment
Movie • 1931
Miss Dibbs
Back Street
Movie • 1932
Mrs. Dole
Twin Beds
Movie • 1929
Tillie
Love Birds
Movie • 1934
Araminta Tootle
Hot Tip
Movie • 1935
Belle McGill
Francis Joins the WACS
Movie • 1954
Valerie Humpert
Secrets of the Night
Movie • 1924
Celia Stebbins
No, No, Nanette
Movie • 1940
Pauline Hastings
She Whoops To Conquer
Movie • 1933
Beula
1925 Studio Tour
Movie • 1925
Self
Honey
Movie • 1930
Mayme
Three on a Honeymoon
Movie • 1934
Alice Mudge
Mannequin
Movie • 1926
Annie Pogani
Little Accident
Movie • 1930
Monica
And She Learned About Dames
Movie • 1934
Herself
The Lady's from Kentucky
Movie • 1939
Dulcey Lee
The Perfect Marriage
Movie • 1947
Rosa
The Great Divide
Movie • 1925
Polly Jordan
Free Love
Movie • 1930
Ada, the Maid
Paris
Movie • 1929
Harriet
Buck Privates
Movie • 1928
Hulda
Old Shoes
Movie • 1925
For the Defense
Movie • 1922
Jennie Dunn
The Big Parade of Comedy
Movie • 1964
Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
They Just Had to Get Married
Movie • 1933
Molly Hull
This Thing Called Love
Movie • 1929
Clara Bertrand
Wanted!
Movie • 1937
Winnie Oatfield
Her Private Life
Movie • 1929
Timmins
Mary of the Movies
Movie • 1923
Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
Better Times
Movie • 1919
Nancy Scroggs
Tea- With a Kick!
Movie • 1923
'Brainy' Jones
Poor Men's Wives
Movie • 1923
Apple Annie
Sunny Side Up
Movie • 1926
Evelyn
Disneyland '59
Movie • 1959
Self
The Goldfish
Movie • 1924
Amelia Pugsley
Sins of the Fathers
Movie • 1928
Mother Spengler
The Unexpected Father
Movie • 1932
Polly Perkins
Lum and Abner
Movie • 1949
Seeing It Through
Movie • 1920
Betty Lawrence
Early to Wed
Movie • 1926
Mrs. Dugan
Wages for Wives
Movie • 1925
Luella Logan
Uneasy Money
Movie • 1917
Suza - the Editor's Assistant
Tillie of the Nine Lives
Movie • 1917
West of the Water Tower
Movie • 1924
Dessie Arnhalt
Men, Women, and Money
Movie • 1919
Katie Jones
Her Big Night
Movie • 1926
Gladys Smith
A Desert Dilemma
Movie • 1917
His Fatal Beauty
Movie • 1917
Perscilla
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
Movie • 1925
Judy
Poor Relations
Movie • 1919
Daisy Perkins
As the Sun Went Down
Movie • 1919
Sal Sue
Mother's Helper
Movie • 1933
Why They Left Home
Movie • 1917
Mary Mandrake
Daughters of Today
Movie • 1924
Lorena
Is Matrimony a Failure?
Movie • 1922
Mrs. Wilbur
Youth to Youth
Movie • 1922
Emily
A Woman's Faith
Movie • 1925
Blanche Odile
The Girl Who Came Back
Movie • 1923
Anastasia Muldoon
Burke's Law
TV • 1963
Mrs. Bowie
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Daphne Whilom
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Aunt Laura
The 20th Century Fox Hour
TV • 1955
Private Secretary
TV • 1953
The Gale Storm Show
TV • 1956
The Philco Television Playhouse
TV • 1948
Belinda Pryde
Guestward, Ho!
TV • 1960
The Dennis O'Keefe Show
TV • 1959
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self
Screen Director's Playhouse
TV • 1955
Selma