Zasu Pitts
Acting
Born: January 3, 1894 · Parsons, Labette County, Kansas, USA
Died: June 7, 1963 (aged 69)
Highest Rated
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. 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).
Known for
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
Greed
1924
Perry Mason
1957
The Thrill of It All
1963
Ruggles of Red Gap
1935
Life with Father
1947
The Wedding March
1928
Broken Lullaby
1932
Dames
1934
What's My Line?
1950
Francis
1950
The Bad Sister
1931
Photos (3)
Movies (180)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Gertie - Switchboard Operator
Greed
Trina
Passion Flower
Mrs. Harney
Love Birds
Araminta Tootle
The Thrill of It All
Olivia
Shopworn
Aunt Dot
Life with Father
Cousin Cora Cartwright
Little Accident
Monica
Professional Sweetheart
Elmerada
Blondie of the Follies
Gertie
Broken Lullaby
Anna, Holderlin's Maid
Denver and Rio Grande
Jane Dwyer
Mr. Skitch
Maddie Skitch
Westward Passage
Mrs. Truesdale
Hello, Sister!
Millie
Francis
Valerie Humpert
Hot Tip
Belle McGill
Private Scandal
Miss Coates
The Bad Sister
Minnie
The Locked Door
Telephone Girl
For the Defense
Jennie Dunn
Buck Privates
Hulda
Ruggles of Red Gap
Mrs. Judson
Hollywood
Zasu Pitts
The Big Parade of Comedy
Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
The Gay Bride
Mirabelle
Wife Savers
Germaine
Eternally Yours
Mrs. Bingham
Back Street
Mrs. Dole
Nurse Edith Cavell
Mme. Moulin
It All Came True
Miss Flint
The Goldfish
Amelia Pugsley
Meet the Baron
Zasu
Naughty but Nice
Aunt Penelope Hardwick
The Unexpected Father
Polly Perkins
Niagara Falls
Emmy Sawyer
So's Your Aunt Emma!
Aunt Emma Bates
Breakfast in Hollywood
Elvira Spriggens
Her Private Life
Timmins
No, No, Nanette
Pauline Hastings
Mexican Spitfire at Sea
Miss Pepper
Forty Naughty Girls
Hildegarde Withers
Mad Holiday
Mrs. Fay Kinney
Alum and Eve
Zasu
Oh, Yeah!
The Elk
Strangers of the Evening
Sybil Smith
Let's Face It
Cornelia Pigeon
Out All Night
Bonny
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
Sybby 'Sib'
Sins of the Fathers
Mother Spengler
Sin Takes a Holiday
Annie
The Wedding March
Cecelia Schweisser
Mannequin
Annie Pogani
The Big Gamble
Nora Dugan
Three on a Honeymoon
Alice Mudge
No, No, Nanette
Pauline Hastings
Two Alone
Esthey Roberts
'49–'17
Party Guest (uncredited)
Miss Polly
Pandora Polly
Monte Carlo
Bertha
War Mamas
Zasu
Her First Mate
Mary Horner
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
Emily Pepper
A Woman of Experience
Katie
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
Connie Clark
Madison Square Garden
Florrie
Broadway Limited
Myra Pottle
This Could Be the Night
Mrs. Shea
Dames
Matilda Hemingway
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Miss Hazy
The Bashful Bachelor
Geraldine
Wages for Wives
Luella Logan
The Girl Who Came Back
Anastasia Muldoon
Make Me a Star
Mrs. Scudder
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Undetermined Role (uncredited)
The Guardsman
Liesl
Sing Me a Love Song
Gwen Logan
Sunny Side Up
Evelyn
The Pajama Party
Zasu
Pretty Ladies
Maggie Keenan
She Gets Her Man
Esmeralda
The Lottery Bride
Hilda
The Squall
Lena
Monte Carlo
Hope Durant
War Nurse
Cushie
The Devil's Holiday
Ethel
Roar of the Dragon
Gabby Woman
A Modern Musketeer
A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
Three Wise Fools
Mickey
The Perfect Marriage
Rosa
Twin Beds
Tillie
Youth to Youth
Emily
Uncle Joe
Julia Jordan
Spring Tonic
Maggie Conklin
Sing and Like It
Annie Snodgrass
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
Gladys Fairweather
The Meanest Gal in Town
Tillie Prescott
The Plot Thickens
Hildegarde Withers
Steady Company
Dot
Penrod and Sam
Mrs. Bassett
Finn and Hattie
Mrs. Hattie Haddock
13 Hours by Air
Miss Harkins
The Honeymoon
Caecilia
Changing Husbands
Delia
Teenage Millionaire
Aunt Theodora
Tea- With a Kick!
'Brainy' Jones
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
Judy
Better Times
Nancy Scroggs
Casey at the Bat
Camille
The Dummy
Rose Gleason
Asleep in the Feet
Zasu
Seed
Jennie
They Just Had to Get Married
Molly Hull
Tish
Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
The Squealer
Bella
The Fast Set
Mona
What Happened to Jones?
Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
Francis Joins the WACS
Valerie Humpert
The Great Divide
Polly Jordan
Strictly Unreliable
Pitts
Risky Business
Agnes Wheaton
Is My Face Red?
Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
Once in a Lifetime
Miss Leyton
A Society Sensation
Mary
The Crooked Circle
Nora Rafferty
Free Love
Ada, the Maid
Catch-As Catch-Can
ZaSu
The Lady's from Kentucky
Dulcey Lee
Weekend for Three
Anna, Craig's Maid
The Vanishing Frontier
Aunt Sylvia
A Lady's Name
Emily
Their Mad Moment
Miss Dibbs
Dear Miss Gloria
Guest star
The Soilers
Zasu
Their Big Moment
Tillie Whim
Daughters of Today
Lorena
The Old Bull
Zasu
Mickey the Kid
Lilly Handy
Beyond Victory
Fritzi Mobley
The Other Half
Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
A Little Princess
Becky
52nd Street
Letitia Rondell
One Track Minds
Zasu Pitts
Sealskins
Zasu Pitts
Going Highbrow
Cora Upshaw
River's End
Louise
Tillie of the Nine Lives
1917
Secrets of the Night
Celia Stebbins
On the Loose
Zasu
The Secret Witness
Bella
Paris
Harriet
The Affair of Susan
Susan Todd
How Could You, Jean?
Oscar's Sweetheart
She Whoops To Conquer
Beula
This Thing Called Love
Clara Bertrand
Let's Do Things
Zasu Pitts
Lazybones
Ruth Fanning
Destry Rides Again
Temperance Worker
Early to Wed
Mrs. Dugan
Red Noses
Miss Pitts
Thunder Mountain
Mandy Coulter
Mary of the Movies
Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
Poor Men's Wives
Apple Annie
Maids a la Mode
Miss Pitts
As the Sun Went Down
Sal Sue
Her Big Night
Gladys Smith
Sneak Easily
Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
Show Business
Zasu
Is Matrimony a Failure?
Mrs. Wilbur
Poor Relations
Daisy Perkins
West of the Water Tower
Dessie Arnhalt
Lum and Abner
1949
Honey
Mayme
13 Washington Square
The Maid
Men, Women, and Money
Katie Jones
Wanted!
Winnie Oatfield
The Argyle Case
Mrs. Wyatt
The Bargain of the Century
Zasu
The Talk of the Town
1918
The Great Love
Nancy
TV Shows (10)
Perry Mason
Daphne Whilom · 1 eps
The Philco Television Playhouse
Belinda Pryde · 1 eps
Burke's Law
Mrs. Bowie · 1 eps
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1 eps
The Gale Storm Show
126 eps
Screen Director's Playhouse
Selma · 1 eps
Guestward, Ho!
1 eps
Private Secretary
1 eps
General Electric Theater
Aunt Laura · 1 eps
The Dennis O'Keefe Show
1 eps
