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 (181)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Gertie - Switchboard Operator
The Thrill of It All
Olivia
Life with Father
Cousin Cora Cartwright
Greed
Trina
Broken Lullaby
Anna, Holderlin's Maid
Francis
Valerie Humpert
The Bad Sister
Minnie
Ruggles of Red Gap
Mrs. Judson
The Perfect Marriage
Rosa
Love Birds
Araminta Tootle
It All Came True
Miss Flint
This Could Be the Night
Mrs. Shea
Casey at the Bat
Camille
No, No, Nanette
Pauline Hastings
Blondie of the Follies
Gertie
A Woman of Experience
Katie
The Big Gamble
Nora Dugan
The Devil's Holiday
Ethel
The Gay Bride
Mirabelle
Westward Passage
Mrs. Truesdale
Maids a la Mode
Miss Pitts
Shopworn
Aunt Dot
Let's Face It
Cornelia Pigeon
The Plot Thickens
Hildegarde Withers
Sing and Like It
Annie Snodgrass
Mr. Skitch
Maddie Skitch
Back Street
Mrs. Dole
On the Loose
Zasu
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
Gladys Fairweather
13 Hours by Air
Miss Harkins
The Crooked Circle
Nora Rafferty
Her First Mate
Mary Horner
Dames
Matilda Hemingway
She Whoops To Conquer
Beula
Hello, Sister!
Millie
Denver and Rio Grande
Jane Dwyer
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
Emily Pepper
Passion Flower
Mrs. Harney
So's Your Aunt Emma!
Aunt Emma Bates
Sins of the Fathers
Mother Spengler
Make Me a Star
Mrs. Scudder
The Meanest Gal in Town
Tillie Prescott
Professional Sweetheart
Elmerada
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
Sybby 'Sib'
The Affair of Susan
Susan Todd
Sing Me a Love Song
Gwen Logan
Oh, Yeah!
The Elk
The Big Parade of Comedy
Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
Forty Naughty Girls
Hildegarde Withers
Free Love
Ada, the Maid
Buck Privates
Hulda
Nurse Edith Cavell
Mme. Moulin
The Lady's from Kentucky
Dulcey Lee
Meet the Baron
Zasu
The Locked Door
Telephone Girl
Three Wise Fools
Mickey
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Secrets of the Night
Celia Stebbins
Is My Face Red?
Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
Seed
Jennie
The Girl Who Came Back
Anastasia Muldoon
Sin Takes a Holiday
Annie
The Squealer
Bella
Francis Joins the WACS
Valerie Humpert
Two Alone
Esthey Roberts
A Little Princess
Becky
Mannequin
Annie Pogani
Tea- With a Kick!
'Brainy' Jones
Eternally Yours
Mrs. Bingham
Wife Savers
Germaine
Is Matrimony a Failure?
Mrs. Wilbur
Hollywood
Zasu Pitts
Breakfast in Hollywood
Elvira Spriggens
Let's Do Things
Zasu Pitts
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
Connie Clark
Mickey the Kid
Lilly Handy
What Happened to Jones?
Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
Roar of the Dragon
Gabby Woman
She Gets Her Man
Esmeralda
Naughty but Nice
Aunt Penelope Hardwick
Beyond Victory
Fritzi Mobley
How Could You, Jean?
Oscar's Sweetheart
A Lady's Name
Emily
Spring Tonic
Maggie Conklin
Weekend for Three
Anna, Craig's Maid
The Pajama Party
Zasu
Private Scandal
Miss Coates
Their Big Moment
Tillie Whim
Hot Tip
Belle McGill
Twin Beds
Tillie
Once in a Lifetime
Miss Leyton
Show Business
Zasu
They Just Had to Get Married
Molly Hull
The Bashful Bachelor
Geraldine
Poor Men's Wives
Apple Annie
Sneak Easily
Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
Penrod and Sam
Mrs. Bassett
The Squall
Lena
War Mamas
Zasu
Strangers of the Evening
Sybil Smith
This Thing Called Love
Clara Bertrand
Mad Holiday
Mrs. Fay Kinney
Changing Husbands
Delia
Honey
Mayme
Thunder Mountain
Mandy Coulter
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Miss Hazy
Niagara Falls
Emmy Sawyer
Her Private Life
Timmins
Tish
Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
The Old Bull
Zasu
Three on a Honeymoon
Alice Mudge
The Other Half
Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
Wanted!
Winnie Oatfield
Mary of the Movies
Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
The Goldfish
Amelia Pugsley
Early to Wed
Mrs. Dugan
Tillie of the Nine Lives
1917
Pretty Ladies
Maggie Keenan
As the Sun Went Down
Sal Sue
The Bargain of the Century
Zasu
The Great Love
Nancy
A Modern Musketeer
A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
'49 – '17
Party Guest (uncredited)
Catch-As Catch-Can
ZaSu
One Track Minds
Zasu Pitts
For the Defense
Jennie Dunn
The Wedding March
Cecelia Schweisser
Monte Carlo
Bertha
Wages for Wives
Luella Logan
The Soilers
Zasu
Asleep in the Feet
Zasu
Mexican Spitfire at Sea
Miss Pepper
Men, Women, and Money
Katie Jones
Red Noses
Miss Pitts
War Nurse
Cushie
Strictly Unreliable
Pitts
Daughters of Today
Lorena
The Unexpected Father
Polly Perkins
Their Mad Moment
Miss Dibbs
Risky Business
Agnes Wheaton
Little Accident
Monica
Miss Polly
Pandora Polly
No, No, Nanette
Pauline Hastings
Uncle Joe
Julia Jordan
The Talk of the Town
1918
Sealskins
Zasu Pitts
Youth to Youth
Emily
Going Highbrow
Cora Upshaw
The Guardsman
Liesl
Madison Square Garden
Florrie
The Secret Witness
Bella
Destry Rides Again
Temperance Worker
The Fast Set
Mona
Her Big Night
Gladys Smith
Better Times
Nancy Scroggs
The Lottery Bride
Hilda
Paris
Harriet
Finn and Hattie
Mrs. Hattie Haddock
A Society Sensation
Mary
West of the Water Tower
Dessie Arnhalt
The Honeymoon
Caecilia
River's End
Louise
The Dummy
Rose Gleason
Teenage Millionaire
Aunt Theodora
Broadway Limited
Myra Pottle
Out All Night
Bonny
The Vanishing Frontier
Aunt Sylvia
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
Judy
Dear Miss Gloria
Guest star
Monte Carlo
Hope Durant
52nd Street
Letitia Rondell
The Great Divide
Polly Jordan
Steady Company
Dot
Alum and Eve
Zasu
Mother's Helper
1933
13 Washington Square
The Maid
The Argyle Case
Mrs. Wyatt
Lazybones
Ruth Fanning
Lum and Abner
1949
Sunny Side Up
Evelyn
Poor Relations
Daisy Perkins
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
Screen Director's Playhouse
Selma · 1 eps
The Gale Storm Show
126 eps
Guestward, Ho!
1 eps
Private Secretary
1 eps
The Dennis O'Keefe Show
1 eps
General Electric Theater
Aunt Laura · 1 eps
