Acting
Zasu Pitts
EN cinema · 196 credits
Born
3 January 1894
Died
7 June 1963 (aged 69)
Birthplace
Parsons, Labette County, Kansas, USA
Also known as Zazu Pitts · Eliza Susan Pitts · ZaSu Pitts · Za Su Pitts
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
Filmography
The Big Parade of Comedy
as Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
The Thrill of It All
as Olivia
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
as Gertie - Switchboard Operator
Teenage Millionaire
as Aunt Theodora
Disneyland '59
as Self
This Could Be the Night
as Mrs. Shea
Francis Joins the WACS
as Valerie Humpert
Denver and Rio Grande
as Jane Dwyer
Francis
as Valerie Humpert
Life with Father
as Cousin Cora Cartwright
Dear Miss Gloria
as Guest star
Breakfast in Hollywood
as Elvira Spriggens
Let's Face It
as Cornelia Pigeon
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)
Niagara Falls
as Emmy Sawyer
Broadway Limited
as Myra Pottle
Uncle Joe
as Julia Jordan
Weekend for Three
as Anna, Craig's Maid
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
as Emily Pepper
Miss Polly
as Pandora Polly
It All Came True
as Miss Flint
No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
Eternally Yours
as Mrs. Bingham
Nurse Edith Cavell
as Mme. Moulin
Naughty but Nice
as Aunt Penelope Hardwick
Mickey the Kid
as Lilly Handy
The Lady's from Kentucky
as Dulcey Lee
52nd Street
as Letitia Rondell
Forty Naughty Girls
as Hildegarde Withers
Wanted!
as Winnie Oatfield
The Plot Thickens
as Hildegarde Withers
Mad Holiday
as Mrs. Fay Kinney
13 Hours by Air
as Miss Harkins
Sing Me a Love Song
as Gwen Logan
Ruggles of Red Gap
as Mrs. Judson
Going Highbrow
as Cora Upshaw
Spring Tonic
as Maggie Conklin
The Affair of Susan
as Susan Todd
She Gets Her Man
as Esmeralda
Hot Tip
as Belle McGill
Dames
as Matilda Hemingway
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
as Miss Hazy
Sing and Like It
as Annie Snodgrass
The Gay Bride
as Mirabelle
The Meanest Gal in Town
as Tillie Prescott
Two Alone
as Esthey Roberts
Their Big Moment
as Tillie Whim
Private Scandal
as Miss Coates
Love Birds
as Araminta Tootle
Three on a Honeymoon
as Alice Mudge
And She Learned About Dames
as Herself
Meet the Baron
as Zasu
Professional Sweetheart
as Elmerada
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
as Sybby 'Sib'
Mr. Skitch
as Maddie Skitch
Hello, Sister!
as Millie
Her First Mate
as Mary Horner
Maids a la Mode
as Miss Pitts
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
as Connie Clark
The Vanishing Frontier
as Aunt Sylvia
Out All Night
as Bonny
One Track Minds
as Zasu Pitts
They Just Had to Get Married
as Molly Hull
Blondie of the Follies
as Gertie
Once in a Lifetime
as Miss Leyton
Shopworn
as Aunt Dot
Strangers of the Evening
as Sybil Smith
The Crooked Circle
as Nora Rafferty
Make Me a Star
as Mrs. Scudder
Westward Passage
as Mrs. Truesdale
Destry Rides Again
as Temperance Worker
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
as Gladys Fairweather
Is My Face Red?
as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
Roar of the Dragon
as Gabby Woman
Sealskins
as Zasu Pitts
Show Business
as Zasu
Madison Square Garden
as Florrie
Red Noses
as Miss Pitts
The Soilers
as Zasu
The Old Bull
as Zasu
Strictly Unreliable
as Pitts
Sneak Easily
as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
Alum and Eve
as Zasu
Broken Lullaby
as Anna, Holderlin's Maid
Back Street
as Mrs. Dole
The Unexpected Father
as Polly Perkins
The Big Gamble
as Nora Dugan
On the Loose
as Zasu
The Guardsman
as Liesl
The Bad Sister
as Minnie
Seed
as Jennie
Finn and Hattie
as Mrs. Hattie Haddock
Beyond Victory
as Fritzi Mobley
Penrod and Sam
as Mrs. Bassett
War Mamas
as Zasu
The Pajama Party
as Zasu
Let's Do Things
as Zasu Pitts
The Secret Witness
as Bella
Their Mad Moment
as Miss Dibbs
The Squealer
as Bella
Monte Carlo
as Bertha
The Lottery Bride
as Hilda
Sin Takes a Holiday
as Annie
Passion Flower
as Mrs. Harney
River's End
as Louise
The Devil's Holiday
as Ethel
No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
War Nurse
as Cushie
Honey
as Mayme
Little Accident
as Monica
Free Love
as Ada, the Maid
The Honeymoon
as Caecilia
The Dummy
as Rose Gleason
The Locked Door
as Telephone Girl
Oh, Yeah!
as The Elk
The Squall
as Lena
The Argyle Case
as Mrs. Wyatt
Twin Beds
as Tillie
Paris
as Harriet
This Thing Called Love
as Clara Bertrand
Her Private Life
as Timmins
13 Washington Square
as The Maid
Wife Savers
as Germaine
The Wedding March
as Cecelia Schweisser
Buck Privates
as Hulda
Sins of the Fathers
as Mother Spengler
Casey at the Bat
as Camille
What Happened to Jones?
as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
Risky Business
as Agnes Wheaton
The Great Love
as Nancy
Monte Carlo
as Hope Durant
Mannequin
as Annie Pogani
Sunny Side Up
as Evelyn
Early to Wed
as Mrs. Dugan
Her Big Night
as Gladys Smith
Thunder Mountain
as Mandy Coulter
Pretty Ladies
as Maggie Keenan
Lazybones
as Ruth Fanning
1925 Studio Tour
as Self
The Great Divide
as Polly Jordan
Wages for Wives
as Luella Logan
A Woman's Faith
1925
A Woman's Faith
as Blanche Odile
Greed
as Trina
Changing Husbands
as Delia
The Fast Set
as Mona
Secrets of the Night
as Celia Stebbins
The Goldfish
as Amelia Pugsley
West of the Water Tower
as Dessie Arnhalt
Daughters of Today
as Lorena
Hollywood
as Zasu Pitts
Three Wise Fools
as Mickey
Souls for Sale
as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary
Mary of the Movies
as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
Tea- With a Kick!
as 'Brainy' Jones
Poor Men's Wives
as Apple Annie
The Girl Who Came Back
as Anastasia Muldoon
A Daughter of Luxury
1922
A Daughter of Luxury
as Mary Cosgrove
For the Defense
as Jennie Dunn
Is Matrimony a Failure?
as Mrs. Wilbur
Youth to Youth
as Emily
Patsy
1921
Patsy
as Patsy
Heart of Twenty
1920
Heart of Twenty
as Katie Abbott
Seeing It Through
1920
Seeing It Through
as Betty Lawrence
The Other Half
as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
Better Times
as Nancy Scroggs
Men, Women, and Money
as Katie Jones
Poor Relations
as Daisy Perkins
As the Sun Went Down
as Sal Sue
How Could You, Jean?
as Oscar's Sweetheart
A Lady's Name
as Emily
A Little Princess
as Becky
A Modern Musketeer
as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
'49 – '17
as Party Guest (uncredited)
Uneasy Money
1917
Uneasy Money
as Suza - the Editor's Assistant
Why They Left Home
1917
Why They Left Home
as Mary Mandrake