Zasu Pitts

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).

Known For

Perry Mason

The Philco Television Playhouse

What's My Line?

Burke's Law

The 20th Century Fox Hour

Screen Director's Playhouse

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

General Electric Theater

All Movies (195)

• The Big Parade of Comedy1964 · as Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World1963 · as Gertie - Switchboard Operator
• The Thrill of It All1963 · as Olivia
• Teenage Millionaire1961 · as Aunt Theodora
• Disneyland '591959 · as Self
• This Could Be the Night1957 · as Mrs. Shea
• Francis Joins the WACS1954 · as Valerie Humpert
• Denver and Rio Grande1952 · as Jane Dwyer
• Francis1950 · as Valerie Humpert
• Lum and Abner1949
• Life with Father1947 · as Cousin Cora Cartwright
• The Perfect Marriage1947 · as Rosa
• Breakfast in Hollywood1946 · as Elvira Spriggens
• Dear Miss Gloria1946 · as Guest star
• Let's Face It1943 · as Cornelia Pigeon
• Tish1942 · as Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
• So's Your Aunt Emma!1942 · as Aunt Emma Bates
• The Bashful Bachelor1942 · as Geraldine
• Mexican Spitfire at Sea1942 · as Miss Pepper
• Weekend for Three1941 · as Anna, Craig's Maid
• The Mexican Spitfire's Baby1941 · as Emily Pepper
• Miss Polly1941 · as Pandora Polly
• Uncle Joe1941 · as Julia Jordan
• Niagara Falls1941 · as Emmy Sawyer
• Broadway Limited1941 · as Myra Pottle
• No, No, Nanette1940 · as Pauline Hastings
• It All Came True1940 · as Miss Flint
• Eternally Yours1939 · as Cary Bingham
• Nurse Edith Cavell1939 · as Mme. Moulin
• Mickey the Kid1939 · as Lilly Handy
• Naughty But Nice1939 · as Aunt Penelope Hardwick
• The Lady's from Kentucky1939 · as Dulcey Lee
• 52nd Street1937 · as Letitia Rondell
• Forty Naughty Girls1937 · as Hildegarde Withers
• Wanted!1937 · as Winnie Oatfield
• Sing Me a Love Song1936 · as Gwen Logan
• The Plot Thickens1936 · as Hildegarde Withers
• Mad Holiday1936 · as Mrs. Fay Kinney
• 13 Hours by Air1936 · as Miss Harkins
• The Affair of Susan1935 · as Susan Todd
• Hot Tip1935 · as Belle McGill
• She Gets Her Man1935 · as Esmeralda
• Going Highbrow1935 · as Cora Upshaw
• Spring Tonic1935 · as Maggie Conklin
• Ruggles of Red Gap1935 · as Mrs. Judson
• The Gay Bride1934 · as Mirabelle
• Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch1934 · as Miss Hazy
• Dames1934 · as Matilda Hemingway
• Their Big Moment1934 · as Tillie Whim
• Private Scandal1934 · as Miss Coates
• Love Birds1934 · as Araminta Tootle
• Sing and Like It1934 · as Annie Snodgrass
• And She Learned About Dames1934 · as Herself
• Three on a Honeymoon1934 · as Alice Mudge
• Two Alone1934 · as Esthey Roberts
• The Meanest Gal in Town1934 · as Tillie Prescott
• Mr. Skitch1933 · as Maddie Skitch
• Meet the Baron1933 · as Zasu
• Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men1933 · as Sybby 'Sib'
• Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!1933 · as Connie Clark
• Her First Mate1933 · as Mary Horner
• Professional Sweetheart1933 · as Elmerada
• One Track Minds1933 · as Zasu Pitts
• Hello, Sister!1933 · as Millie
• The Bargain of the Century1933 · as Zasu
• Out All Night1933 · as Bonny
• The Vanishing Frontier1933 · as Aunt Sylvia
• Maids a la Mode1933 · as Miss Pitts
• Asleep in the Feet1933 · as Zasu
• They Just Had to Get Married1933 · as Molly Hull
• She Whoops To Conquer1933 · as Beula
• Mother's Helper1933
• Sneak Easily1932 · as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
• Madison Square Garden1932 · as Florrie
• The Soilers1932 · as Zasu
• Once in a Lifetime1932 · as Miss Leyton
• The Crooked Circle1932 · as Nora Rafferty
• Alum and Eve1932 · as Zasu
• Blondie of the Follies1932 · as Gertie
• Show Business1932 · as Zasu
• Back Street1932 · as Mrs. Dole
• Roar of the Dragon1932 · as Gabby Woman
• Make Me a Star1932 · as Mrs. Scudder
• Is My Face Red?1932 · as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
• The Old Bull1932 · as Zasu
• Westward Passage1932 · as Mrs. Truesdale
• Strangers of the Evening1932 · as Sybil Smith
• The Trial of Vivienne Ware1932 · as Gladys Fairweather
• Strictly Unreliable1932 · as Pitts
• Destry Rides Again1932 · as Temperance Worker
• Shopworn1932 · as Aunt Dot
• Red Noses1932 · as Miss Pitts
• Steady Company1932 · as Dot
• Sealskins1932 · as Zasu Pitts
• Broken Lullaby1932 · as Anna, Holderlin's Maid
• The Unexpected Father1932 · as Polly Perkins
• On the Loose1931 · as Zasu
• The Secret Witness1931 · as Bella
• War Mamas1931 · as Zasu
• The Guardsman1931 · as Liesl
• The Pajama Party1931 · as Zasu
• Penrod and Sam1931 · as Mrs. Bassett
• The Big Gamble1931 · as Nora Dugan
• Catch-As Catch-Can1931 · as ZaSu
• Their Mad Moment1931 · as Miss Dibbs
• A Woman of Experience1931 · as Katie
• Let's Do Things1931 · as Zasu Pitts
• Seed1931 · as Jennie
• Beyond Victory1931 · as Fritzi Mobley
• The Bad Sister1931 · as Minnie
• Finn and Hattie1931 · as Mrs. Hattie Haddock
• Passion Flower1930 · as Mrs. Harney
• Free Love1930 · as Ada, the Maid
• War Nurse1930 · as Cushie
• Sin Takes a Holiday1930 · as Annie
• River's End1930 · as Louise
• The Lottery Bride1930 · as Hilda
• Monte Carlo1930 · as Bertha
• The Squealer1930 · as Bella
• Little Accident1930 · as Monica
• The Devil's Holiday1930 · as Ethel
• Honey1930 · as Mayme
• No, No, Nanette1930 · as Pauline Hastings
• The Honeymoon1929 · as Caecilia
• This Thing Called Love1929 · as Clara Bertrand
• The Locked Door1929 · as Telephone Girl
• Paris1929 · as Harriet
• Oh, Yeah!1929 · as The Elk
• Her Private Life1929 · as Timmins
• The Argyle Case1929 · as Mrs. Wyatt
• Twin Beds1929 · as Tillie
• The Squall1929 · as Lena
• The Dummy1929 · as Rose Gleason
• Sins of the Fathers1928 · as Mother Spengler
• The Wedding March1928 · as Cecelia Schweisser
• Buck Privates1928 · as Hulda
• 13 Washington Square1928 · as The Maid
• Wife Savers1928 · as Germaine
• Casey at the Bat1927 · as Camille
• Her Big Night1926 · as Gladys Smith
• Risky Business1926 · as Agnes Wheaton
• Sunny Side Up1926 · as Evelyn
• The Great Love1926 · as Nancy
• Early to Wed1926 · as Mrs. Dugan
• Monte Carlo1926 · as Hope Durant
• What Happened to Jones?1926 · as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
• Mannequin1926 · as Annie Pogani
• Wages for Wives1925 · as Luella Logan
• Lazybones1925 · as Ruth Fanning
• Thunder Mountain1925 · as Mandy Coulter
• Pretty Ladies1925 · as Maggie Keenan
• A Woman's Faith1925 · as Blanche Odile
• 1925 Studio Tour1925 · as Self
• Old Shoes1925
• The Great Divide1925 · as Polly Jordan
• The Re-Creation of Brian Kent1925 · as Judy
• Greed1924 · as Trina
• Secrets of the Night1924 · as Celia Stebbins
• The Fast Set1924 · as Mona
• Changing Husbands1924 · as Delia
• The Goldfish1924 · as Amelia Pugsley
• Daughters of Today1924 · as Lorena
• West of the Water Tower1924 · as Dessie Arnhalt
• Tea- With a Kick!1923 · as 'Brainy' Jones
• Hollywood1923 · as Zasu Pitts
• Three Wise Fools1923 · as Mickey
• Mary of the Movies1923 · as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
• Souls for Sale1923 · as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary
• The Girl Who Came Back1923 · as Anastasia Muldoon
• Poor Men's Wives1923 · as Apple Annie
• Youth to Youth1922 · as Emily
• For the Defense1922 · as Jennie Dunn
• Is Matrimony a Failure?1922 · as Mrs. Wilbur
• A Daughter of Luxury1922 · as Mary Cosgrove
• Patsy1921 · as Patsy
• Heart of Twenty1920 · as Katie Abbott
• Seeing It Through1920 · as Betty Lawrence
• Poor Relations1919 · as Daisy Perkins
• The Other Half1919 · as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
• Better Times1919 · as Nancy Scroggs
• Men, Women, and Money1919 · as Katie Jones
• As the Sun Went Down1919 · as Sal Sue
• A Lady's Name1918 · as Emily
• The Talk of the Town1918
• A Society Sensation1918 · as Mary
• How Could You, Jean?1918 · as Oscar's Sweetheart
• A Modern Musketeer1917 · as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
• A Little Princess1917 · as Becky
• '49–'171917 · as Party Guest (uncredited)
• Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm1917 · as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
• His Fatal Beauty1917 · as Perscilla
• A Desert Dilemma1917
• Tillie of the Nine Lives1917
• Uneasy Money1917 · as Suza - the Editor's Assistant
• Why They Left Home1917 · as Mary Mandrake

All TV Shows (11)

• Burke's Law1963 · as Mrs. Bowie
• Guestward, Ho!1960
• The Dennis O'Keefe Show1959
• Perry Mason1957 · as Daphne Whilom
• The Gale Storm Show1956
• The 20th Century Fox Hour1955
• Screen Director's Playhouse1955 · as Selma
• General Electric Theater1953 · as Aunt Laura
• Private Secretary1953
• What's My Line?1950 · as Self
• The Philco Television Playhouse1948 · as Belinda Pryde