FMovies Logo
Zasu Pitts
Zasu Pitts

Zasu Pitts

ActingBorn January 2, 1894Died June 7, 1963 (age 69)Parsons, Kansas, USA

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

1964
The Big Parade of Comedy

as Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)

Movie
1963
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

as Gertie - Switchboard Operator

Movie
1963
Burke's Law

as Mrs. Bowie

TV
1963Movie
1961
Teenage Millionaire

as Aunt Theodora

Movie
1959Movie
1957
Perry Mason

as Daphne Whilom

TV
1957Movie
1954
Francis Joins the WACS

as Valerie Humpert

Movie
1953TV
1952Movie
1950
Francis

as Valerie Humpert

Movie
1950TV
1949Movie
1948TV
1947
Life with Father

as Cousin Cora Cartwright

Movie
1947Movie
1946
Breakfast in Hollywood

as Elvira Spriggens

Movie
1946
Dear Miss Gloria

as Guest star

Movie
1943
Let's Face It

as Cornelia Pigeon

Movie
1942
Tish

as Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)

Movie
1942
So's Your Aunt Emma!

as Aunt Emma Bates

Movie
1942Movie
1942Movie
1941
Weekend for Three

as Anna, Craig's Maid

Movie
1941Movie
1941
Miss Polly

as Pandora Polly

Movie
1941
Uncle Joe

as Julia Jordan

Movie
1941
Niagara Falls

as Emmy Sawyer

Movie
1941
Broadway Limited

as Myra Pottle

Movie
1940
No, No, Nanette

as Pauline Hastings

Movie
1940
It All Came True

as Miss Flint

Movie
1939
Eternally Yours

as Cary Bingham

Movie
1939
Nurse Edith Cavell

as Mme. Moulin

Movie
1939
Mickey the Kid

as Lilly Handy

Movie
1939
Naughty But Nice

as Aunt Penelope Hardwick

Movie
1939Movie
1937
52nd Street

as Letitia Rondell

Movie
1937
Forty Naughty Girls

as Hildegarde Withers

Movie
1937
Wanted!

as Winnie Oatfield

Movie
1936
Sing Me a Love Song

as Gwen Logan

Movie
1936
The Plot Thickens

as Hildegarde Withers

Movie
1936
Mad Holiday

as Mrs. Fay Kinney

Movie
1936
13 Hours by Air

as Miss Harkins

Movie
1935
The Affair of Susan

as Susan Todd

Movie
1935
Hot Tip

as Belle McGill

Movie
1935
She Gets Her Man

as Esmeralda

Movie
1935
Going Highbrow

as Cora Upshaw

Movie
1935
Spring Tonic

as Maggie Conklin

Movie
1935
Ruggles of Red Gap

as Mrs. Judson

Movie
1934
The Gay Bride

as Mirabelle

Movie
1934Movie
1934
Dames

as Matilda Hemingway

Movie
1934
Their Big Moment

as Tillie Whim

Movie
1934
Private Scandal

as Miss Coates

Movie
1934
Love Birds

as Araminta Tootle

Movie
1934
Sing and Like It

as Annie Snodgrass

Movie
1934Movie
1934
Three on a Honeymoon

as Alice Mudge

Movie
1934
Two Alone

as Esthey Roberts

Movie
1934
The Meanest Gal in Town

as Tillie Prescott

Movie
1933
Mr. Skitch

as Maddie Skitch

Movie
1933Movie
1933Movie
1933Movie
1933
Her First Mate

as Mary Horner

Movie
1933Movie
1933
One Track Minds

as Zasu Pitts

Movie
1933Movie
1933Movie
1933Movie
1933
Maids a la Mode

as Miss Pitts

Movie
1933Movie
1933Movie
1933Movie
1932
Sneak Easily

as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury

Movie
1932Movie
1932Movie
1932
Once in a Lifetime

as Miss Leyton

Movie
1932
The Crooked Circle

as Nora Rafferty

Movie
1932Movie
1932Movie
1932Movie
1932
Back Street

as Mrs. Dole

Movie
1932
Roar of the Dragon

as Gabby Woman

Movie
1932
Make Me a Star

as Mrs. Scudder

Movie
1932
Is My Face Red?

as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator

Movie
1932Movie
1932
Westward Passage

as Mrs. Truesdale

Movie
1932Movie
1932
The Trial of Vivienne Ware

as Gladys Fairweather

Movie
1932Movie
1932
Destry Rides Again

as Temperance Worker

Movie
1932
Shopworn

as Aunt Dot

Movie
1932
Red Noses

as Miss Pitts

Movie
1932Movie
1932
Sealskins

as Zasu Pitts

Movie
1932
Broken Lullaby

as Anna, Holderlin's Maid

Movie
1932
The Unexpected Father

as Polly Perkins

Movie
1931Movie
1931Movie
1931
War Mamas

as Zasu

Movie
1931Movie
1931Movie
1931
Penrod and Sam

as Mrs. Bassett

Movie
1931
The Big Gamble

as Nora Dugan

Movie
1931Movie
1931
Their Mad Moment

as Miss Dibbs

Movie
1931Movie
1931
Let's Do Things

as Zasu Pitts

Movie
1931
Seed

as Jennie

Movie
1931
Beyond Victory

as Fritzi Mobley

Movie
1931Movie
1931
Finn and Hattie

as Mrs. Hattie Haddock

Movie
1930
Passion Flower

as Mrs. Harney

Movie
1930
Free Love

as Ada, the Maid

Movie
1930
War Nurse

as Cushie

Movie
1930Movie
1930
River's End

as Louise

Movie
1930Movie
1930
Monte Carlo

as Bertha

Movie
1930
The Squealer

as Bella

Movie
1930Movie
1930Movie
1930
Honey

as Mayme

Movie
1930
No, No, Nanette

as Pauline Hastings

Movie
1929
The Honeymoon

as Caecilia

Movie
1929
This Thing Called Love

as Clara Bertrand

Movie
1929
The Locked Door

as Telephone Girl

Movie
1929
Paris

as Harriet

Movie
1929
Oh, Yeah!

as The Elk

Movie
1929Movie
1929
The Argyle Case

as Mrs. Wyatt

Movie
1929
Twin Beds

as Tillie

Movie
1929
The Squall

as Lena

Movie
1929
The Dummy

as Rose Gleason

Movie
1928
Sins of the Fathers

as Mother Spengler

Movie
1928
The Wedding March

as Cecelia Schweisser

Movie
1928Movie
1928Movie
1928
Wife Savers

as Germaine

Movie
1927Movie
1926
Her Big Night

as Gladys Smith

Movie
1926
Risky Business

as Agnes Wheaton

Movie
1926
Sunny Side Up

as Evelyn

Movie
1926Movie
1926
Early to Wed

as Mrs. Dugan

Movie
1926
Monte Carlo

as Hope Durant

Movie
1926
What Happened to Jones?

as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)

Movie
1926
Mannequin

as Annie Pogani

Movie
1925
Wages for Wives

as Luella Logan

Movie
1925
Lazybones

as Ruth Fanning

Movie
1925
Thunder Mountain

as Mandy Coulter

Movie
1925
Pretty Ladies

as Maggie Keenan

Movie
1925
A Woman's Faith

as Blanche Odile

Movie
1925Movie
1925Movie
1925
The Great Divide

as Polly Jordan

Movie
1924
Greed

as Trina

Movie
1924
Secrets of the Night

as Celia Stebbins

Movie
1924Movie
1924Movie
1924
The Goldfish

as Amelia Pugsley

Movie
1924Movie
1924
West of the Water Tower

as Dessie Arnhalt

Movie
1923
Tea- With a Kick!

as 'Brainy' Jones

Movie
1923
Hollywood

as Zasu Pitts

Movie
1923Movie
1923
Mary of the Movies

as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)

Movie
1923
Souls for Sale

as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary

Movie
1923
The Girl Who Came Back

as Anastasia Muldoon

Movie
1923
Poor Men's Wives

as Apple Annie

Movie
1922Movie
1922
For the Defense

as Jennie Dunn

Movie
1922Movie
1922
A Daughter of Luxury

as Mary Cosgrove

Movie
1921
Patsy

as Patsy

Movie
1920
Heart of Twenty

as Katie Abbott

Movie
1920
Seeing It Through

as Betty Lawrence

Movie
1919
Poor Relations

as Daisy Perkins

Movie
1919
The Other Half

as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid

Movie
1919
Better Times

as Nancy Scroggs

Movie
1919
Men, Women, and Money

as Katie Jones

Movie
1919Movie
1918Movie
1918Movie
1918
How Could You, Jean?

as Oscar's Sweetheart

Movie
1917
A Modern Musketeer

as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)

Movie
1917Movie
1917
'49–'17

as Party Guest (uncredited)

Movie
1917
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

as Undetermined Role (uncredited)

Movie
1917
His Fatal Beauty

as Perscilla

Movie
1917
Uneasy Money

as Suza - the Editor's Assistant

Movie
1917
Why They Left Home

as Mary Mandrake

Movie

Personal Info

DepartmentActing
BirthdayJanuary 2, 1894
Day of DeathJune 7, 1963
Place of BirthParsons, Kansas, USA
Popularity0.6