Acting · Parsons, Kansas, USA · Born January 2, 1894
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).
MovieThe Big Parade of Comedy
1964
as Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
MovieIt's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
as Gertie - Switchboard Operator
TVBurke's Law
1963
as Mrs. Bowie
MovieThe Thrill of It All
1963
as Olivia
MovieTeenage Millionaire
1961
as Aunt Theodora
TVGuestward, Ho!
1960
TVThe Dennis O'Keefe Show
1959
MovieDisneyland '59
1959
as Self
TVPerry Mason
1957
as Daphne Whilom
MovieThis Could Be the Night
1957
as Mrs. Shea
The Gale Storm Show
1956
TVThe 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
TVScreen Director's Playhouse
1955
as Selma
MovieFrancis Joins the WACS
1954
as Valerie Humpert
TVGeneral Electric Theater
1953
as Aunt Laura
TVPrivate Secretary
1953
MovieDenver and Rio Grande
1952
as Jane Dwyer
MovieFrancis
1950
as Valerie Humpert
TVWhat's My Line?
1950
as Self
MovieLum and Abner
1949
TVThe Philco Television Playhouse
1948
as Belinda Pryde
MovieLife with Father
1947
as Cousin Cora Cartwright
MovieThe Perfect Marriage
1947
as Rosa
MovieBreakfast in Hollywood
1946
as Elvira Spriggens
MovieDear Miss Gloria
1946
as Guest star
MovieLet's Face It
1943
as Cornelia Pigeon
MovieTish
1942
as Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
MovieSo's Your Aunt Emma!
1942
as Aunt Emma Bates
MovieThe Bashful Bachelor
1942
as Geraldine
MovieMexican Spitfire at Sea
1942
as Miss Pepper
MovieWeekend for Three
1941
as Anna, Craig's Maid
MovieThe Mexican Spitfire's Baby
1941
as Emily Pepper
MovieMiss Polly
1941
as Pandora Polly
MovieUncle Joe
1941
as Julia Jordan
MovieNiagara Falls
1941
as Emmy Sawyer
MovieBroadway Limited
1941
as Myra Pottle
MovieNo, No, Nanette
1940
as Pauline Hastings
MovieIt All Came True
1940
as Miss Flint
MovieEternally Yours
1939
as Mrs. Bingham
MovieNurse Edith Cavell
1939
as Mme. Moulin
MovieMickey the Kid
1939
as Lilly Handy
MovieNaughty but Nice
1939
as Aunt Penelope Hardwick
MovieThe Lady's from Kentucky
1939
as Dulcey Lee
Movie52nd Street
1937
as Letitia Rondell
MovieForty Naughty Girls
1937
as Hildegarde Withers
MovieWanted!
1937
as Winnie Oatfield
MovieSing Me a Love Song
1936
as Gwen Logan
MovieThe Plot Thickens
1936
as Hildegarde Withers
MovieMad Holiday
1936
as Mrs. Fay Kinney
Movie13 Hours by Air
1936
as Miss Harkins
MovieThe Affair of Susan
1935
as Susan Todd
MovieHot Tip
1935
as Belle McGill
MovieShe Gets Her Man
1935
as Esmeralda
MovieGoing Highbrow
1935
as Cora Upshaw
MovieSpring Tonic
1935
as Maggie Conklin
MovieRuggles of Red Gap
1935
as Mrs. Judson
MovieThe Gay Bride
1934
as Mirabelle
MovieMrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
1934
as Miss Hazy
MovieDames
1934
as Matilda Hemingway
MovieTheir Big Moment
1934
as Tillie Whim
MoviePrivate Scandal
1934
as Miss Coates
MovieLove Birds
1934
as Araminta Tootle
MovieSing and Like It
1934
as Annie Snodgrass
MovieAnd She Learned About Dames
1934
as Herself
MovieThree on a Honeymoon
1934
as Alice Mudge
MovieTwo Alone
1934
as Esthey Roberts
MovieThe Meanest Gal in Town
1934
as Tillie Prescott
MovieMr. Skitch
1933
as Maddie Skitch
MovieMeet the Baron
1933
as Zasu
MovieAggie Appleby, Maker of Men
1933
as Sybby 'Sib'
MovieLove, Honor and Oh, Baby!
1933
as Connie Clark
MovieHer First Mate
1933
as Mary Horner
MovieProfessional Sweetheart
1933
as Elmerada
MovieOne Track Minds
1933
as Zasu Pitts
MovieHello, Sister!
1933
as Millie
MovieThe Bargain of the Century
1933
as Zasu
MovieOut All Night
1933
as Bonny
MovieThe Vanishing Frontier
1933
as Aunt Sylvia
MovieMaids a la Mode
1933
as Miss Pitts
MovieAsleep in the Feet
1933
as Zasu
MovieThey Just Had to Get Married
1933
as Molly Hull
MovieShe Whoops To Conquer
1933
as Beula
Mother's Helper
1933
MovieSneak Easily
1932
as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
MovieMadison Square Garden
1932
as Florrie
MovieThe Soilers
1932
as Zasu
MovieOnce in a Lifetime
1932
as Miss Leyton
MovieThe Crooked Circle
1932
as Nora Rafferty
MovieAlum and Eve
1932
as Zasu
MovieBlondie of the Follies
1932
as Gertie
MovieShow Business
1932
as Zasu
MovieBack Street
1932
as Mrs. Dole
MovieRoar of the Dragon
1932
as Gabby Woman
MovieMake Me a Star
1932
as Mrs. Scudder
MovieIs My Face Red?
1932
as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
MovieThe Old Bull
1932
as Zasu
MovieWestward Passage
1932
as Mrs. Truesdale
MovieStrangers of the Evening
1932
as Sybil Smith
MovieThe Trial of Vivienne Ware
1932
as Gladys Fairweather
MovieStrictly Unreliable
1932
as Pitts
MovieDestry Rides Again
1932
as Temperance Worker
MovieShopworn
1932
as Aunt Dot
MovieRed Noses
1932
as Miss Pitts
MovieSteady Company
1932
as Dot
MovieSealskins
1932
as Zasu Pitts
MovieBroken Lullaby
1932
as Anna, Holderlin's Maid
MovieThe Unexpected Father
1932
as Polly Perkins
MovieOn the Loose
1931
as Zasu
MovieThe Secret Witness
1931
as Bella
MovieWar Mamas
1931
as Zasu
MovieThe Guardsman
1931
as Liesl
MovieThe Pajama Party
1931
as Zasu
MoviePenrod and Sam
1931
as Mrs. Bassett
MovieThe Big Gamble
1931
as Nora Dugan
MovieCatch-As Catch-Can
1931
as ZaSu
MovieTheir Mad Moment
1931
as Miss Dibbs
MovieA Woman of Experience
1931
as Katie
MovieLet's Do Things
1931
as Zasu Pitts
MovieSeed
1931
as Jennie
MovieBeyond Victory
1931
as Fritzi Mobley
MovieThe Bad Sister
1931
as Minnie
MovieFinn and Hattie
1931
as Mrs. Hattie Haddock
MoviePassion Flower
1930
as Mrs. Harney
MovieFree Love
1930
as Ada, the Maid
MovieWar Nurse
1930
as Cushie
MovieSin Takes a Holiday
1930
as Annie
MovieRiver's End
1930
as Louise
MovieThe Lottery Bride
1930
as Hilda
MovieMonte Carlo
1930
as Bertha
MovieThe Squealer
1930
as Bella
MovieLittle Accident
1930
as Monica
MovieThe Devil's Holiday
1930
as Ethel
MovieHoney
1930
as Mayme
MovieNo, No, Nanette
1930
as Pauline Hastings
MovieThe Honeymoon
1929
as Caecilia
MovieThis Thing Called Love
1929
as Clara Bertrand
MovieThe Locked Door
1929
as Telephone Girl
MovieParis
1929
as Harriet
MovieOh, Yeah!
1929
as The Elk
MovieHer Private Life
1929
as Timmins
MovieThe Argyle Case
1929
as Mrs. Wyatt
MovieTwin Beds
1929
as Tillie
MovieThe Squall
1929
as Lena
MovieThe Dummy
1929
as Rose Gleason
MovieSins of the Fathers
1928
as Mother Spengler
MovieThe Wedding March
1928
as Cecelia Schweisser
MovieBuck Privates
1928
as Hulda
Movie13 Washington Square
1928
as The Maid
MovieWife Savers
1928
as Germaine
MovieCasey at the Bat
1927
as Camille
MovieHer Big Night
1926
as Gladys Smith
MovieRisky Business
1926
as Agnes Wheaton
MovieSunny Side Up
1926
as Evelyn
MovieThe Great Love
1926
as Nancy
MovieEarly to Wed
1926
as Mrs. Dugan
MovieMonte Carlo
1926
as Hope Durant
MovieWhat Happened to Jones?
1926
as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
MovieMannequin
1926
as Annie Pogani
MovieWages for Wives
1925
as Luella Logan
MovieLazybones
1925
as Ruth Fanning
MovieThunder Mountain
1925
as Mandy Coulter
MoviePretty Ladies
1925
as Maggie Keenan
A Woman's Faith
1925
as Blanche Odile
Movie1925 Studio Tour
1925
as Self
Old Shoes
1925
MovieThe Great Divide
1925
as Polly Jordan
MovieThe Re-Creation of Brian Kent
1925
as Judy
MovieGreed
1924
as Trina
MovieSecrets of the Night
1924
as Celia Stebbins
MovieThe Fast Set
1924
as Mona
MovieChanging Husbands
1924
as Delia
MovieThe Goldfish
1924
as Amelia Pugsley
MovieDaughters of Today
1924
as Lorena
MovieWest of the Water Tower
1924
as Dessie Arnhalt
MovieTea- With a Kick!
1923
as 'Brainy' Jones
MovieHollywood
1923
as Zasu Pitts
MovieThree Wise Fools
1923
as Mickey
MovieMary of the Movies
1923
as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
MovieSouls for Sale
1923
as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary
MovieThe Girl Who Came Back
1923
as Anastasia Muldoon
MoviePoor Men's Wives
1923
as Apple Annie
MovieYouth to Youth
1922
as Emily
MovieFor the Defense
1922
as Jennie Dunn
MovieIs Matrimony a Failure?
1922
as Mrs. Wilbur
A Daughter of Luxury
1922
as Mary Cosgrove
Patsy
1921
as Patsy
Heart of Twenty
1920
as Katie Abbott
Seeing It Through
1920
as Betty Lawrence
MoviePoor Relations
1919
as Daisy Perkins
MovieThe Other Half
1919
as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
MovieBetter Times
1919
as Nancy Scroggs
MovieMen, Women, and Money
1919
as Katie Jones
MovieAs the Sun Went Down
1919
as Sal Sue
MovieA Lady's Name
1918
as Emily
MovieThe Talk of the Town
1918
MovieA Society Sensation
1918
as Mary
MovieHow Could You, Jean?
1918
as Oscar's Sweetheart
MovieA Modern Musketeer
1917
as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
MovieA Little Princess
1917
as Becky
Movie'49–'17
1917
as Party Guest (uncredited)
MovieRebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
1917
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
His Fatal Beauty
1917
as Perscilla
A Desert Dilemma
1917
MovieTillie of the Nine Lives
1917
Uneasy Money
1917
as Suza - the Editor's Assistant
Why They Left Home
1917
as Mary Mandrake
