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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
January 2, 1894
Died
June 7, 1963
Place of Birth
Parsons, Kansas, USA
Also Known As
- Zazu Pitts
- Eliza Susan Pitts
- ZaSu Pitts
- Za Su Pitts
Zasu Pitts
0.5 Popularity
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
6.3
Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
7.0
Gertie - Switchboard Operator
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
6.0
Mrs. Bowie
Burke's Law
1963
7.0
Olivia
The Thrill of It All
1963
4.5
Aunt Theodora
Teenage Millionaire
1961
4.0
Guestward, Ho!
1960
5.0
The Dennis O'Keefe Show
1959
6.5
Self
Disneyland '59
1959
7.7
Daphne Whilom
Perry Mason
1957
5.6
Mrs. Shea
This Could Be the Night
1957
Credits
The Big Parade of Comedy
as Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
1964
6.3
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
as Gertie - Switchboard Operator
1963
7.0
Burke's Law
as Mrs. Bowie
1963
6.0
The Thrill of It All
as Olivia
1963
7.0
Teenage Millionaire
as Aunt Theodora
1961
4.5
Guestward, Ho!
1960
4.0
The Dennis O'Keefe Show
1959
5.0
Disneyland '59
as Self
1959
6.5
Perry Mason
as Daphne Whilom
1957
7.7
This Could Be the Night
as Mrs. Shea
1957
5.6
🎬
The Gale Storm Show
1956
5.5
The Silent Partner
as Selma
1955
6.0
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
5.4
Screen Director's Playhouse
as Selma
1955
6.5
Francis Joins the WACS
as Valerie Humpert
1954
5.8
🎬
Private Secretary
1953
5.0
General Electric Theater
as Aunt Laura
1953
6.3
Denver and Rio Grande
as Jane Dwyer
1952
5.5
Francis
as Valerie Humpert
1950
5.5
What's My Line?
as Self
1950
6.9
🎬
Lum and Abner
1949
0.0
The Philco Television Playhouse
as Belinda Pryde
1948
6.3
Life with Father
as Cousin Cora Cartwright
1947
6.6
The Perfect Marriage
as Rosa
1947
4.0
Breakfast in Hollywood
as Elvira Spriggens
1946
5.0
Dear Miss Gloria
as Guest star
1946
0.0
Let's Face It
as Cornelia Pigeon
1943
4.5
Tish
as Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
1942
5.7
So's Your Aunt Emma!
as Aunt Emma Bates
1942
6.5
The Bashful Bachelor
as Geraldine
1942
4.5
Mexican Spitfire at Sea
as Miss Pepper
1942
3.0
Weekend for Three
as Anna, Craig's Maid
1941
5.7
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
as Emily Pepper
1941
4.3
Miss Polly
as Pandora Polly
1941
5.0
Uncle Joe
as Julia Jordan
1941
6.0
Niagara Falls
as Emmy Sawyer
1941
6.8
Broadway Limited
as Myra Pottle
1941
4.6
No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
1940
6.0
It All Came True
as Miss Flint
1940
5.8
Eternally Yours
as Cary Bingham
1939
5.7
Nurse Edith Cavell
as Mme. Moulin
1939
6.4
Mickey the Kid
as Lilly Handy
1939
0.0
Naughty But Nice
as Aunt Penelope Hardwick
1939
6.2
The Lady's from Kentucky
as Dulcey Lee
1939
0.0
52nd Street
as Letitia Rondell
1937
0.0
Forty Naughty Girls
as Hildegarde Withers
1937
5.2
Wanted!
as Winnie Oatfield
1937
0.0
Sing Me a Love Song
as Gwen Logan
1936
0.0
The Plot Thickens
as Hildegarde Withers
1936
6.2
Mad Holiday
as Mrs. Fay Kinney
1936
6.0
13 Hours by Air
as Miss Harkins
1936
4.3
The Affair of Susan
as Susan Todd
1935
0.0
Hot Tip
as Belle McGill
1935
5.0
She Gets Her Man
as Esmeralda
1935
0.0
Going Highbrow
as Cora Upshaw
1935
6.0
Spring Tonic
as Maggie Conklin
1935
5.3
Ruggles of Red Gap
as Mrs. Judson
1935
7.1
The Gay Bride
as Mirabelle
1934
5.8
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
as Miss Hazy
1934
6.0
Dames
as Matilda Hemingway
1934
6.4
Their Big Moment
as Tillie Whim
1934
4.5
Private Scandal
as Miss Coates
1934
0.0
Love Birds
as Araminta Tootle
1934
6.0
Sing and Like It
as Annie Snodgrass
1934
4.3
And She Learned About Dames
as Herself
1934
6.0
Three on a Honeymoon
as Alice Mudge
1934
0.0
Two Alone
as Esthey Roberts
1934
7.0
The Meanest Gal in Town
as Tillie Prescott
1934
6.5
Mr. Skitch
as Maddie Skitch
1933
6.0
Meet the Baron
as Zasu
1933
4.3
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
as Sybby 'Sib'
1933
7.2
🎬
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
as Connie Clark
1933
0.0
Her First Mate
as Mary Horner
1933
0.0
Professional Sweetheart
as Elmerada de Leon
1933
5.0
One Track Minds
as Zasu Pitts
1933
0.0
Hello, Sister!
as Millie
1933
6.2
Out All Night
as Bonny
1933
6.0
The Bargain of the Century
as Zasu
1933
1.5
The Vanishing Frontier
as Aunt Sylvia
1933
0.0
Maids a la Mode
as Miss Pitts
1933
0.0
Asleep in the Feet
as Zasu
1933
1.0
They Just Had to Get Married
as Molly Hull
1933
0.0
She Whoops To Conquer
as Beula
1933
0.0
Sneak Easily
as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
1932
0.0
Madison Square Garden
as Florrie
1932
6.2
The Soilers
as Zasu
1932
6.2
Once in a Lifetime
as Miss Leyton
1932
7.0
The Crooked Circle
as Nora Rafferty
1932
4.8
Alum and Eve
as Zasu
1932
7.0
Blondie of the Follies
as Gertie
1932
6.0
Show Business
as Zasu
1932
6.0
Back Street
as Mrs. Dole
1932
6.1
Roar of the Dragon
as Gabby Woman
1932
6.0
Make Me a Star
as Mrs. Scudder
1932
5.5
Is My Face Red?
as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
1932
5.0
The Old Bull
as Zasu
1932
3.0
Westward Passage
as Mrs. Truesdale
1932
5.8
Strangers of the Evening
as Sybil Smith
1932
4.8
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
as Gladys Fairweather
1932
0.0
Strictly Unreliable
as Pitts
1932
5.5
Destry Rides Again
as Temperance Worker
1932
3.5
Shopworn
as Aunt Dot
1932
6.5
Red Noses
as Miss Pitts
1932
7.0
Steady Company
as Dot
1932
0.0
Sealskins
as Zasu Pitts
1932
5.5
Broken Lullaby
as Anna, Holderlin's Maid
1932
7.5
The Unexpected Father
as Polly Perkins
1932
0.0
On the Loose
as Zasu
1931
6.7
The Secret Witness
as Bella
1931
3.0
War Mamas
as Zasu
1931
0.0
The Guardsman
as Liesl
1931
5.4
The Pajama Party
as Zasu
1931
7.0
Penrod and Sam
as Mrs. Bassett
1931
6.0
The Big Gamble
as Nora Dugan
1931
6.0
Catch-As Catch-Can
as ZaSu
1931
1.0
Their Mad Moment
as Miss Dibbs
1931
5.0
A Woman of Experience
as Katie
1931
5.2
Let's Do Things
as Zasu Pitts
1931
0.0
Seed
as Jennie
1931
6.0
Beyond Victory
as Fritzi Mobley
1931
0.0
The Bad Sister
as Minnie
1931
5.4
Finn and Hattie
as Mrs. Hattie Haddock
1931
5.3
Passion Flower
as Mrs. Harney
1930
5.6
Free Love
as Ada, the Maid
1930
8.0
War Nurse
as Cushie
1930
5.1
Sin Takes a Holiday
as Annie
1930
5.5
River's End
as Louise
1930
6.2
The Lottery Bride
as Hilda
1930
4.7
Monte Carlo
as Bertha
1930
6.5
The Squealer
as Bella
1930
6.0
Little Accident
as Monica
1930
0.0
The Devil's Holiday
as Ethel
1930
6.3
Honey
as Mayme
1930
5.0
No, No, Nanette
as Pauline Hastings
1930
6.0
The Honeymoon
as Caecilia
1929
0.0
This Thing Called Love
as Clara Bertrand
1929
0.0
The Locked Door
as Telephone Girl
1929
5.9
Paris
as Harriet
1929
0.0
Oh, Yeah!
as The Elk
1929
4.3
Her Private Life
as Timmins
1929
1.0
The Argyle Case
as Mrs. Wyatt
1929
0.0
Twin Beds
as Tillie
1929
0.0
The Squall
as Lena
1929
3.4
The Dummy
as Rose Gleason
1929
0.0
Sins of the Fathers
as Mother Spengler
1928
6.0
The Wedding March
as Cecelia Schweisser
1928
7.0
Buck Privates
as Hulda
1928
0.0
13 Washington Square
as The Maid
1928
5.2
Wife Savers
as Germaine
1928
0.0
Casey at the Bat
as Camille
1927
6.0
🎬
Her Big Night
as Gladys Smith
1926
0.0
Risky Business
as Agnes Wheaton
1926
6.0
Sunny Side Up
as Evelyn
1926
0.0
The Great Love
as Nancy
1926
0.0
Early to Wed
as Mrs. Dugan
1926
0.0
Monte Carlo
as Hope Durant
1926
0.0
What Happened to Jones
as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
1926
5.8
Mannequin
as Annie Pogani
1926
0.0
Wages for Wives
as Luella Logan
1925
0.0
Lazybones
as Ruth Fanning
1925
6.5
Thunder Mountain
as Mandy Coulter
1925
0.0
Pretty Ladies
as Maggie Keenan
1925
4.7
1925 Studio Tour
as Self
1925
6.2
🎬
Old Shoes
1925
0.0
The Great Divide
as Polly Jordan
1925
0.0
🎬
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
as Judy
1925
0.0
Greed
as Trina
1924
7.4
Secrets of the Night
as Celia Stebbins
1924
6.0
The Fast Set
as Mona
1924
0.0
Changing Husbands
as Delia
1924
0.0
The Goldfish
as Amelia Pugsley
1924
0.0
West of the Water Tower
as Dessie Arnhalt
1924
0.0
Tea- With a Kick!
as 'Brainy' Jones
1923
0.0
Hollywood
as Zasu Pitts
1923
7.0
Three Wise Fools
as Mickey
1923
0.0
Mary of the Movies
as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
1923
0.0
Souls for Sale
as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary
1923
6.2
Poor Men's Wives
as Apple Annie
1923
0.0
For the Defense
as Jennie Dunn
1922
0.0
🎬
A Daughter of Luxury
as Mary Cosgrove
1922
0.0
🎬
Patsy
as Patsy
1921
0.0
🎬
Heart of Twenty
as Katie Abbott
1920
0.0
🎬
Seeing It Through
as Betty Lawrence
1920
0.0
🎬
Poor Relations
as Daisy Perkins
1919
0.0
The Other Half
as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
1919
5.0
Better Times
as Nancy Scroggs
1919
0.0
Men, Women, and Money
as Katie Jones
1919
0.0
A Lady's Name
as Emily
1918
0.0
The Talk of the Town
1918
1.0
A Society Sensation
as Mary
1918
5.7
How Could You, Jean?
as Oscar's Sweetheart
1918
0.0
A Modern Musketeer
as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
1917
5.2
A Little Princess
as Becky
1917
5.2
'49–'17
as Party Guest (uncredited)
1917
5.7
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
1917
5.8
🎬
His Fatal Beauty
as Perscilla
1917
0.0
🎬
A Desert Dilemma
1917
0.0
Tillie of the Nine Lives
1917
0.0
🎬
Uneasy Money
as Suza - the Editor's Assistant
1917
0.0