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).
Personal info
Gender
Female
Birthday
1894-01-02
Place of birth
Parsons, Kansas, USA
Images
Cast
Greed
1924
7.35
Blondie of the Follies
1932
6.00
The Thrill of It All
1963
7.07
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
7.00
Thunder Mountain
1925
0.00
13 Washington Square
1928
5.20
The Squealer
1930
6.00
Ruggles of Red Gap
1935
7.10
Life with Father
1947
6.72
The Talk of the Town
1918
1.00
Francis
1950
5.61
The Big Gamble
1931
6.00
52nd Street
1937
0.00
Dames
1934
6.40
The Honeymoon
1929
0.00
The Dummy
1929
0.00
Patsy
1921
0.00
Wife Savers
1928
0.00
It All Came True
1940
5.88
The Locked Door
1929
5.90
Dear Miss Gloria
1946
0.00
On the Loose
1931
6.80
Oh, Yeah!
1929
4.30
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
1934
6.00
Changing Husbands
1924
0.00
Eternally Yours
1939
5.70
The Guardsman
1931
5.00
What Happened to Jones?
1926
5.80
This Could Be the Night
1957
5.85
The Plot Thickens
1936
5.89
Once in a Lifetime
1932
7.00
Shopworn
1932
6.50
Hollywood
1923
8.50
Monte Carlo
1930
6.53
The Bad Sister
1931
5.43
The Crooked Circle
1932
4.80
Strangers of the Evening
1932
4.80
Forty Naughty Girls
1937
5.33
Mad Holiday
1936
6.00
A Little Princess
1917
5.20
Meet the Baron
1933
4.20
So's Your Aunt Emma!
1942
6.50
Make Me a Star
1932
5.50
Going Highbrow
1935
6.00
Denver and Rio Grande
1952
5.50
The Bashful Bachelor
1942
4.50
Niagara Falls
1941
6.80
Broadway Limited
1941
4.60
The Lottery Bride
1930
4.70
Sin Takes a Holiday
1930
5.40
Westward Passage
1932
5.80
Pretty Ladies
1925
4.70
The Squall
1929
3.00
Passion Flower
1930
5.10
Sing and Like It
1934
4.00
Let's Face It
1943
4.50
Spring Tonic
1935
5.30
Mexican Spitfire at Sea
1942
3.00
The Gay Bride
1934
5.72
Professional Sweetheart
1933
5.00
Seed
1931
6.00
Uncle Joe
1941
6.00
Teenage Millionaire
1961
4.50
Destry Rides Again
1932
3.50
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
1933
7.20
Weekend for Three
1941
5.70
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
1941
4.13
Mr. Skitch
1933
6.00
13 Hours by Air
1936
4.60
The Meanest Gal in Town
1934
6.50
Nurse Edith Cavell
1939
6.40
Two Alone
1934
7.00
River's End
1930
6.20
The Devil's Holiday
1930
6.40
Finn and Hattie
1931
5.30
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
1932
0.00
Hello, Sister!
1933
5.79
Is My Face Red?
1932
4.71
Her First Mate
1933
0.00
Roar of the Dragon
1932
6.00
The Bargain of the Century
1933
1.33
The Fast Set
1924
0.00
Show Business
1932
6.00
Sealskins
1932
5.50
Asleep in the Feet
1933
1.00
Risky Business
1926
6.50
Beyond Victory
1931
0.00
Madison Square Garden
1932
6.20
Steady Company
1932
0.00
Catch-As Catch-Can
1931
1.00
Casey at the Bat
1927
6.00
Red Noses
1932
7.00
Penrod and Sam
1931
6.00
Lazybones
1925
6.57
A Woman of Experience
1931
5.20
Tish
1942
5.70
Maids a la Mode
1933
1.00
The Affair of Susan
1935
0.00
Sing Me a Love Song
1936
0.00
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
1933
0.00
The Other Half
1919
5.00
The Vanishing Frontier
1933
0.00
How Could You, Jean?
1918
0.00
Three Wise Fools
1923
0.00
The Great Love
1926
0.00
Souls for Sale
1923
6.20
A Modern Musketeer
1917
5.20
Out All Night
1933
6.00
A Daughter of Luxury
1922
0.00
The Pajama Party
1931
7.00
The Old Bull
1932
3.00
Strictly Unreliable
1932
5.50
The Soilers
1932
6.20
War Mamas
1931
0.00
Sneak Easily
1932
0.00
Alum and Eve
1932
6.30
One Track Minds
1933
0.00
Let's Do Things
1931
0.00
The Wedding March
1928
7.00
A Society Sensation
1918
5.80
She Gets Her Man
1935
0.00
The Secret Witness
1931
2.30
Naughty But Nice
1939
6.20
Their Big Moment
1934
3.80
No, No, Nanette
1930
6.00
Miss Polly
1941
4.50
War Nurse
1930
4.60
Monte Carlo
1926
0.00
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
1917
5.80
'49–'17
1917
5.75
Heart of Twenty
1920
0.00
Mickey the Kid
1939
0.00
Private Scandal
1934
0.00
The Argyle Case
1929
0.00
A Lady's Name
1918
0.00
Broken Lullaby
1932
7.50
Breakfast in Hollywood
1946
5.00
Their Mad Moment
1931
5.00
Back Street
1932
6.08
Twin Beds
1929
0.00
Love Birds
1934
6.00
Hot Tip
1935
5.00
Secrets of the Night
1924
6.00
Francis Joins the WACS
1954
5.80
No, No, Nanette
1940
6.00
She Whoops To Conquer
1933
0.00
1925 Studio Tour
1925
6.10
Honey
1930
5.00
Three on a Honeymoon
1934
0.00
Mannequin
1926
0.00
Little Accident
1930
0.00
And She Learned About Dames
1934
6.00
The Lady's from Kentucky
1939
0.00
The Perfect Marriage
1947
4.00
The Great Divide
1925
0.00
Free Love
1930
8.00
Paris
1929
0.00
Buck Privates
1928
0.00
Old Shoes
1925
0.00
For the Defense
1922
0.00
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
6.30
They Just Had to Get Married
1933
0.00
This Thing Called Love
1929
0.00
Wanted!
1937
0.00
Her Private Life
1929
1.00
Mary of the Movies
1923
0.00
Better Times
1919
0.00
Tea- With a Kick!
1923
0.00
Poor Men's Wives
1923
0.00
Sunny Side Up
1926
0.00
Disneyland '59
1959
6.50
The Goldfish
1924
0.00
Sins of the Fathers
1928
6.00
The Unexpected Father
1932
0.00
Lum and Abner
1949
0.00
Seeing It Through
1920
0.00
Early to Wed
1926
0.00
Wages for Wives
1925
0.00
Uneasy Money
1917
0.00
Tillie of the Nine Lives
1917
0.00
West of the Water Tower
1924
0.00
Men, Women, and Money
1919
0.00
Her Big Night
1926
0.00
A Desert Dilemma
1917
0.00
His Fatal Beauty
1917
0.00
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
1925
0.00
Poor Relations
1919
0.00
As the Sun Went Down
1919
0.00
Mother's Helper
1933
0.00
Why They Left Home
1917
0.00
Daughters of Today
1924
0.00
Is Matrimony a Failure?
1922
0.00
Youth to Youth
1922
0.00
A Woman's Faith
1925
0.00
The Girl Who Came Back
1923
0.00