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Zasu Pitts

Name in Native Language: "ZaSu Pitts" (English/EN)
Actress / Stage Actress / Television Actress / Film Actress / Voice Actress | * 01/03/1894 († 69, 06/07/1963) | Parsons, Kansas (United States of America (USA))
ZaSu Pitts (January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress whose career spanned nearly five decades, starring in many silent film dramas, including Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic Greed, and comedies, before transitioning successfully to mostly comedy roles with the advent of sound films. She also appeared on numerous radio shows and, later, made her mark on television. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 at 6554 Hollywood Blvd. ()

Zasu Pittswas an American actress who starred in many silentdramasand 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).

Photo of Zasu Pitts
Most frequent genres for this person: Comedies | Drama | Romance / Love

Known for these Movies & Shows

In this comedy of an Englishman stranded in a sea of barbaric Americans, Marmaduke Ruggles, a gentleman's gentleman and butler to an Earl is lost in a poker game to an uncouth American cattle baron. R ...

Ruggles of Red Gap

Certification unknown

1935 | 3.6/5 | 1h 30min
Comedy
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A lottery win of $5,000 forever changes the lives of a miner turned dentist and his wife. ...

Greed

Certification unknown

1924 | 3.8/5 | 2h 20min
Drama, Crime
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Perky young Nanette attempts to save the marriage of her uncle and aunt by untangling Uncle Jimmy from several innocent but ensnaring flirtations. Attempting one such unentanglement, Nanette enlists t ...

No, No, Nanette

Certification unknown

1940 | 3.3/5 | 1h 36min
Music, Comedy
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A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is the madcap adventures of those strangers as each at ...

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

Certification unknown

1963 | 3.5/5 | 2h 43min
Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime
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The Gale Storm Show is an American sitcom starring Gale Storm. The series premiered on September 29, 1956, and ran until 1960 for 143 half-hour black-and-white episodes, initially on CBS and in its la ...

The Gale Storm Show

Certification unknown

1956 | 2.8/5 | 30min per episode
Comedy
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Awards & Nominations for Zasu Pitts

Star On Hollywood Walk of Fame
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Movies with Zasu Pitts as Actress(165)

as (archive footage)1964 The Big Parade of Comedy
as Gertie - Switchboard Operator1963 It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
as Olivia1963 The Thrill of It All
as Aunt Theodora1961 Teenage Millionaire
as Mrs. Shea1957 This Could Be the Night
as Valerie Humpert1954 Francis Joins the WACS
as Jane Dwyer1952 Denver and Rio Grande
as Valerie Humpert1950 Francis
1949 Lum and Abner
as Cousin Cora Cartwright1947 Life with Father
as Rosa1947 The Perfect Marriage
as Guest star1946 Dear Miss Gloria
as Elvira Spriggens1946 Breakfast in Hollywood
as Cornelia Pigeon1943 Let's Face It
as Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)1942 Tish
as Geraldine1942 The Bashful Bachelor
as Aunt Emma Bates1942 So's Your Aunt Emma!
as Miss Pepper1942 Mexican Spitfire at Sea
as Emmy Sawyer1941 Niagara Falls
as Myra Pottle1941 Broadway Limited
as Emily Pepper1941 The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
as Anna, Craig's Maid1941 Weekend for Three
as Pandora Polly1941 Miss Polly
as Julia Jordan1941 Uncle Joe
as Pauline Hastings1940 No, No, Nanette
as Miss Flint1940 It All Came True
as Lilly Handy1939 Mickey the Kid
as Aunt Penelope Hardwick1939 Naughty But Nice
as Cary Bingham1939 Eternally Yours
as Mme. Moulin1939 Nurse Edith Cavell
as Dulcey Lee1939 The Lady's from Kentucky
as Letitia Rondell1937 52nd Street
as Hildegarde Withers1937 Forty Naughty Girls
as Winnie Oatfield1937 Wanted!
as Miss Harkins1936 13 Hours by Air
as Gwen Logan1936 Sing Me a Love Song
as Mrs. Fay Kinney1936 Mad Holiday
as Hildegarde Withers1936 The Plot Thickens
as Maggie Conklin1935 Spring Tonic
as Esmeralda1935 She Gets Her Man
as Cora Upshaw1935 Going Highbrow
as Susan Todd1935 The Affair of Susan
as Belle McGill1935 Hot Tip
as Mrs. Judson1935 Ruggles of Red Gap
as Tillie Whim1934 Their Big Moment
as Tillie Prescott1934 The Meanest Gal in Town
as Araminta Tootle1934 Love Birds
as Annie Snodgrass1934 Sing and Like it
as Alice Mudge1934 Three on a Honeymoon
as Matilda Hemingway1934 Dames
as herself1934 And She Learned About Dames
as Esthey Roberts1934 Two Alone
as Mirabelle1934 The Gay Bride
as Miss Hazy1934 Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
as Elmerada de Leon1933 Professional Sweetheart
as Maddie Skitch1933 Mr. Skitch
as Bonny1933 Out All Night
as Aunt Sylvia1933 The Vanishing Frontier
as Mary Horner1933 Her First Mate
as Zasu1933 The Bargain of the Century
as Zasu1933 Meet the Baron
as Millie1933 Hello, Sister!
as Molly Hull1933 They Just Had to Get Married
1933 One Track Minds
as Sybby 'Sib'1933 Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
as Zasu1933 Asleep in the Feet
as Miss Pitts1933 Maids a la Mode
as Gabby Woman1932 Roar of the Dragon
as Polly Perkins1932 The Unexpected Father
as herself1932 Sealskins
as Zasu1932 The Old Bull
as Mrs. Dole1932 Back Street
as Zasu1932 Show Business
as Mrs. Truesdale1932 Westward Passage
as Nora Rafferty1932 The Crooked Circle
as Miss Leyton1932 Once in a Lifetime
as Gladys Fairweather1932 The Trial of Vivienne Ware
as Anna, Holderlin's Maid1932 Broken Lullaby
as Aunt Dot1932 Shopworn
as Florrie1932 Madison Sq. Garden
as Dot1932 Steady Company
as Gertie1932 Blondie of the Follies
as Miss Pitts1932 Red Noses
as Sybil Smith1932 Strangers of the Evening
as Temperance Worker1932 Destry Rides Again
as Pitts1932 Strictly Unreliable
as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator1932 Is My Face Red?
as Zasu1932 The Soilers
as Mrs. Scudder1932 Make Me a Star
as Zasu1932 Alum and Eve
as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury1932 Sneak Easily
as Jennie1931 Seed
as Mrs. Bassett1931 Penrod and Sam
as Zasu1931 War Mamas
as Nora Dugan1931 The Big Gamble
as Mrs. Hattie Haddock1931 Finn and Hattie
as herself1931 Let's Do Things
as Katie1931 A Woman of Experience
as Minnie1931 The Bad Sister
as Liesl1931 The Guardsman
as Bella1931 The Secret Witness
as Zasu1931 The Pajama Party
as Miss Dibbs1931 Their Mad Moment
as Zasu1931 On the Loose
as Fritzi Mobley1931 Beyond Victory
as ZaSu1931 Catch-As Catch-Can
as Annie1930 Sin Takes a Holiday
as Mayme1930 Honey
as Monica1930 Little Accident
as Bertha1930 Monte Carlo
as Hilda1930 The Lottery Bride
as Pauline Hastings1930 No, No, Nanette
as Ethel1930 The Devil's Holiday
as Cushie1930 War Nurse
as Mrs. Harney1930 Passion Flower
as Bella1930 The Squealer
as Louise1930 River's End
as Ada, the Maid1930 Free Love
as Clara Bertrand1929 This Thing Called Love
as Lena1929 The Squall
as Telephone Girl1929 The Locked Door
as Timmins1929 Her Private Life
as Rose Gleason1929 The Dummy
as Harriet1929 Paris
as Caecilia1929 The Honeymoon
as The Elk1929 Oh, Yeah!
as The Maid1928 13 Washington Square
as Hulda1928 Buck Privates
as Cecelia Schweisser1928 The Wedding March
as Germaine1928 Wife Savers
as Mother Spengler1928 Sins of the Fathers
as Camille1927 Casey at the Bat
as Hope Durant1926 Dreams of Monte Carlo
as Nancy1926 The Great Love
as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)1926 What Happened to Jones
as Agnes Wheaton1926 Risky Business
as Annie Pogani1926 Mannequin
as Evelyn1926 Sunny Side Up
as herself1925 1925 Studio Tour
as Polly Jordan1925 The Great Divide
as Mandy Coulter1925 Thunder Mountain
1925 Old Shoes
as Maggie Keenan1925 Pretty Ladies
as Ruth Fanning1925 Lazybones
as Celia Stebbins1924 Secrets of the Night
as Delia1924 Changing Husbands
as Trina1924 Greed
as Amelia Pugsley1924 The Goldfish
as 'Brainy' Jones1923 Tea: With a Kick!
as Mickey1923 Three Wise Fools
as Herself - Celebrity Actress in Commissary1923 Souls for Sale
as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)1923 Mary of the Movies
as Apple Annie1923 Poor Men's Wives
as Jennie Dunn1922 For the Defense
as Patsy1921 Patsy
as Nancy Scroggs1919 Better Times
as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid1919 The Other Half
as Emily1918 A Lady's Name
as Oscar's Sweetheart1918 How Could You, Jean?
as Mary1918 A Society Sensation
1918 The Talk of the Town
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)1917 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
as Party Guest (uncredited)1917 '49–'17
as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)1917 A Modern Musketeer
as Becky1917 A Little Princess

TV Shows/Series with Zasu Pitts as Actress(10)

as Mrs. Bowie1963 Burke's Law
1960 Guestward, Ho!
1959 The Dennis O'Keefe Show
as Daphne Whilom1957 Perry Mason
1956 The Gale Storm Show
1955 The 20th Century Fox Hour
as Aunt Laura1953 GE Theater
1953 Private Secretary
as Self - Mystery Guest1950 What's My Line?
as Belinda Pryde1948 The Philco Television Playhouse

Born: Wednesday, 01/03 1894 (January) in Parsons, Kansas (United States of America (USA))
Died: Friday, 06/07 1963 (June) in Hollywood (aged: 69)
Zodiac sign: Capricorn (Chinese zodiac sign: Horse)
Languages: English (EN, native language)
Educated at: Santa Cruz High School
Spouses (current/former): Tom Gallery
Other names for Zasu Pitts (nicknames, foreign languages etc.):
"Zazu Pitts"
"Eliza Susan Pitts"
Zasu Pitts frequently works together with these people:
Thelma Todd (18x, Actress)
Erich von Stroheim (16x, Actor)
Vaughn Taylor (16x, Actor)
Billy Gilbert (13x, Actor)
Charlie Hall (13x, Actor)
H.M. Walker (13x, Crew)
E.G. Marshall (12x, Actor)
Cedric Gibbons (12x, Crew)
Slim Summerville (12x, Actor)
Michael Fox (12x, Actor)
Whit Bissell (11x, Actor)
James Gleason (11x, Actor)
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WatchPlayStream ID: PEOPLE:10543, Added: 05/06/2018, Last updated: 04/12/2024