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