Zasu Pitts
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Zasu Pitts (January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) 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
Mr. Skitch (1933)
as Maddie Skitch
Professional Sweetheart (1933)
as Elmerada
The Thrill of It All (1963)
as Olivia
Passion Flower (1930)
as Mrs. Harney
Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
as Jane Dwyer
Westward Passage (1932)
as Mrs. Truesdale
Private Scandal (1934)
as Miss Coates
Love Birds (1934)
as Araminta Tootle
Hot Tip (1935)
as Belle McGill
Shopworn (1932)
as Aunt Dot
Wife Savers (1928)
as Germaine
The Business of Love (1925)
as Miss Wright
Mannequin (1926)
as Annie Pogani
Buck Privates (1928)
as Hulda
Naughty but Nice (1939)
as Aunt Penelope Hardwick
The Bad Sister (1931)
as Minnie
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917)
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Breakfast in Hollywood (1946)
as Elvira Spriggens
Hello, Sister! (1933)
as Millie
Blondie of the Follies (1932)
as Gertie
Nurse Edith Cavell (1939)
as Mme. Moulin
Old Shoes (1925)
Actor
And She Learned About Dames (1934)
as Herself
No, No, Nanette (1940)
as Pauline Hastings
Oh, Yeah! (1929)
as The Elk
Forty Naughty Girls (1937)
as Hildegarde Withers
Souls for Sale (1923)
as Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary
The Girl Who Came Back (1923)
as Anastasia Muldoon
The Gay Bride (1934)
as Mirabelle
Twin Beds (1929)
as Tillie
The Big Gamble (1931)
as Nora Dugan
Patsy (1921)
as Patsy
Is Matrimony a Failure? (1922)
as Mrs. Wilbur
Life with Father (1947)
as Cousin Cora Cartwright
'49 – '17 (1917)
as Party Guest (uncredited)
Youth to Youth (1922)
as Emily
So's Your Aunt Emma! (1942)
as Aunt Emma Bates
The Bashful Bachelor (1942)
as Geraldine
Sing Me a Love Song (1936)
as Gwen Logan
The Pajama Party (1931)
as Zasu
Her Private Life (1929)
as Timmins
Out All Night (1933)
as Bonny
A Woman's Faith (1925)
as Blanche Odile
The Unexpected Father (1932)
as Polly Perkins
No, No, Nanette (1930)
as Pauline Hastings
This Could Be the Night (1957)
as Mrs. Shea
The Lottery Bride (1930)
as Hilda
The Wedding March (1928)
as Cecelia Schweisser
The Squall (1929)
as Lena
Why They Left Home (1917)
as Mary Mandrake
Dear Miss Gloria (1946)
as Guest star
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)
as Mrs. Judson
Dames (1934)
as Matilda Hemingway
She Whoops To Conquer (1933)
as Beula
Casey at the Bat (1927)
as Camille
The Great Love (1926)
as Nancy
The Other Half (1919)
as Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid
Tillie of the Nine Lives (1917)
Actor
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby! (1933)
as Connie Clark
The Big Parade of Comedy (1964)
as Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
Broken Lullaby (1932)
as Anna, Holderlin's Maid
Mother's Helper (1933)
Actor
Sin Takes a Holiday (1930)
as Annie
What Happened to Jones? (1926)
as Hilda (as Zazu Pitts)
Let's Do Things (1931)
as Zasu Pitts
It All Came True (1940)
as Miss Flint
13 Hours by Air (1936)
as Miss Harkins
Francis (1950)
as Valerie Humpert
Back Street (1932)
as Mrs. Dole
Eternally Yours (1939)
as Mrs. Bingham
A Woman of Experience (1931)
as Katie
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941)
as Emily Pepper
The Devil's Holiday (1930)
as Ethel
Madison Square Garden (1932)
as Florrie
Strangers of the Evening (1932)
as Sybil Smith
Their Big Moment (1934)
as Tillie Whim
They Just Had to Get Married (1933)
as Molly Hull
The Trial of Vivienne Ware (1932)
as Gladys Fairweather
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men (1933)
as Sybby 'Sib'
Early to Wed (1926)
as Mrs. Dugan
Hollywood (1923)
as Zasu Pitts
Make Me a Star (1932)
as Mrs. Scudder
Is My Face Red? (1932)
as Morning Gazette Telephone Operator
Tea- With a Kick! (1923)
as 'Brainy' Jones
Catch-As Catch-Can (1931)
as ZaSu
Roar of the Dragon (1932)
as Gabby Woman
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934)
as Miss Hazy
Once in a Lifetime (1932)
as Miss Leyton
This Thing Called Love (1929)
as Clara Bertrand
She Gets Her Man (1935)
as Esmeralda
Monte Carlo (1930)
as Bertha
Three on a Honeymoon (1934)
as Alice Mudge
How Could You, Jean? (1918)
as Oscar's Sweetheart
A Lady's Name (1918)
as Emily
Secrets of the Night (1924)
as Celia Stebbins
As the Sun Went Down (1919)
as Sal Sue
Let's Face It (1943)
as Cornelia Pigeon
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent (1925)
as Judy
Francis Joins the WACS (1954)
as Valerie Humpert
River's End (1930)
as Louise
The Squealer (1930)
as Bella
Mary of the Movies (1923)
as Zasu Pitts (uncredited)
The Guardsman (1931)
as Liesl
Mexican Spitfire at Sea (1942)
as Miss Pepper
52nd Street (1937)
as Letitia Rondell
Sing and Like It (1934)
as Annie Snodgrass
War Mamas (1931)
as Zasu
Weekend for Three (1941)
as Anna, Craig's Maid
Show Business (1932)
as Zasu
The Bargain of the Century (1933)
as Zasu
Broadway Limited (1941)
as Myra Pottle
Monte Carlo (1926)
as Hope Durant
The Talk of the Town (1918)
Actor
The Perfect Marriage (1947)
as Rosa
Disneyland '59 (1959)
as Self
Sins of the Fathers (1928)
as Mother Spengler
Strictly Unreliable (1932)
as Pitts
Poor Men's Wives (1923)
as Apple Annie
1925 Studio Tour (1925)
as Self
Tish (1942)
as Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts)
Little Accident (1930)
as Monica
Asleep in the Feet (1933)
as Zasu
The Vanishing Frontier (1933)
as Aunt Sylvia
The Goldfish (1924)
as Amelia Pugsley
A Modern Musketeer (1917)
as A Kansas Belle (uncredited)
The Argyle Case (1929)
as Mrs. Wyatt
The Honeymoon (1929)
as Caecilia
The Locked Door (1929)
as Telephone Girl
Finn and Hattie (1931)
as Mrs. Hattie Haddock
Mickey the Kid (1939)
as Lilly Handy
On the Loose (1931)
as Zasu
The Crooked Circle (1932)
as Nora Rafferty
Two Alone (1934)
as Esthey Roberts
The Lady's from Kentucky (1939)
as Dulcey Lee
The Affair of Susan (1935)
as Susan Todd
Maids a la Mode (1933)
as Miss Pitts
Niagara Falls (1941)
as Emmy Sawyer
War Nurse (1930)
as Cushie
A Daughter of Luxury (1922)
as Mary Cosgrove
The Plot Thickens (1936)
as Hildegarde Withers
Meet the Baron (1933)
as Zasu
Poor Relations (1919)
as Daisy Perkins
Three Wise Fools (1923)
as Mickey
Lazybones (1925)
as Ruth Fanning
Free Love (1930)
as Ada, the Maid
West of the Water Tower (1924)
as Dessie Arnhalt
Their Mad Moment (1931)
as Miss Dibbs
Risky Business (1926)
as Agnes Wheaton
The Meanest Gal in Town (1934)
as Tillie Prescott
Pretty Ladies (1925)
as Maggie Keenan
Spring Tonic (1935)
as Maggie Conklin
Beyond Victory (1931)
as Fritzi Mobley
Men, Women, and Money (1919)
as Katie Jones
Penrod and Sam (1931)
as Mrs. Bassett
Red Noses (1932)
as Miss Pitts
Steady Company (1932)
as Dot
One Track Minds (1933)
as Zasu Pitts
Sunny Side Up (1926)
as Evelyn
Miss Polly (1941)
as Pandora Polly
The Secret Witness (1931)
as Bella
The Great Divide (1925)
as Polly Jordan
The Old Bull (1932)
as Zasu
Wages for Wives (1925)
as Luella Logan
Honey (1930)
as Mayme
Seed (1931)
as Jennie
Her Big Night (1926)
as Gladys Smith
13 Washington Square (1928)
as The Maid
Her First Mate (1933)
as Mary Horner
The Fast Set (1924)
as Mona
Daughters of Today (1924)
as Lorena
Thunder Mountain (1925)
as Mandy Coulter
A Little Princess (1917)
as Becky
Destry Rides Again (1932)
as Temperance Worker
The Dummy (1929)
as Rose Gleason
Uncle Joe (1941)
as Julia Jordan
Sneak Easily (1932)
as Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury
Mad Holiday (1936)
as Mrs. Fay Kinney
Teenage Millionaire (1961)
as Aunt Theodora
A Society Sensation (1918)
as Mary
Changing Husbands (1924)
as Delia
Uneasy Money (1917)
as Suza - the Editor's Assistant
Sealskins (1932)
as Zasu Pitts
Heart of Twenty (1920)
as Katie Abbott
Going Highbrow (1935)
as Cora Upshaw
For the Defense (1922)
as Jennie Dunn
Lum and Abner (1949)
Actor
His Fatal Beauty (1917)
as Perscilla
Paris (1929)
as Harriet
Wanted! (1937)
as Winnie Oatfield
The Soilers (1932)
as Zasu
Alum and Eve (1932)
as Zasu
Better Times (1919)
as Nancy Scroggs
Seeing It Through (1920)
as Betty Lawrence
A Desert Dilemma (1917)
Actor