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