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