Zasu Pitts
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).
Greed
(Trina)
Blondie of the Follies
(Gertie)
The Thrill of It All
(Olivia)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
(Gertie - Switchboard Operator)
Thunder Mountain
(Mandy Coulter)
13 Washington Square
(The Maid)
The Squealer
(Bella)
Ruggles of Red Gap
(Mrs. Judson)
Life with Father
(Cousin Cora Cartwright)
The Talk of the Town
Francis
(Valerie Humpert)
The Big Gamble
(Nora Dugan)
52nd Street
(Letitia Rondell)
Dames
(Matilda Hemingway)
The Honeymoon
(Caecilia)
The Dummy
(Rose Gleason)
Patsy
(Patsy)
Wife Savers
(Germaine)
It All Came True
(Miss Flint)
The Locked Door
(Telephone Girl)
Dear Miss Gloria
(Guest star)
On the Loose
(Zasu)
Oh, Yeah!
(The Elk)
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
(Miss Hazy)
Changing Husbands
(Delia)
Eternally Yours
(Cary Bingham)
The Guardsman
(Liesl)
What Happened to Jones
(Hilda (as Zazu Pitts))
This Could Be the Night
(Mrs. Shea)
The Plot Thickens
(Hildegarde Withers)
Once in a Lifetime
(Miss Leyton)
Shopworn
(Aunt Dot)
Hollywood
(Zasu Pitts)
Monte Carlo
(Bertha)
The Bad Sister
(Minnie)
Strangers of the Evening
(Sybil Smith)
The Crooked Circle
(Nora Rafferty)
Forty Naughty Girls
(Hildegarde Withers)
Mad Holiday
(Mrs. Fay Kinney)
A Little Princess
(Becky)
Meet the Baron
(Zasu)
So's Your Aunt Emma!
(Aunt Emma Bates)
Make Me a Star
(Mrs. Scudder)
Going Highbrow
(Cora Upshaw)
Denver and Rio Grande
(Jane Dwyer)
The Bashful Bachelor
(Geraldine)
Niagara Falls
(Emmy Sawyer)
Broadway Limited
(Myra Pottle)
The Lottery Bride
(Hilda)
Sin Takes a Holiday
(Annie)
Westward Passage
(Mrs. Truesdale)
Pretty Ladies
(Maggie Keenan)
The Squall
(Lena)
Passion Flower
(Mrs. Harney)
Sing and Like it
(Annie Snodgrass)
Let's Face It
(Cornelia Pigeon)
Spring Tonic
(Maggie Conklin)
Mexican Spitfire at Sea
(Miss Pepper)
The Gay Bride
(Mirabelle)
Professional Sweetheart
(Elmerada de Leon)
Seed
(Jennie)
Teenage Millionaire
(Aunt Theodora)
Uncle Joe
(Julia Jordan)
Destry Rides Again
(Temperance Worker)
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
(Sybby 'Sib')
Weekend for Three
(Anna, Craig's Maid)
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
(Emily Pepper)
Mr. Skitch
(Maddie Skitch)
13 Hours by Air
(Miss Harkins)
The Meanest Gal in Town
(Tillie Prescott)
Nurse Edith Cavell
(Mme. Moulin)
Two Alone
(Esthey Roberts)
River's End
(Louise)
The Devil's Holiday
(Ethel)
Finn and Hattie
(Mrs. Hattie Haddock)
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
(Gladys Fairweather)
Is My Face Red?
(Morning Gazette Telephone Operator)
Hello, Sister!
(Millie)
Her First Mate
(Mary Horner)
Roar of the Dragon
(Gabby Woman)
The Bargain of the Century
(Zasu)
The Fast Set
(Mona)
Sealskins
(Zasu Pitts)
Asleep in the Feet
(Zasu)
Show Business
(Zasu)
Risky Business
(Agnes Wheaton)
Beyond Victory
(Fritzi Mobley)
Madison Square Garden
(Florrie)
Steady Company
(Dot)
Catch-As Catch-Can
(ZaSu)
Casey at the Bat
(Camille)
Red Noses
(Miss Pitts)
Penrod and Sam
(Mrs. Bassett)
Lazybones
(Ruth Fanning)
A Woman of Experience
(Katie)
Tish
(Aggie Pilkington (as ZaSu Pitts))
Maids a la Mode
(Miss Pitts)
The Affair of Susan
(Susan Todd)
Sing Me a Love Song
(Gwen Logan)
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
(Connie Clark)
The Other Half
(Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid)
The Vanishing Frontier
(Aunt Sylvia)
How Could You, Jean?
(Oscar's Sweetheart)
Three Wise Fools
(Mickey)
The Great Love
(Nancy)
Souls for Sale
(Self - Celebrity Actress in Commissary)
A Modern Musketeer
(A Kansas Belle (uncredited))
Out All Night
(Bonny)
A Daughter of Luxury
(Mary Cosgrove)
War Mamas
(Zasu)
The Soilers
(Zasu)
The Pajama Party
(Zasu)
The Old Bull
(Zasu)
Strictly Unreliable
(Pitts)
Sneak Easily
(Miss Zasu Pitts - Woman of the Jury)
Let's Do Things
(Zasu Pitts)
One Track Minds
Alum and Eve
(Zasu)
The Wedding March
(Cecelia Schweisser)
A Society Sensation
(Mary)
She Gets Her Man
(Esmeralda)
The Secret Witness
(Bella)
Naughty But Nice
(Aunt Penelope Hardwick)
Their Big Moment
(Tillie Whim)
No, No, Nanette
(Pauline Hastings)
Miss Polly
(Pandora Polly)
War Nurse
(Cushie)
Dreams of Monte Carlo
(Hope Durant)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
(Undetermined Role (uncredited))
'49–'17
(Party Guest (uncredited))
Heart of Twenty
(Katie Abbott)
Mickey the Kid
(Lilly Handy)
Private Scandal
(Miss Coates)
The Argyle Case
(Mrs. Wyatt)
A Lady's Name
(Emily)
Broken Lullaby
(Anna, Holderlin's Maid)
Breakfast in Hollywood
(Elvira Spriggens)
Their Mad Moment
(Miss Dibbs)
Back Street
(Mrs. Dole)
Twin Beds
(Tillie)
Love Birds
(Araminta Tootle)
The Silent Partner
(Selma)
Hot Tip
(Belle McGill)
Francis Joins the WACS
(Valerie Humpert)
Secrets of the Night
(Celia Stebbins)
No, No, Nanette
(Pauline Hastings)
She Whoops To Conquer
(Beula)
1925 Studio Tour
(Self)
Honey
(Mayme)
Three on a Honeymoon
(Alice Mudge)
Mannequin
(Annie Pogani)
Little Accident
(Monica)
And She Learned About Dames
(Herself)
The Lady's from Kentucky
(Dulcey Lee)
The Perfect Marriage
(Rosa)
The Great Divide
(Polly Jordan)
Free Love
(Ada, the Maid)
Paris
(Harriet)
Buck Privates
(Hulda)
Old Shoes
For the Defense
(Jennie Dunn)
The Big Parade of Comedy
(Mirabelle in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage))
They Just Had to Get Married
(Molly Hull)
This Thing Called Love
(Clara Bertrand)
Wanted!
(Winnie Oatfield)
Her Private Life
(Timmins)
Mary of the Movies
(Zasu Pitts (uncredited))
Better Times
(Nancy Scroggs)
Tea- With a Kick!
('Brainy' Jones)
Poor Men's Wives
(Apple Annie)
Sunny Side Up
(Evelyn)
Disneyland '59
(Self)
The Goldfish
(Amelia Pugsley)
Sins of the Fathers
(Mother Spengler)
The Unexpected Father
(Polly Perkins)
Lum and Abner
Seeing It Through
(Betty Lawrence)
Early to Wed
(Mrs. Dugan)
Wages for Wives
(Luella Logan)
Uneasy Money
(Suza - the Editor's Assistant)
Tillie of the Nine Lives
Burke's Law
(Mrs. Bowie)
Perry Mason
(Daphne Whilom)
General Electric Theater
(Aunt Laura)
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Private Secretary
The Gale Storm Show
The Philco Television Playhouse
(Belinda Pryde)
Guestward, Ho!
The Dennis O'Keefe Show
What's My Line?
(Self - Mystery Guest)
Screen Director's Playhouse
(Selma)