Zasu Pitts

Acting

Zasu Pitts

Born 1894-01-03 · Parsons, Labette County, Kansas, USA

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).

Acting credits

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World poster
7.0

A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is the madcap adventures of those strangers as each attempts to claim the prize for himself.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

1963

The Thrill of It All poster
7.1

A housewife's sudden rise to fame as a soap spokesperson leads to chaos in her home life.

The Thrill of It All

1963

Greed poster
7.3

When housewife Trina wins the lottery, her comfortable life with her dentist husband John slowly deteriorates, in part by her own increasing paranoia and partly by the machinations of villainous acquaintance Marcus.

Greed

1924

Love Birds poster
6.5

ZaSu Pitts and Slim Summerville meet when both are sold deeds to an abandoned ranch in the California desert. Their lonely lives become much more crowded when a drifter discovers gold on the property—though all he’s found is Slim’s missing filling. (adapted from MoMA capsule)

Love Birds

1934

Passion Flower poster
5.4

A bored society woman invites scandal and heartache when she falls in love with her low-born chauffeur.

Passion Flower

1930

Hello, Sister! poster
6.0

While Peggy deeply falls in love with Jimmy, her best friend Millie becomes increasingly frustrated with men and very jealous with Peggy, so she tries everything to destroy the new love.

Hello, Sister!

1933

Westward Passage poster
6.3

A struggling writer divorces his wife to pursue his career without interference, but they meet in Europe years later after she has remarried.

Westward Passage

1932

Professional Sweetheart poster
6.0

Radio singer Glory Eden is publicized as the ideal of American womanhood in order to sell the sponsor's product Ippsie-Wippsie Washcloths. In reality, Glory would like to at least sample booze, jazz, gambling, and men. When the strain of representing "purity" brings her to rebellion, the sponsor and his nutty henchmen pick her a public-relations "sweetheart" from fan mail, who turns out to be a hayseed.

Professional Sweetheart

1933

Shopworn poster
6.7

A waitress falls for a wealthy young man but has to fight his mother to find happiness.

Shopworn

1932

Broken Lullaby poster
7.4

A young French soldier in World War I is overcome with guilt when he kills a German soldier who, like himself, is a musically gifted conscript, each having attended the same musical conservatory in France. The fact that the incident occurred in war does not assuage his guilt. He travels to Germany to meet the man's family.

Broken Lullaby

1932

Life with Father poster
6.7

A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.

Life with Father

1947

The Goldfish poster
9.0

A newly married husband and wife make an agreement that should either of them want to terminate their relationship then a bowl with goldfish would be presented to the other signalling the end of their marriage.

The Goldfish

1924

Hot Tip poster
7.0

An amateur handicapper must help his future son-in-law recoup the money he lost while playing the ponies.

Hot Tip

1935

Francis poster
5.8

During World War II, a junior American Army officer, Lt. Peter Stirling, gets sent to the psychiatric ward whenever he insists that an Army mule named Francis speaks to him.

Francis

1950

It All Came True poster
5.8

After crooked nightclub owner murders a police informant, he blackmails his piano player to allow him to stay at his eccentric mother's boarding house.

It All Came True

1940

Wife Savers poster
7.0

Stationed in Switzerland after the Great War, soldiers Louis Hozenozzle and Rodney Ramsbottom both fall in love with local damsel Colette, much to the dismay of Colette's self-appointed boyfriend, General Lavoris. When Lavoris issues a fake order that all unmarried women must immediately take husbands, Hozenozzle weds Colette, at her request, to "save" her for the absent Ramsbottom. A lost film.

Wife Savers

1928

This Could Be the Night poster
6.1

To earn extra money, a prim schoolteacher takes a second job as secretary to the uncouth owner of a boisterous nightclub.

This Could Be the Night

1957

Denver and Rio Grande poster
5.6

Jim Vesser and his team of railroading men try to build a rail line through a mountain pass, while a group of less scrupulous construction workers sabotages the entire operation in the hopes that they can get their tracks laid first and get the money from the railroad.

Denver and Rio Grande

1952

Private Scandal poster
7.0

"Private Scandal" is a 1934 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Ralph Murphy and written by Vera Caspary, Garrett Fort and Bruce Manning. The film stars ZaSu Pitts, Phillips Holmes, Mary Brian, Ned Sparks, Lew Cody, June Brewster, and Harold Waldridge. The film was released on May 11, 1934 by Paramount Pictures.

Private Scandal

1934

Mr. Skitch poster
7.3

After losing their Missouri home during the Great Depression, the Skitch family pulls up stakes and heads west to California to begin life anew. Comedy, released in 1933.

Mr. Skitch

1933

No, No, Nanette poster
6.2

Perky young Nanette attempts to save the marriage of her uncle and aunt by untangling Uncle Jimmy from several innocent but ensnaring flirtations. Attempting one such unentanglement, Nanette enlists the help of theatrical producer Bill Trainor, who promptly falls in love with her. The same thing happens when artist Tom Gillespie is called on for help. But soon Uncle Jimmy's flirtations become too numerous, and Nanette's romances with Tom and Bill run into trouble. Will Uncle Jimmy's marriage survive, and will Nanette find happiness with Tom, Bill, or somebody else?

No, No, Nanette

1940

Blondie of the Follies poster
6.3

New York City tenement dwelling neighbors Blondie and Lottie are longtime best friends. When Lottie makes the cast of the Follies and moves up in the world, she arranges for Blondie, as well, to join the cast and gain the advantages. But the friendship goes awry when Lottie's sweetheart, wealthy Larry Belmont, falls for Blondie and she for him.

Blondie of the Follies

1932

Buck Privates poster
10.0

Pvt. Smith, an American soldier stationed in a German town during the occupation of Germany after World War I, falls in love with the daughter of the town's leading citizen. The problem is that his sworn enemy, Sgt. Butts, also has designs on the girl. Butts comes up with a plan to get rid of his competition and get the girl for himself, but things don't go quite the way he planned.

Buck Privates

1928

The Bad Sister poster
5.6

Marianne falls in love with con man Valentine who uses their relation to get her father's endorsement on a money-raising scheme. He runs off with the money and Marianne, later dumping her. Her sister Laura loves Dr. Lindley although she knows he loves Marianne. Marianne returns and marries a wealthy young man, and Lindley turns his love toward Laura.

The Bad Sister

1931