Zasu Pitts

Acting

Zasu Pitts

Born — Died

1894-01-03 — 1963-06-07

Place of birth

Parsons, Labette County, Kansas, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

71 titles

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 wa…

Known for

Perry Mason poster
7.7

The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.

Perry Mason

1957

What's My Line? poster
7.0

Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.

What's My Line?

1950

The Philco Television Playhouse poster
6.6

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.

The Philco Television Playhouse

1948

Burke's Law poster
6.2

Burke's Law is an American detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II.

Burke's Law

1963

The 20th Century Fox Hour poster
6.0

The 20th Century Fox Hour is an American drama anthology series televised in the United States on CBS from 1955 to 1957. Some of the shows in this series were restored, remastered and shown on the Fox Movie Channel in 2002 under the title Hour of Stars. The season one episode Overnight Haul, starring Richard Conte and Lizabeth Scott, was released in Australia as a feature film.

The 20th Century Fox Hour

1955

Screen Director's Playhouse poster
7.0

Presented by Eastman Kodak, this show was a series of original scripts directed by acclaimed directors and featuring well-known performers. The stories ranged from musicals to comedies and dramas.

Screen Director's Playhouse

1955

Film credits

1940s · 6 titles

1930s · 39 titles

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

Ruggles of Red Gap poster
7.1

In this comedy of an Englishman stranded in a sea of barbaric Americans, Marmaduke Ruggles – a gentleman's gentleman and butler to an Earl – is lost in a poker game to an uncouth American cattle baron. Ruggles' life is turned upside down as he's taken to the USA, is gradually assimilated into American life, accidentally becomes a local celebrity, and falls in love along the way.

Ruggles of Red Gap

1935

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

The Trial of Vivienne Ware poster
9.0

Vivienne Ware is defended by her ex-beau when she's accused of killing her faithless fiance.

The Trial of Vivienne Ware

1932

The Gay Bride poster
6.0

Mary wants to marry a gangster because that is where the money is. Unfortunately, the life expectancy and finances of a gangster are unstable.

The Gay Bride

1934

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

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

The Devil's Holiday poster
6.2

Beautiful manicurist Hallie Hobart sets her sights on handsome David Stone, the son of wealthy wheat farmer Ezra Stone. Professing to hate men, Hallie is only interested in luring David in for a lucrative business deal. David easily falls in love, but older brother Mark brands Hallie a gold-digger. To get even with the straight-laced Stone family, Hallie accepts David's marriage proposal.

The Devil's Holiday

1930

The Big Gamble poster
6.1

A gambler, hopelessly in debt, agrees to pay off his debt by allowing his creditor to take out a life insurance policy on him and collecting once the one-year suicide clause has elapsed.

The Big Gamble

1931

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

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

Shopworn poster
6.7

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

Shopworn

1932

Dames poster
6.5

A reformer's daughter wins the lead role in a scandalous Broadway show.

Dames

1934

Back Street poster
6.4

A woman's love for and devotion to a married man results in her being relegated to the "back streets" of his life.

Back Street

1932

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

Sing and Like It poster
5.0

While breaking into a bank safe, a gangster overhears a bank employee singing and decides to put her in a Broadway revue

Sing and Like It

1934

And She Learned About Dames poster
7.0

Students at New York's Rovina Finishing School for Girls send their photographs to the makers of Claybury's Beauty Soap, in the hope of being chosen as "Miss Complexion of 1934." Martha Howson wins the contest, which includes a trip to Hollywood and a tour of the Warner Brothers lot with Lyle Talbot. When she gets to the studio, all she wants to do is meet Dick Powell, star of the new Warner Brothers film Dames (1934).

And She Learned About Dames

1934

Two Alone poster
7.3

Mazie, a poor orphan girl, is mistreated by cruel farmer Slag and his wife for whom she works. Mazie, who is growing into a woman, does not like they way Slag has been looking at her lately.

Two Alone

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

The Meanest Gal in Town poster
7.2

A stranded actress turned manicurist affects the lives of people in a small American town.

The Meanest Gal in Town

1934

Make Me a Star poster
6.4

A grocery clerk, longing to become a cowboy actor, goes to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, his acting ability is non-existent.

Make Me a Star

1932

Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men poster
7.8

Tough Aggie gives a street guy polish and a rich kid gumption.

Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men

1933

Sing Me a Love Song poster
9.0

A young playboy inherits a financially-troubled New York City department store. To learn the business, he poses as a store clerk, and quickly falls for a pretty employee in the store's music department. Comedy with songs.

Sing Me a Love Song

1936

She Gets Her Man poster
8.0

Esmeralda is a cook in a diner in a small Arkansas town. When a gang of crooks moves into town and plots a bank robbery, Esmeralda unintentionally wrecks their plans, resulting in fame for Esmeralda as the crime-fighting "Tiger Woman," but also further complications.

She Gets Her Man

1935

A Woman of Experience poster
6.2

It is 1915 in Vienna and the Great War has caused many casualties. Elsa, a beautiful prostitute, wants to help the war effort, but is rejected as a nurse, but a government official thinks that she will make an excellent spy.

A Woman of Experience

1931

She Whoops To Conquer poster
NR

Both the maid and the youngest daughter are after the same man who wants nothing to do with either of them.

She Whoops To Conquer

1933

Is My Face Red? poster
5.0

William Poster writes a gossip column for the Morning Gazette. He will write about anyone and everyone as long as he gets the credit. He gets most of his information from his showgirl gal-pal, Peggy. Eventually Bill's reckless tattling gets him in deep trouble with friends and enemies, putting his career and life in jeopardy.

Is My Face Red?

1932

Free Love poster
7.5

A wife's psychiatrist tells her that she is being dominated by her husband. Her solution is to divorce him.

Free Love

1930

The Lady's from Kentucky poster
8.0

Good-natured gambler Marty Black falls into ownership of a booking joint but soon falls on hard times. His one out is a marker for half-ownership in a young thoroughbred, which he quickly calls in. He discovers the other owner to be a young woman from an old horse racing family who wants to protect her colt almost as much as Marty wants to rush him into big races for a fast buck. While they clash, Marty soon comes to understand the human bond with the horses and what it means to be a thoroughbred.

The Lady's from Kentucky

1939

13 Hours by Air poster
5.2

Womanizer and airline pilot Jack Gordon must fly the world's fastest airliner from New York to California while dealing with dangerous jewel thieves on the run from the law.

13 Hours by Air

1936

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

Sin Takes a Holiday poster
5.6

Dowdy Sylvia accepts her boss' marriage proposal, even though he only asked her to avoid marriage to another woman. As a wealthy wife, Sylvia changes from plain to uninhibited swan and even contemplates having an affair.

Sin Takes a Holiday

1930

The Crooked Circle poster
5.3

A group of amateur detectives sets out to expose The Crooked Circle, a secretive group of hooded occultists.

The Crooked Circle

1932

The Affair of Susan poster
10.0

Two people go to Coney Island to find romance and wind up in jail.

The Affair of Susan

1935

They Just Had to Get Married poster
7.0

Molly Hull, a maid, and Sam Sutton, a butler, are bequeathed a million dollars, and they encounter many problems and difficulties as they try to become the newest members of the idle rich.

They Just Had to Get Married

1933

On the Loose poster
6.8

Two young women, Zasu and Thelma, complain that all of their dates take them to Coney Island. The next day a car goes by and they are splashed with mud. The driver stops and offers to buy them some new clothes. They accept the offer and later agree to go on a date.

On the Loose

1931

Maids a la Mode poster
3.7

Instead of delivering some fancy dresses to a customer, the girls wear them to a party.

Maids a la Mode

1933

Let's Do Things poster
8.0

Zasu & Thelma go out with two idiots to a nightclub.

Let's Do Things

1931

The Plot Thickens poster
6.3

A priceless Cellini silver cup is stolen from a local museum with both Hildegarde and Oscar on the case.

The Plot Thickens

1936

1920s · 8 titles

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

Casey at the Bat poster
8.0

Casey is a slovenly junk man in a turn of the twentieth century hick town who has a remarkable ability to play baseball. An unscrupulous New York scout signs him up, so Casey and his equally dishonest manager go to the big leagues. Eventually, the scout and manager conspire to get him drunk and bet against him for a crucial game with the pennant at stake.

Casey at the Bat

1927

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

Three Wise Fools poster
10.0

Sydney Fairchild, the daughter of a woman who was once loved by three bachelors, surprises the men with a visit. Findley, Trumbull, and Gaunt honor their former sweetheart's last request by becoming Sydney's guardians.

Three Wise Fools

1923

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

Hollywood poster
9.0

Angela comes to Hollywood with only two things: Her dream to become a movie star, and Grandpa. She leaves an Aunt, a brother, Grandma, and her longtime boyfriend back in Centerville. Despite seeing major movie stars around every corner, and knocking on every casting office door in town, at the end of her first day she is still unemployed. To her horror, when she arrives back at their hotel, she finds that Grandpa has been cast in a movie by William DeMille and quickly becomes a star during the ensuing weeks. Her family, worried that Angela and Grandpa are getting into trouble, come to Hollywood to drag them back home. In short order Aunt, Grandma, brother, boyfriend and even the parrot become superstars, but Angela is still unemployed...

Hollywood

1923

Souls for Sale poster
6.3

A young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star.

Souls for Sale

1923

Oh, Yeah! poster
5.0

A couple of roving vagabonds hitch a freight to the railroad town of Linda, and between bouts with the freight-yard bulls and other drifters, find romance in the persons of two waitresses at the camp restaurant. Meanwhile, two crooks are at-large, and the boys fall under suspicion.

Oh, Yeah!

1929

Series credits

Perry Mason poster
7.7

The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.

Perry Mason

1957

What's My Line? poster
7.0

Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.

What's My Line?

1950

The Philco Television Playhouse poster
6.6

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.

The Philco Television Playhouse

1948

Burke's Law poster
6.2

Burke's Law is an American detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II.

Burke's Law

1963

The 20th Century Fox Hour poster
6.0

The 20th Century Fox Hour is an American drama anthology series televised in the United States on CBS from 1955 to 1957. Some of the shows in this series were restored, remastered and shown on the Fox Movie Channel in 2002 under the title Hour of Stars. The season one episode Overnight Haul, starring Richard Conte and Lizabeth Scott, was released in Australia as a feature film.

The 20th Century Fox Hour

1955

Screen Director's Playhouse poster
7.0

Presented by Eastman Kodak, this show was a series of original scripts directed by acclaimed directors and featuring well-known performers. The stories ranged from musicals to comedies and dramas.

Screen Director's Playhouse

1955

The Gale Storm Show poster
6.7

The Gale Storm Show is an American sitcom starring Gale Storm. The series premiered on September 29, 1956, and ran until 1960 for 143 half-hour black-and-white episodes, initially on CBS and in its last year on ABC. The Gale Storm Show was co-produced by Independent Television Corporation and Hal Roach Studios. The series was aired under the title Oh, Susanna in syndication.

The Gale Storm Show

1956

Private Secretary poster
6.0

Private Secretary is an American sitcom that aired from February 1, 1953 to September 10, 1957 on CBS, alternating with The Jack Benny Program on Sundays at 7:30pm EST. The series stars Ann Sothern as Susan Camille "Susie" MacNamara, devoted secretary to handsome talent agent Peter Sands, played by Don Porter.

Private Secretary

1953

Guestward, Ho! poster
6.5

Guestward, Ho! is an American situation comedy which aired on the ABC network in the 1960-1961 television season, based on the 1956 book of the same title by Patrick Dennis, author of Auntie Mame.

Guestward, Ho!

1960

The Dennis O'Keefe Show poster
7.5

The Dennis O'Keefe Show is a 1959-1960 sitcom produced by United Artists Television which aired on CBS for sponsor General Motors' Oldsmobile division. It was not a ratings success during its original run, and was largely forgotten until a "Best Of" DVD release by Alpha Video during 2004. Certain episodes of the show can also be seen at the Internet Archive. It appears the series has entered the public domain.

The Dennis O'Keefe Show

1959

General Electric Theater poster
6.8

General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.

General Electric Theater

1953