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).
206 acting credits
Acting · 206
Perry Mason
1957
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Burke's Law
1963
What's My Line?
1950
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
Screen Director's Playhouse
1955
The Gale Storm Show
1956
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
Private Secretary
1953
Guestward, Ho!
1960
General Electric Theater
1953
The Dennis O'Keefe Show
1959
Greed
1924
The Thrill of It All
1963
Francis
1950
Dames
1934
Ruggles of Red Gap
1935
Seed
1931
It All Came True
1940
Life with Father
1947
The Bad Sister
1931
Spring Tonic
1935
Going Highbrow
1935
Blondie of the Follies
1932
Hollywood
1923
Broken Lullaby
1932
And She Learned About Dames
1934
This Could Be the Night
1957
Eternally Yours
1939
Nurse Edith Cavell
1939
The Wedding March
1928
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
Naughty But Nice
1939
Souls for Sale
1923
Back Street
1932
The Perfect Marriage
1947
Thunder Mountain
1925
River's End
1930
Disneyland '59
1959
The Squall
1929
The Gay Bride
1934
No, No, Nanette
1940
Broadway Limited
1941
Two Alone
1934
Professional Sweetheart
1933
Monte Carlo
1930
Miss Polly
1941
This Thing Called Love
1929
Strangers of the Evening
1932
The Vanishing Frontier
1933
War Nurse
1930
Mad Holiday
1936
Hot Tip
1935
Francis Joins the WACS
1954
Honey
1930
What Happened to Jones?
1926
The Squealer
1930
The Great Divide
1925
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
1917
The Bashful Bachelor
1942
Mr. Skitch
1933
Meet the Baron
1933
Their Mad Moment
1931
Niagara Falls
1941
Penrod and Sam
1931
War Mamas
1931
Old Shoes
1925
Shopworn
1932
A Woman of Experience
1931
Three Wise Fools
1923
13 Hours by Air
1936
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
1941
The Soilers
1932
Passion Flower
1930
Sing Me a Love Song
1936
The Goldfish
1924
Lum and Abner
1949
The Secret Witness
1931
Denver and Rio Grande
1952
Make Me a Star
1932
Roar of the Dragon
1932
Little Accident
1930
Let's Do Things
1931
The Honeymoon
1929
Madison Square Garden
1932
Buck Privates
1928
The Unexpected Father
1932
Tish
1942
1925 Studio Tour
1925
Show Business
1932
On the Loose
1931
Love Birds
1934
Mickey the Kid
1939
Weekend for Three
1941
Hello, Sister!
1933
The Crooked Circle
1932
Wife Savers
1928
The Plot Thickens
1936
Is My Face Red?
1932
Oh, Yeah!
1929
Sin Takes a Holiday
1930
Casey at the Bat
1927
Tea- With a Kick!
1923
Finn and Hattie
1931
No, No, Nanette
1930
The Dummy
1929
'49–'17
1917
Pretty Ladies
1925
Forty Naughty Girls
1937
The Other Half
1919
They Just Had to Get Married
1933
Let's Face It
1943
The Devil's Holiday
1930
Mary of the Movies
1923
Breakfast in Hollywood
1946
Paris
1929
Her First Mate
1933
Uncle Joe
1941
Teenage Millionaire
1961
Westward Passage
1932
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
1934
Wages for Wives
1925
The Argyle Case
1929
52nd Street
1937
Lazybones
1925
Mannequin
1926
The Locked Door
1929
One Track Minds
1933
Sing and Like It
1934
Their Big Moment
1934
Wanted!
1937
The Pajama Party
1931
Destry Rides Again
1932
Monte Carlo
1926
The Trial of Vivienne Ware
1932
Private Scandal
1934
The Guardsman
1931
The Lady's from Kentucky
1939
The Talk of the Town
1918
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
1933
Sins of the Fathers
1928
Once in a Lifetime
1932
The Big Gamble
1931
The Old Bull
1932
The Lottery Bride
1930
Strictly Unreliable
1932
Sneak Easily
1932
His Fatal Beauty
1917
Sealskins
1932
Free Love
1930
Heart of Twenty
1920
Red Noses
1932
A Little Princess
1917
She Gets Her Man
1935
The Meanest Gal in Town
1934
Changing Husbands
1924
Beyond Victory
1931
How Could You, Jean?
1918
The Affair of Susan
1935
Maids a la Mode
1933
Asleep in the Feet
1933
Alum and Eve
1932
Poor Relations
1919
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
1925
Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
1933
Steady Company
1932
Risky Business
1926
For the Defense
1922
A Society Sensation
1918
Mexican Spitfire at Sea
1942
Is Matrimony a Failure?
1922
Her Big Night
1926
A Woman's Faith
1925
So's Your Aunt Emma!
1942
A Modern Musketeer
1917
Catch-As Catch-Can
1931
West of the Water Tower
1924
Her Private Life
1929
Seeing It Through
1920
Patsy
1921
The Girl Who Came Back
1923
Better Times
1919
Daughters of Today
1924
Three on a Honeymoon
1934
A Daughter of Luxury
1922
Men, Women, and Money
1919
As the Sun Went Down
1919
A Lady's Name
1918
The Bargain of the Century
1933
Out All Night
1933
Why They Left Home
1917
Dear Miss Gloria
1946
Uneasy Money
1917
Youth to Youth
1922
Twin Beds
1929
13 Washington Square
1928
She Whoops To Conquer
1933
Secrets of the Night
1924
A Desert Dilemma
1917
Sunny Side Up
1926
Early to Wed
1926
Mother's Helper
1933
The Great Love
1926
The Fast Set
1924
Poor Men's Wives
1923
Tillie of the Nine Lives
1917