Zasu Pitts

Actor

About

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Birth Place

Parsons, Kansas, USA

Born

January 03, 1898

Died

June 07, 1963

Cause of Death

Cancer

Biography

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Lead and supporting player from 1917 who first gained attention for her performance in Erich Von Stroheim's mammoth "Greed" (1924). With the emergence of sound Pitts established herself as an endearingly daffy comedienne, often in support of Thelma Todd or in tandem with Slim Summerville. Pitts' trademark wailing voice and fluttering hands were last seen on screen in Stanley Kramer's 196...

Filmography

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The Thrill of It All (1963)

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

Switchboard operator

Teenage Millionaire (1961)

This Could Be the Night (1957)

Francis Joins the WACS (1954)

Lt. Valerie Humpert

Denver & Rio Grande (1952)

Photos & Videos

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Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) -- (Movie Clip) English Cowboy

Ruggles Of Red Gap (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Superlative Sauce

Family & Companions

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Edward Woodall

Husband

Real estate broker, former tennis pro.

Notes

Her unusual first name came from two aunts after whom she was named Eliza and Susan.

Biography

Lead and supporting player from 1917 who first gained attention for her performance in Erich Von Stroheim's mammoth "Greed" (1924). With the emergence of sound Pitts established herself as an endearingly daffy comedienne, often in support of Thelma Todd or in tandem with Slim Summerville. Pitts' trademark wailing voice and fluttering hands were last seen on screen in Stanley Kramer's 1963 film, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

The Thrill of It All (1963)

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

Switchboard operator

Teenage Millionaire (1961)

This Could Be the Night (1957)

Francis Joins the WACS (1954)

Lt. Valerie Humpert

Denver & Rio Grande (1952)

Valerie Humpert

Life with Father (1947)

Cora [Cartwright]

The Perfect Marriage (1947)

Breakfast in Hollywood (1946)

Elvira Spriggens

Let's Face It (1943)

Cornelia Pigeon

Mexican Spitfire at Sea (1942)

Miss Emily Pepper

The Bashful Bachelor (1942)

So's Your Aunt Emma (1942)

"Aunt" Emma Bates

Aggie Pilkington

Broadway Limited (1941)

Week-End for Three (1941)

The Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941)

Niagara Falls (1941)

Miss Polly (1941)

Miss [Pandora] Polly

It All Came True (1940)

No, No Nanette (1940)

The Lady's from Kentucky (1939)

Mickey, the Kid (1939)

Nurse Edith Cavell (1939)

Naughty but Nice (1939)

Eternally Yours (1939)

Sing Me a Love Song (1937)

52nd Street (1937)

Letitia Rondell

Forty Naughty Girls (1937)

Hildegarde Withers

Mad Holiday (1936)

Mrs. [Fay] Kinney

13 Hours by Air (1936)

The Plot Thickens (1936)

Hildegarde Withers

Spring Tonic (1935)

Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)

Mrs. [Prunella] Judson

She Gets Her Man (1935)

The Affair of Susan (1935)

Going Highbrow (1935)

Mrs. [Cora] Upshaw

Mathilda [Ounce Hemingway]

The Gay Bride (1934)

Two Alone (1934)

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934)

Miss [Tabitha] Hazy

The Meanest Gal in Town (1934)

Tillie [Prescott]

Private Scandal (1934)

Sing and Like It (1934)

Annie Snodgrass

Their Big Moment (1934)

Love Birds (1934)

Araminta Tootle

3 on a Honeymoon (1934)

Meet the Baron (1933)

Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men (1933)

Professional Sweetheart (1933)

Elmerada [de Leon]

Love, Honor and Oh, Baby! (1933)

Mr. Skitch (1933)

Mrs. [Maddie] Skitch

Her First Mate (1933)

Hello, Sister! (1933)

Out All Night (1933)

They Just Had to Get Married (1933)

The Trial of Vivienne Ware (1932)

Miss Gladys Fairweather

Back Street (1932)

Make Me a Star (1932)

Destry Rides Again (1932)

Temperance worker

Steady Company (1932)

Westward Passage (1932)

Shopworn (1932)

The Vanishing Frontier (1932)

Strangers of the Evening (1932)

The Crooked Circle (1932)

Unexpected Father (1932)

Polly Pickerill

Roar of the Dragon (1932)

Madison Sq. Garden (1932)

Once in a Lifetime (1932)

Is My Face Red? (1932)

Telephone operator

Blondie of the Follies (1932)

Broken Lullaby (1932)

Penrod and Sam (1931)

The Guardsman (1931)

Bad Sister (1931)

The Secret Witness (1931)

Beyond Victory (1931)

Their Mad Moment (1931)

Finn and Hattie (1931)

A Woman of Experience (1931)

The Big Gamble (1931)

Free Love (1931)

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

The Little Accident (1930)

The Lottery Bride (1930)

River's End (1930)

Monte Carlo (1930)

War Nurse (1930)

The Squealer (1930)

Passion Flower (1930)

No, No, Nanette (1930)

Sin Takes a Holiday (1930)

The Devil's Holiday (1930)

Oh, Yeah (1929)

This Thing Called Love (1929)

The Argyle Case (1929)

Twin Beds (1929)

The Squall (1929)

The Locked Door (1929)

The Dummy (1929)

Her Private Life (1929)

The Wedding March (1928)

Cecelia Schweisser

13 Washington Square (1928)

Wife Savers (1928)

Buck Privates (1928)

Sins of the Fathers (1928)

Mother Spengler

Casey at the Bat (1927)

Old Shoes (1927)

Mannequin (1926)

Sunny Side Up (1926)

Her Big Night (1926)

Monte Carlo (1926)

Risky Business (1926)

Early To Wed (1926)

What Happened to Jones (1926)

The Great Love (1925)

The Re-creation of Brian Kent (1925)

Wages for Wives (1925)

A Woman's Faith (1925)

The Business of Love (1925)

Pretty Ladies (1925)

Thunder Mountain (1925)

The Great Divide (1925)

Lazybones (1925)

Secrets of the Night (1925)

The Fast Set (1924)

The Legend of Hollywood (1924)

Changing Husbands (1924)

West of the Water Tower (1924)

The Goldfish (1924)

Daughters of Today (1924)

Greed (Reconstructed Version) (1924)

Mary of the Movies (1923)

Poor Men's Wives (1923)

Tea--With a Kick (1923)

The Girl Who Came Back (1923)

Anastasia Muldoon

Three Wise Fools (1923)

Souls for Sale (1923)

For the Defense (1922)

Is Matrimony a Failure? (1922)

A Daughter of Luxury (1922)

Youth to Youth (1922)

The Heart of Twenty (1920)

Seeing It Through (1920)

The Other Half (1919)

Jennie Jones, The Jazz Kid

Better Times (1919)

Men, Women and Money (1919)

Poor Relations (1919)

How Could You, Jean? (1918)

Oscar's sweetheart

A Society Sensation (1918)

The Talk of the Town (1918)

A Lady's Name (1918)

The Little Princess (1917)

Cast (Special)

The Real McTeague: A Synthesis of Forms (1993)

The Man Who Came to Dinner (1954)

Cast (Short)

One Track MInds (1933)

Maids a la Mode (1933)

Asleep in the Feet (1933)

The Bargain of the Century (1933)

The Soilers (1932)

Red Noses (1932)

Alum and Eve (1932)

The Old Bull (1932)

Sneak Easily (1932)

Show Business (1932)

Strictly Unreliable (1932)

Sealskins (1932)

War Mamas (1931)

The Pajama Party (1931)

On the Loose (1931)

Catch as Catch Can (1931)

Let's Do Things (1931)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1925 Studio Tour (1925)

Life Events

1917

Feature acting debut, "A Little Princess"

1925

Lead in Erich von Stroheim's "Greed"

1956

Starring role on TV series, "The Gale Storm Show"

1963

Last feature acting role in "The Thrill of It All"

Photo Collections

Ruggles of Red Gap - Movie Poster

Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Paramount's Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), starring Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, and Charlie Ruggles. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

The Gay Bride - Movie Poster

Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for The Gay Bride (1934). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

ZaSu Pitts - State Express Cigarette Card

This is a small cigarette card of actress ZaSu Pitts. These cards were included in Cigarette packs in the 1930s and were collectible items. Customers could even purchase books to organize and collect these cards. State Express was an active Cigarette Card producer, creating a wide range of cards featuring famous people of which film stars were an often popular draw.

Videos

Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) -- (Movie Clip) English Cowboy Butler Ruggles (Charles Laughton) assumes his false identity as "The Colonel" as he calls on the widow Judson (ZaSu Pitts) and her troublesome dog in Leo McCarey's Ruggles of Red Gap, 1935.

Ruggles Of Red Gap (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Superlative Sauce Valet Charles Laughton (title character), at his first social in his new American home town, meets forthright widow Mrs. Judson (ZaSu Pitts), having given up resisting his new employers' determination to declare him a colonel, in Leo McCarey's Ruggles Of Red Gap, 1935.

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) -- (Movie Clip) Get That Fella's Number! We’ve just seen director Stanley Kramer’s all-star comedy cast observing the desert car-crash death of gangster “Smiler,” so now we meet the head local cop, Spencer Tracy as Culpepper, Charles McGraw his assistant, getting the news, and the Jerry Lewis cameo, in It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, 1963.

Gay Bride, The (1934) -- (Movie Clip) They Don't Live Long Thuggy "Shoots" (Nat Pendleton) visits brash showgirl Mary (Carole Lombard) backstage, where she later confides in aide Mirabelle (ZaSu Pitts) opening director Jack Conway's The Gay Bride, 1934.

Greed (1925) -- (Movie Clip) I Want That Five Thousand! A drunken John McTeague (Gibson Gowland) tries to get money out of his miserly wife Trina (ZaSu Pitts) in this scene from Erich von Stroheim's Greed, 1925.

Silent Partner, The -- (TV Clip) Special Oscar Opening scenes from the George Marshall-directed episode of Screen Director's Playhouse, Joe E. Brown as a famous director attending the Academy Awards, Buster Keaton his former star, ZaSu Pitts a fan in the bar next door, in The Silent Partner, 1955.

Life With Father -- (Movie Clip) Do You Ever Do Duets? Vinnie (Irene Dunne) greets cousin Cora (ZaSuPitts) and friend Mary (Elizabeth Taylor), then introduces sons John (Martin Milner) and Clarence Jr. (James Lydon), in Life With Father, 1947.

Ruggles Of Red Gap - (Re-issue trailer) A British valet (Charles Laughton) must adapt to the Wild West when he is won in a poker game in Ruggles Of Red Gap (1935).

Naughty But Nice - (Original Trailer) A college professor (Dick Powell) turns songwriter and falls for his lyricist in Naughty But Nice (1939) co-starring Ann Sheridan.

Guardsman, The - (Original Trailer) Stage stars Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne filmed in their biggest hit, the classic farce The Guardsman (1931).

Going Highbrow - (Original Trailer) Guy Kibbee and ZaSu Pitts try to break into high society in Going Highbrow (1935).

All Quiet On The Western Front - (Re-release trailer) The third Academy Award for Best Picture went to this searing saga of a young German soldier in World War I.

Sing Me A Love Song - (Original Trailer) A playboy (James Melton) turns over a new leaf and starts from the bottom of the family business in Sing Me A Love Song (1937).

Thrill of It All, The - (Original Trailer) Let screenwriter Carl Reiner be your guide to the Doris Day/James Garner comedy The Thrill of It All (1963).

Mad Holiday - (Original Trailer) A temperamental film star's vacation turns deadly when he uncovers a murder on Mad Holiday (1936).

Weekend For Three - (Original Trailer) Algonquin wit Dorothy Parker co-wrote Weekend For Three (1941), a comedy about a married woman who can't get rid of an old boyfriend.

Meet the Baron - (Original Trailer) The Three Stooges make an early appearance in Meet the Baron (1933) based on the popular radio comedian Baron Munchausen.

Meanest Gal in Town, The - (Original Trailer) A stranded carnival girl comes between a lady show owner and the town barder in The Meanest Gal in Town (1934) starring Zazu Pitts.

It All Came True - (Original Trailer) Warner Bros' "Oomph Girl" Ann Sheridan gets top billing in the original trailer for It All Came True, 1940, starring Humphrey Bogart as a gangster holed-up in a nutty boarding house.

Family

Don Gallery

Son

Adopted son of actor Barbara La Marr; born in 1923; raised by Pitts after La Marr's death.

Companions

Edward Woodall

Husband

Real estate broker, former tennis pro.

Bibliography

Notes

Her unusual first name came from two aunts after whom she was named Eliza and Susan.

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