Wissenswertes

When the comic strip "Thimble Theatre" became the animated series "Popeye", the producers used Pitts' hand-wringing and nervous speech pattern to characterize the on-screen persona of Olive Oyl.

Named "Zasu" because her mother's two sisters, Eliza and Susan, both wanted her named after them. Her mother did not want to disappoint either of them, so she formed the name from the last two letters of Eliza and the first two letters of Susan.

Was an excellent cook and a collector of candy recipes, which resulted in a cookbook entitled "Candy Hits by ZaSu Pitts", which was published posthumously in 1963.

When she met D.W. Griffith, the director rejected her because he said she looked too much like Lillian Gish. Instead of being hurt, Pitts said it was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her.

Charles Chaplin took an interest in her around 1917 or 1918 during her first brush with popularity. He actually signed her to a six-month contract but never used her.

Alfred E. Green once said her face "has been on more cutting-room floors than any other actress". She was a famous scene-stealer who often overshadowed the star. Her scenes were usually cut to keep peace on the set.

Inadvertently began her career as a comedienne when she was selected by her high school graduation class to recite "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" as a joke. Her attempts to give it a melodramatic reading were met with laughter from students and staff, who thought she was genuinely funny. Although initially embarrassed, she was coaxed to finish it and found that making others laugh was the key to social acceptance for her. The young girl who was previously made fun of by her peers, found acceptance in making them laugh.

Her best friend during the 1920s was ill-fated actress Barbara La Marr; the two worked in three films together during 1923. Pitts and her husband Tom Gallery adopted La Marr's son Marvin when she died in 1926. The little boy was renamed Don Gallery.

Her trademark gesture was all of her fingers aflutter at once.

Pictured on one of ten 29¢ US commemorative postage stamps celebrating stars of the silent screen, issued 27 April 1994. Designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, this set of stamps also honored Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, Charles Chaplin, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, Harold Lloyd, Theda Bara, Buster Keaton, and the Keystone Kops.

The favorite actress of Erich von Stroheim, who called her "the greatest tragedienne of the screen".

According to "Classic Images" biographer Charles Stumpf, she claimed that Rudolph Valentino taught her to dance while they appeared together in A Society Sensation (1918).

Her career really began when she found her way onto the set of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917) and was noticed by Mary Pickford, who put her into the picture as well as her next, A Little Princess (1917) and in husband Douglas Fairbanks' A Modern Musketeer (1917).

Was originally cast to play Lew Ayres' mother in Im Westen nichts Neues (1930). However, preview audiences laughed when they saw her, and her scenes were reshot by Beryl Mercer.

Legally separated from first husband Tom Gallery on November 24, 1926, she did not file for divorce from him until January 14, 1933. The final decree came ten weeks later.

Her first name is pronounced "Zay-soo".

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6654 Hollywood Blvd. on February 8, 1960.

Her marriage to John Woodall was not revealed to the public until February 12, 1934, when they went on their honeymoon.

She went to Los Angeles in 1916 and after doing extra work she had her first major role in Erich von Stroheim's Gier nach Geld (1924).

In 1957, William Howe and Casey Adams (Max Showalter) wrote "My Square Laddie", a version of "My Fair Lady" with a gender reversal. Pitts, in addition to Reginald Gardiner and Nancy Walker, are heard on the musical LP, and could possibly be the only LP album made by the actress.

Paul Ivano said that during screen tests Erich von Stroheim asked Zasu to simulate orgasm as she "bathes" in golden coins but she didn't know what that was. So, von Stroheim started mimicking with sounds to explain to her. The whole crew burst into laughter. Nonetheless, she got the part.

The 1930 Census shows her still living with husband, though reportedly legally separated. It also shows them as the adoptive parents of a boy named Don Mike, who is listed as "child actor".

A close friend from her high school days was Lois Nelson, who became Stan Laurel's first wife. They shared a Hollywood apartment while both were fledgling actors.

Pitts was known for giving speeches as a very conservative Republican and, reportedly, when Nancy Davis (Nancy Reagan) took Ronald Reagan to a speech by Pitts, he switched his allegiance from Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas to Richard Nixon during the 1950 Senatorial race in California.

Under contract to Hal Roach Studios, she made a series of 16 comedy shorts with Thelma Todd in the early 1930s. Unhappy with her contract, like other Roach actors, and with a breakdown in renewal negotiations, she was replaced with Patsy Kelly.

In the film Gib keinem Trottel eine Chance (1941), W.C. Fields asks his niece, played by Gloria Jean, "Don't you want to go to school? You want to grow up and be dumb like ZaSu Pitts?" Gloria Jean replied "She only acts like that in pictures. I like her.".

Following her death, she was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, CA.

Mentioned in Gib keinem Trottel eine Chance (1941).

After initially being rejected by the Mack Sennett, Charles Chaplin, and Christie studios, the determined Pitts finally was given a successful screen test and work as a stock player at Universal by the LaSalle and Joker unit.

With the huge success of Laurel and Hardy, there was talk on the Hal Roach lot of Pitts being part of a female team playing similar roles to the Boys, but the concept never materialised. She was, however, teamed with Thelma Todd with Pitts playing an uncertain bumbling lady and Todd as a beautiful woman who often got herself into situations not always to her liking. This was a series of 16 films, the last of which featured Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in a cameo appearance.

Worked in radio with Lum and Abner.

Profiled in the book "Funny Ladies" (1999) by Stephen M. Silverman.

In 1944, Pitts tackled Broadway, making her debut in the mystery Ramshackle Inn. The play, written expressly for her, did well, and she took the show on the road in later years. She was also a familiar attraction in summer-stock theaters, playing annually in the Norma Mitchell play Post Road.

Her birthplace of Parsons, Kansas, has a star tile at the entrance to the Parsons Theatre to commemorate her.

Her parents named her "ZaSu" as an amalgamation of the two maiden aunts she had been named for.

She appeared in 14 films with Slim Summerville.

Her childhood home at 208 Lincoln Street still stands.

In 1933, Pitts married John Edward "Eddie" Woodall, with whom she remained until her death.

Appeared in four films with husband Tom Gallery: Bright Skies (1920), Heart of Twenty (1920), Patsy (1921) and A Daughter of Luxury (1922).

Appeared in the original, scrapped version of Anna Karenina (1927), which was directed by Dmitriy Bukhovetskiy, and starred Ricardo Cortez and Greta Garbo, who were supported by Lionel Barrymore, Maude Turner Gordon, George Beranger, Helene Chadwick, Albert Conti, Mario Carillo and Pitts. Garbo referred to her in her 1927 article for Screenland.

Her daughter Ann was born in 1922.

Resided at the Hotel Des Artistes, 1 West 67th Street, in Manhattan, New York.