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ZaSu Pitts (3 January 1894 - 7 June 1963) was a United States movie actress. In many of her film credits and contemporary articles, her name is rendered as Zazu Pitts. ZaSu Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas and grew up in Santa Cruz, California. Her unusual first name was coined from parts of the names "Eliza" and "Susan", female relatives who both wanted ZaSu's mother to name the child after them.
Pitts debuted in silent film in 1917, including a number of leading roles. Perhaps her most famous early role was in Erich von Stroheim's Greed (1925). Von Stroheim also featured her in The Wedding March and Walking Down Broadway.
When Hollywood switched to talkies, Pitts, who had a distinctive nasal voice with a wavering vibrato, switched to comedy character actor roles.
When Mae Questel was called on to create the screen voice of the character "Olive Oyl" for the Fleischer Studios animated cartoon version of the comic strip "Popeye", Questel created a caricature of Zazu Pitts' voice.
From the 1940s through the early 1960s ZaSu Pitts also made numerous television appearances, including her role in The Gale Storm Show, Oh! Susanna (1956-1960), with Gale Storm.
ZaSu Pitts died of cancer in Hollywood, California at age 69. She was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City.
Pitts was married to actor Tom Gallery from 1920 to 1932. They had two children: a daughter, Ann Gallery, and a son, Don Gallery (ne Marvin Carville La Marr), whom they adopted after the death of his mother, actress Barbara La Marr.
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 1994, she was honored with her image on a United States postage stamp designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld.
External links
- Zazu Pitts entry in IMDB (http://imdb.com/name/nm0686032/)
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