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I think it's easier for an attractive girl to play a plain girl than for a plain or ugly woman to play a homely woman. I have always enjoyed Zasu's talent as a comedienne & actor.
@kst Molina... Yes, I understand the confusion. There was no better film actress in Hollywood than Lillian Gish. Zasu, much under rated and too forgotten, was of lesser excellence, but only a little less. The only person who was better at "ditzy" than Zasu was the wonderful Marion Lorne. Lorne was in England, but came to America much later in her career.
Hello again from Santa Cruz CA. ZaSu Pitts has a victorian house here downtown next to the Nickelodeon movie theatre which is still independant. There was a party band running around the Bay Area in the 1980-1990s called the Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra. The house is blue with white trim.
They use to have class trips there when I was a kid , that was in the late 80s , Santa Ana high school , it was either school or our scout group but I remember this name
Hey! I used to live in Felton. But I was unaware of that house. I wanted to name our puppy ZaSu, but hubby wasn’t keen on it. I’ve never heard it pronounced like the narrator is saying it, with a long,”a”, but with the short “a” as in ahhhh!
@@jamesmcinnis208 how arrogant. the British pronounce names according to their accent, as do you Americans. You would be perceived as mispronouncing the names of many British actors over there. America is not the gold standard of the world of communication - after all, you speak your own version of "English".- much like the Brits. I actually find the both of you quaint in insisting that your differing spellings and multitudinous accents are the only correct ways. But, _mispronouncing_ Ms. Pitts' name? Do you know first-hand how she pronounced it? And, BTW, Endora's identity in the show was British, thence the accent, poor as it was.
ZaSu was one of those big Silent names who navigated the transition to talkies but with diminished star power. Like Richard Barthelemess, Ramon Novarro, John Gilbert, Francis X Bushman, Lillian Gish... PS: Just been watching 'Monte Carlo', an early talkie in which ZaSu plays Jeanette Macdonald's maid. A nothing part where she is wasted. One would have thought Lubitsch of all directors would have given her more scope.
I wouldn't put Lillian Gish in that category. She had a 75 yr film career and worked into her 90s...she was the oldest working actress in 'The Whales of August', 1987 at 93, costarred Bette Davis who was 79. Ms Gish worked consistently after leaving MGM in 1929. She began a stage career @ age 5 with her mother & sister. Her lifelong friend Mary Pickford introduced her to movie acting in 1912. None of the other silent stars you mentioned had acting careers past the mid 30s. Francis X Bushman did some movie bit roles into the 30s- 40s switching to sm tv parts until his death in 1966 @ 83. His greatest fame was from 1911 to mid 20s. He was the biggest male star of that time & owned a fleet of lavender limousines! Ms Gish died @ 99 short of her 100th birthday in 1993.
@@poorthing After Sound came in, Gish spent most of her time in legit. She was no longer an A List movie name, tending to be relegated to supporting parts in prestige product, e.g. 'Duel in the Sun'. She had a meaty part in 'Night of the Hunter', but in a modestly mounted movie. 'The Whales of August' was a glorified TV movie. I disparage neither Miss G nor these films, but Hollywood after 'The Wind' saw her as an illustrious relic. She herself said she could not adjust to its industrialized methods after being Griffith's muse, preferring the stage.
I am well aware of Ms Gish lengthy career and what films she made & when, also what her ambitions were. She left MGM in 1929 but not because she was no longer an 'A -lister', a term that wasn't used then, or because of a lack of a 'voice'. She was 38 and she had been in films since the 1910s, as she started on the stage as a child so she returned to the stage taking film roles as she wanted & of course -suitable to her age. Placing ZaSu in the same category as John Gilbert or Ramon Navvaro is ridiculous. Zasu was wonderful but never reached a 'Star' status! I have Ms Gish autobiography, biographies and her wonderful coffee table photo book of both Lillian & Dorothy. Silent films are a special interest of mine & I have an extensive library, visual and written. Lillian Gish never had her 'star' power diminished, she just chose when to let it shine, perhaps sustaining one of the longest acting careers - on her own terms.
I agree! Several of the pictures shown here of her as a young woman even make her look like a third Gish sister, and they were top film stars at that time.
For me her most memorable film will always be Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934), in which she co-starred with W.C. Fields. The scenes where she hopes to win her "beau" - W.C. Fields - with her "cooking", are priceless and unforgettable!
Poor selection of photos to sync with the narration. For instance, you spent a great deal of time talking about Thelma Todd and you didn't even have one photo of Todd with Zasu. Next time try to find pictures that complement the narration. Thanks.
Thanks for this! A splendid actress, and a name I haven't heard in a long time. I grew up in LA, where my grandmother had worked as a dress designer for several actresses since the 1920s. Both she and my mother greatly admired Zazu Pitts whom my grandmother had met-- but I never, ever in my life heard her name pronounced as you do. We always heard her referred to as Zasu, rhymes with Jazz you. The remains of Thelma Todd's roadhouse were there on Pacific Coast Highway clear up through the 1970s. I've always believed she was murdered. Her best friend Thelma Ritter was devastated and swore she'd find out who did it, according to a few books, but if she ever did I never read about it.
@@Galen-864 Hmmm. "I've always believed she was murdered. Her best friend Thelma Todd was devastated and swore she'd find out who did it...". You wrote these words. How do you so construct them as meaning that TODD was devastated by Pitt's death?? These are only trivial comments, but if you want to be understood you must read and revise as necessary to make your meaning clear. Here you have written the opposite of what you intend the reader to apprehend. Otherwise, there is no point and you are wasting your time.
To say that Zasu Pitts was "one of the" stars of the 1924 film Greed (as it spotlit her character's greed) is like saying that King Kong was "one of the" stars of King Kong.
Great video. The only thing I'd say is that you talk about Thelma Todd a lot yet show no pictures of her. A pic to illustrate her beauty would add context. Keep up the good work!
Another two cents from me. What about the secrets that she was supposed to be keeping during the introduction to this piece. Seems like a come on to me how about you? There are a couple of photographs of her where she's absolutely gorgeous one wrapped in fur. Take a second look and don't you agree that she really was quite pretty
I learned about her from her book _Candy Hits_ . She says her name is pronounced “SAY-zoo.” “How right Mary [Pickford] was, for I have heard myself called ‘Jazz-Su Pitts,’ “Shay-Zoo Pitts,’ and in France it even stretches to ‘Sha-Sha Pootsie’! It is really pronounced ‘Say Zoo.’” (page 15)
I really was ignorant of Pitts' primary career from the 1920s and 30s. I recall her from a never ending succession of TV shows and a few movie roles in the 1950s and later, where she seemed typecast as the elderly,, distracted, secondary character.
Yvonne DeCarlo said that, as Lily Munster, when she was on screen she would use her hands to help convey what Lily was expressing as a tribute to ZaSu Pitts. It worked.
She was a very funny lady and I don't care what she looked like it's her talent and I think she had a great sense of humor she's a legend aa for The death of Thelma Todd...... I believe it may be murder you said she's had bruises
@@fultondyke You're right. Nazimova had been Edith Luckett's acting mentor at start of Edith's Broadway career, and while both she and Zasu were Edith's close friends, Alla was Nancy's godmother.
10:25 Donald Gallery, ZaSu's adopted son, believed for most of his life that Paul Bern and the party animal Barbara La Marr were his natural parents. He eventually found by DNA testing that Bern was not his dad. ZaSu never said who it might be, and may not have known. Bern, an MGM producer, figured in a bigger scandal. He was Jean Harlow's husband. He died in 1932 by what was alleged later to be a shooting- by a jealous ex. It was ruled at the time to be suicide bc he was impotent. Strange that Thelma Todd once took a Margaret Dumontish role stooging for the Marx Brothers.
Hello, Esmee, you are correct that Bern was not Don Gallery's father. You will find my deductions on Who REALLY Was his bio-father in my book: HANDS With a HEART: The Personal Biography of Actress ZaSu Pitts (c.2011); You can purchase a signed copy on my eBay pages: I'm word_4_word, Seller on eBay.
"Squeaky voice"? Not at all! She had her own way of speaking but it was more of a drawl and personalization. If you want 'squeaky' how 'bout the intolerable high pitched, high speed nasal whines of today's offenders.
@@sonnieaaron Jean Hagen's caricature voice in Singin' was more a Bronx Honk kazoo, a razor blade gargle. Her natural voice in other films, and as the wife in tv's The Danny Thomas Show, was pleasantly lower and normal.
Actress Mae Questel, who performed character voices in Max Fleischer's Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons, reportedly based the fluttering utterances of Olive Oyl on Pitts.
@@drzarkov39 Thank you. My buddy befriended a lady in Florida who was one of the voices of Betty Boop. He passed away, and I was just wondering who she was.
She is a beauty a la Lillian Gish. What a facinating movie her life story might be! I have friends who refuse to watch anything in b & w, let alone silents 🙄 they have no clue what they’re missing!
ZaSu Pitts' voice was not "squeeky," it was whiney with a self-depricating delivery. It was her voice that inspired the voice of Olive Oyl as made famous by Mae Questel.
Why don’t you include appropriate pictures to go along with the commentary? There are plenty of Thelma Todd pictures around and the same can be said for Meredith and the rest
@@h.calvert3165 no big deal...hamsters can get very testy if you don't feed them right away. It could been a hamster hit job. Don't get your panties in a tangle..no biggie..
🤔 Another interesting video. I have to say I have not heard of this woman before. But now you have bought her to my attention, I will try and find out more about her. Thanks 😀.
I KNEW A MR GALLAGHER IN WAUKEGAN, IL WHO OWNED A WELDING AND FABRICATION SHOP ON 22nd ST IN NORTH CHICAGO ,IL HE OWNED 2 1931 HENDERSON CYCLES!!! I WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM? P.S. NEVER KNEW THE MODEL DESIGNATION. MICHAEL GERARD KIRSLING CHICAGO
Provocative question. Nancy has Zasu's face shape, big eyes and gaze exactly. And lifelong, Nancy never treated Kenneth Robbins as if he were her biological dad.
My first exposure to Zasu Pitt's name was my mother -- born in 1933. I've since immersed myself in 1930s cinema and have come to appreciate her and others during that time.
ZaSu Pitts's first name rhymes with tattoo. It was pronounced that way in documentaries, news stories and even movies of the time. In Never Give A Sucker An Even Break W.C. Fields asks his niece: "You want to grow up and be dumb like ZaSu Pitts?"
WHEN YOU SPEAK OF A CERTAIN PERSON SHOW THEIR PICTURES ! NOT CONTINUED RANDOM PICTURES…..TOO HARD TO FOLLOW YOUR NARRATIVE. I AM DIZZY TRYING TO FOLLOW THIS !
@@JudgeJulieLit The whole story involved a girl (Myers) who is a "society sensation"...until she isn't! (until the twist at the end!)The film was severely cut and re-released to focus on Valentino, although Myers was a bigger star when the film was made and hired him for her next film. They were friends.
The a in ZaSu is pronounced as the a in at, not as in ate as you say it. Makes one wonder about the validity of the rest of what you have to say about her.
On the last comment in this superb history of Zasu, I think America needs her again! I spent all of yesterday finding & watching the Pitts & Todd shorts. I can't remember laughing so hard at anything!
Very well done...a very complete story of an interesting lady, very talented but largely overlooked for a lot of the roles she played, but teaming her with Thelma Todd helped her a great deal. Thelma may have had the looks, but Zasu out-performed her most of the time, whether scripted that way or naturely I don't know. Thank You, well done!
