ZaSu Pitts Suite
According to her own account, actress ZaSu Pitts was given her curious cognomen because she
was named for two aunts, Eliza and Susan. Born in Cherryvale, Kansas, Pitts moved with her family
to California, where at age 19 she began her film career.
Her first starring role was as an ugly duckling who finds true love in 1919's Better Times. Her
calculated vagueness and fluttery hand gestures earned Pitts comedy roles from the outset, but
director Erich von Stroheim saw dramatic potential in the young actress: He cast her as the
grasping, money-mad wife in his masterpiece Greed (1924), and she rose to the occasion with a
searing performance.
Except for a couple of later collaborations with Von Stroheim, Pitts returned to predominately comic
assignments after Greed. One exception was her portrayal of Lew Ayres' ailing mother in the
Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), a brilliant piece of work that unfortunately fell
victim to the editors' scissors when a preview audience, conditioned to Ms. Pitts' comedy roles,
broke out in loud laughter when she came onscreen (she was replaced by Beryl Mercer in the
domestic version of All Quiet, though reportedly her scenes were retained for some European
versions).
Established as a top character comedienne by the 1930s (her oft-imitated catchphrase was "Oh,
dear, oh my"), Pitts co-starred with Thelma Todd in a series of Hal Roach two-reelers, was
top-billed in such feature programmers as Out All Night (1933) and The Plot Thickens (1935), and
showed up in select character roles in A-pictures. During the 1940s and 1950s, she toured in
Ramshackle Inn, a play written especially for her by George Batson. From 1956 through 1960,
Pitts played Elvira "Nugey" Nugent on the popular Gale Storm TV sitcom Oh, Susanna.
ZaSu Pitts died in 1963, shortly after completing her final film appearance in It's a Mad Mad Mad
Mad World (1963) and just a few days after her last TV guest assignment on Burke's Law.
Her room features a queen bed, Simmons mattress, armoire, 27" TV, VCR and DVD player,
refrigerator, microwave, coffee, green tea, hot chocolate, microwave popcorn, bottled water, Andes
chocolates, private bathroom with shower, and all the other standard features of our Suites.
This room rents for $59 per night with a 10% discount for AAA and AARP members. If you stay for
6 nights, the 7th night is free. Extended stays are welcome.
was named for two aunts, Eliza and Susan. Born in Cherryvale, Kansas, Pitts moved with her family
to California, where at age 19 she began her film career.
Her first starring role was as an ugly duckling who finds true love in 1919's Better Times. Her
calculated vagueness and fluttery hand gestures earned Pitts comedy roles from the outset, but
director Erich von Stroheim saw dramatic potential in the young actress: He cast her as the
grasping, money-mad wife in his masterpiece Greed (1924), and she rose to the occasion with a
searing performance.
Except for a couple of later collaborations with Von Stroheim, Pitts returned to predominately comic
assignments after Greed. One exception was her portrayal of Lew Ayres' ailing mother in the
Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), a brilliant piece of work that unfortunately fell
victim to the editors' scissors when a preview audience, conditioned to Ms. Pitts' comedy roles,
broke out in loud laughter when she came onscreen (she was replaced by Beryl Mercer in the
domestic version of All Quiet, though reportedly her scenes were retained for some European
versions).
Established as a top character comedienne by the 1930s (her oft-imitated catchphrase was "Oh,
dear, oh my"), Pitts co-starred with Thelma Todd in a series of Hal Roach two-reelers, was
top-billed in such feature programmers as Out All Night (1933) and The Plot Thickens (1935), and
showed up in select character roles in A-pictures. During the 1940s and 1950s, she toured in
Ramshackle Inn, a play written especially for her by George Batson. From 1956 through 1960,
Pitts played Elvira "Nugey" Nugent on the popular Gale Storm TV sitcom Oh, Susanna.
ZaSu Pitts died in 1963, shortly after completing her final film appearance in It's a Mad Mad Mad
Mad World (1963) and just a few days after her last TV guest assignment on Burke's Law.
Her room features a queen bed, Simmons mattress, armoire, 27" TV, VCR and DVD player,
refrigerator, microwave, coffee, green tea, hot chocolate, microwave popcorn, bottled water, Andes
chocolates, private bathroom with shower, and all the other standard features of our Suites.
This room rents for $59 per night with a 10% discount for AAA and AARP members. If you stay for
6 nights, the 7th night is free. Extended stays are welcome.
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