Shirley Pitti, wife of longtime Culver City resident Paul Pitti, died peacefully in her sleep
of congestive heart failure on Sunday. She was 85 years old.
Born Shirley Crowl on New Year's Eve, 1922, in Findlay, Ohio, she moved to Glendale as a teenager in September1941.
She met her husband, Paul, son of the actor/ stuntman Ben Pitti, at a dance at Blessed Sacrament Church, Hollywood, in September 1947. They were married in Glendale on May 15, 1948.
[img]23|left|Shirley and Paul Pitti||no_popup[/img]
In an interview in 2002, Mrs. Pitti recalled seeing Ben Pitti's Wild West act back in Ohio, never dreaming she would later marry his son.
Paul's brother, Carl Pitti, was Robert Taylor's stunt double on several Westerns, including "Billy
The Kid," "Ambushed," "Westward The Women," "Many Rivers To Cross" and "The Law and Jake
Wade."
Paul Pitti occasionally appeared with his brother Carl and Carl's wife Mickey singing cowboy music. They appeared together on The Spade Cooley Show at Lick Pier in Ocean Park and also on KTLA in a family Western music show.
A Dramatic Entry
Shirley was pressed into service for the family act, and she appeared with the family in
a television show in 1949 called "It's A Living." She also performed in a Western variety show at the Shrine Auditorium where Ben framed her petite 5-foot-3 body by throwing knives. She was a brand new bride of only two months at the time.
On Aug. 8, 1949, she gave birth to her first child, Pamela Ann. On Aug. 8,1953, her son Ben (named after his grandfather) was born.
Shirley’s husband, Paul, was in an auto accident in June 1950. Six months later, he made the decision not to follow the family into show business. Instead, Paul Pitti went to work at Hughes Aircraft where he spent the next 35 years, retiring on May 30, 1986.
Everybody on the Move
In 1953, Paul's father, Ben, bought Will Rogers Jr.'s ranch in Baldwin Hills. Subsequently, all three Pitti families moved there. Ben and Carl worked with Will Rogers Jr. on two feature films,
"The Will Rogers Story" and "The Boy From Oklahoma."
In 1999, Shirley and Paul came out of retirement to appear in the cowboy band "The New Westernaires." The band, which includes her daughter and son-in-law, performs yearly
at the Palos Verdes Peninsula Horsemen's Assn. Cowboy and Music Festival as well
as at the Culver City Senior Center and the Julian Dixon Library.
A born performer, Shirley would bring the house down with her comic portrayal of a gin-soaked,
heavy smoking derelict singing "Cigarettes, Whiskey and Wild, Wild Men."
The Right Way to Celebrate
Shirley celebrated her 56th wedding anniversary in a recording studio with her husband and the band recording the CD "Cowboys, Campfires, Baked Beans and Other Sounds of the West."
It is a musical comedy version of an old-time radio show. The program features Shirley singing comic songs as well as a lovely duet, "You Are My Sunshine" with her husband.
Shirley is survived by her husband of 59 years, her daughter Pamela, son-in-law Randy,
son Benjamin, daughter-in-law, Lei, granddaughter Jennifer and grandson Robert.
Final Plans
The family prefers, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Shirley's name to the St. Jude Children's' Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Pl., Memphis, TN 38105, telephone 800.873.6983
A celebration of Shirley Pitti's life will be held at the Holy Cross Mausoleum and Cemetery,
5835 W. Slauson Ave., Culver City, on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Reception will follow.
Viewing is scheduled on Thursday, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Holy Cross.
