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Robert Cummings

May 04, 2023

For other people named Robert Cummings, see Robert Cummings (disambiguation).

Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990)[1] was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) and Princess O'Rourke (1943), and in dramatic films, especially two of Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers, Saboteur (1942) and Dial M for Murder (1954).[2] He received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Single Performance in 1955. On February 8, 1960, he received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture and television industries,[1] at 6816 Hollywood Boulevard and 1718 Vine Street.[3] He used the stage name Robert Cummings from mid-1935 until the end of 1954 and was credited as Bob Cummings from 1955 until his death.[4]

Robert Cummings
Cummings in 1956
Born
Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings

(1910-06-09)June 9, 1910
Joplin, Missouri U.S.
DiedDecember 2, 1990(1990-12-02) (aged 80)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park
Other namesBob Cummings
Blade Stanhope Conway
Bryce Hutchens
Alma materAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts
OccupationActor
Years active1931–1990
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
Emma Myers
​
​
(m. 1931; div. 1933)​
​
​
(m. 1935; div. 1943)​
Mary Elliott
​
​
(m. 1945; div. 1970)​
Gina Fong
​
​
(m. 1971; div. 1987)​
Martha Burzynski
​
(m. 1989)​

Early life

Cummings was born in Joplin, Missouri, a son of Dr. Charles Clarence Cummings and the former Ruth Annabelle Kraft.[5] His father was a surgeon, part of the original medical staff of St. John's Hospital in Joplin, and the founder of the Jasper County Tuberculosis Hospital in Webb City, Missouri.[6] Cummings's mother was an ordained minister of the Science of Mind.[5]

While attending Joplin High School, Cummings learned to fly.[7] His first solo flight was on March 3, 1927.[8] Some reports of his learning to fly refer to Orville Wright, the aviation pioneer, as being his godfather and flight instructor.[9][10][11][12] However, these reports appear to be based on either media interviews of Cummings or other anecdotal references.[13][14][15][16][2]There is no historical record of Orville Wright having traveled to Joplin, Missouri either around the time of the gestation or the birth of Cummings, or during 1927, the year Cummings learned to fly.[17][18][19] Cummings, born in 1910, would have only been 8 years old when Orville Wright had essentially stopped flying as a result of injuries he sustained in an accident at Fort Myer, Virginia, on September 17, 1918.[20][21][22] The report that Orville Wright taught Cummings to fly is also contradicted by Cummings' interview reported in the March 1960 Flying magazine.[23] In the interview, Cummings described how he learned to fly "by trial and error, mostly error" during 3 hours of instruction from a Joplin, Missouri plumber named Cooper before he soloed on March 3, 1927.[24] During high school, Cummings gave Joplin residents rides in his aircraft for $5 per person.[6]

When the government began licensing flight instructors, Cummings was issued flight instructor certificate No. 1, making him the first official flight instructor in the United States.[8][25]

Education

Cummings studied briefly at Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, but his love of flying caused him to transfer to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh. He studied aeronautical engineering for a year before he dropped out for financial reasons, his family having lost heavily in the 1929 stock market crash.[6][26]

Cummings became interested in acting while performing in plays at Carnegie Tech, and decided to pursue it as a career.[27] Since the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City paid its male actors $14 a week, Cummings decided to study there.[28] He stayed only one season, but later said he learned "three basic principles of acting. The first – never anticipate; second – take pride in my profession. And third – trust in God. And that last is said in reverence."[29]

Early acting career

Blade Stanhope Conway

Cummings started looking for work in 1930, but couldn't find any roles, forcing him to get a job at a theatrical agency.[6] Realizing that, at the time, "three quarters of Broadway plays were from England"[30] and that English accents and actors were in demand, Cummings decided to cash in an insurance policy and buy a round-trip ticket there.[31]

He was driving a motorbike through the countryside, picking up the accent and learning about the country, when his bike broke down at Harrogate. While waiting for repairs, he devised a plan. He invented the name "Blade Stanhope Conway" and bribed the janitor of a local theatre to put on the marquee: "Blade Stanhope Conway in Candida". He then had a photo taken of himself in front of the marquee and had 80 prints made. In London, he outfitted himself with a new wardrobe, composed a letter introducing the actor-author-manager-director "Blade" of Harrogate Repertory Theatre, and sent it off to 80 New York theatrical agents and producers.[30]

As a result, when Cummings returned to New York, he was able to obtain several meetings.[28][6]

One of the producers to whom he sent letters, Charles Hopkings, cast him in a production of The Roof by John Galsworthy, playing the role of the Hon. Reggie Fanning. Also in the cast was Henry Hull.[32] The play ran from October to November 1931 and Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times listed "Conway" among the cast who provided "some excellent bits of acting".[33]

In November 1932, "Conway" replaced Edwin Styles in the Broadway revue Earl Carroll's Vanities[34] after studying song and dance by correspondence course.[35]

Cummings later encouraged an old drama school classmate, Margaret Kies, to use a similar deception – she became the "British" Margaret Lindsay.[27] He later said pretending to be Conway broke up his first marriage, to a girl from Joplin. "She couldn't stand me."[36]

He was an extra in the Laurel and Hardy comedy film Sons of the Desert (1933)[37] and in the musical short Seasoned Greetings (1933).

Bryce Hutchens

Cummings decided to change his approach, when in the words of one report, "suddenly the bottom dropped out of the John Bull market; almost overnight, demand switched from Londoners to lassoers."[30]

In 1934, Cummings changed his name to "Bryce Hutchens".[28][6][38] He appeared under this name in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934, which ran from January to June in 1934.[39][40] He had a duet with Vivi Janiss, a native of Nebraska, with whom he sang "I Like the Likes of You".[41] Cummings and Janiss went with the show when it went on tour after the Broadway run, and they married towards the end of the tour.[26]

Paramount

The tour of Ziegfeld ended in Los Angeles in January 1935. Cummings enjoyed the city and wanted to move there.[42][26] He returned to New York, then heard King Vidor was looking for Texan actors for So Red the Rose (1935). He auditioned, pretending to be a Texan, having acquired his own version of a Texan accent by listening to cowboy bands on the radio.[30] His ruse was exposed, but Vidor nevertheless cast him, under his actual name.[35][43][31] In their review, The New York Times said that Cummings "does a fine bit" and "has the only convincing accent in the whole film."[44]

He followed this with a part in Paramount's The Virginia Judge (1935).[45] In July, the studio signed Cummings to a long-term contract.[46] Before his first two Paramount films were released, he was also cast in a supporting part in Millions in the Air (1935).[6][47]

Cummings appeared as one of the leads in the Western Desert Gold (1936), then had a supporting role in Forgotten Faces (1936) and a starring part in Three Cheers for Love (1936).[48] He also appeared in:

Beyond Flight (1936)
Hollywood Boulevard (1936)
The Accusing Finger (1936)
Hideaway Girl (1936)
Arizona Mahoney (1936)
The Last Train from Madrid (1937).[49][35]

Most of these were B pictures. He had a small role in an A picture, Souls at Sea (1937), then appeared in Sophie Lang Goes West (1937), Wells Fargo (1937) and College Swing (1938). He had a small role in You and Me (1938) (directed by Fritz Lang), and was in The Texans (1938) and Touchdown, Army (1938).

Eventually, Paramount dropped their option on him. "I was poison", he said. "No agent would look at me."[36] In June, Paramount announced he would return for King of Chinatown with Anna May Wong, but he does not appear in the final film.[50] In September he was cast at Republic, playing the lead in the crime movie I Stand Accused (1938). Cummings said it was "...a fluke hit—so at least I could get inside the casting agents again."[36]

Universal

 
Cummings and Peggy Moran, Spring Parade (1940)

In November 1938, Cummings auditioned for the romantic lead in Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939), starring Deanna Durbin, for producer Joe Pasternak.[51] Pasternak was reluctant to cast him, preferring to find a musician, but Cummings told him, "I could fake it". He later said, "I'd had a lot of experience faking things harder than that. He let me try it and he signed me up."[36]

On 21 November Cummings gave Universal an option on a seven-year contract starting at $600 a week, going up to $750 a week the following year, then ultimately up to $3,000 a week.[52] His first film for them, Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939) was a big success, and in March 1939 Universal took up their options on the actor. The film was directed by Henry Koster, who called Cummings "brilliant, wonderful… I made five pictures with him. I thought he was the best leading man I ever worked with. He had that marvelous comedy talent and also a romantic quality."[53] Reviewing the film, The New York Times said Cummings "displays a really astonishing talent for light comedy—we never should have suspected it from his other pictures."[54] Pasternak used him again, supporting another singing star, Gloria Jean, in The Under-Pup (1939).[55] (He was meant to reteam with Jean in Straight from the Heart, but it appears not to have been made.[56]) In August 1939 Columbia wanted him for the lead in Golden Boy, but could not come to terms with Universal.[57] Cummings supported Basil Rathbone and Victor McLaglen in Rio (1939), then was borrowed by 20th Century Fox to romance Sonia Henie in Everything Happens at Night (1939). At Universal he had a key role in Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939), then was borrowed by MGM to play the lead in a B movie with Laraine Day, And One Was Beautiful (1940). Back at Universal, Cummings was the romantic male lead in a comedy, Private Affairs (1940); then he romanced Durbin again in Spring Parade (1940). Cummings made his mark in the CBS Radio network's dramatic serial titled Those We Love, which ran from 1938 to 1945. He also played the role of David Adair in the serial drama Those We Love, opposite Richard Cromwell, Francis X. Bushman and Nan Grey.

A series of classic films

 
Saboteur, 1942

Cummings and Allan Jones were cast as the comic team leads in the film One Night in the Tropics (1940), but were overshadowed by the performances (as supporting actors, in their first film) by Abbott and Costello.[citation needed]. MGM borrowed Cummings a second time, to play opposite Ruth Hussey in Free and Easy (1941). In the same period, he was borrowed by a company established by Norman Krasna and Frank Ross, who were making a comedy from a script by Krasna for release through RKO: The Devil and Miss Jones (1941). Cummings played a union leader, Jean Arthur's love interest, under the direction of Sam Wood. Cummings shot the film at the same time as Free and Easy.[58] Free and Easy lost money for MGM, but Devil and Miss Jones was a critical and commercial success. 20th Century Fox borrowed him for Moon Over Miami (1941), starring Don Ameche and Betty Grable; Fox was willing to postpone the film so Cummings could finish Devil and Miss Jones.[59] In January 1941 Louella Parsons wrote, "is that boy going places in 1941. From the looks of things it's a Cummings year – because all his troubles with Universal are ironed out and almost every studio in town wants to borrow him.[60] Back at Universal, Pasternak used Cummings as the romantic male lead in It Started with Eve (1941), from a script by Krasna, opposite Deanna Durbin and Charles Laughton. Meanwhile, Sam Wood was directing an adaptation of the novel Kings Row (1942), over at Warner Bros, where the head of production was Hal Wallis. Wallis did not have any contract players at Warner Bros who were considered ideal for the role of Paris, and, after trying desperately to get Tyrone Power, he tried to borrow Cummings, who had done an impressive test.[61] However, Cummings was busy on It Started with Eve and the actor had to drop out. Then the schedule was rearranged and Cummings was able to make both films.[62] Production of Kings Row did have to be suspended for a week so Cummings could return to Universal to do reshoots for Eve.[63] Both films were huge successes. Hal Wallis said Cummings "was actually too old for the part" in Kings Row "not quite right, but he was helped considerably by an extraordinary support cast."[64] Back at Universal, Cummings starred in the Alfred Hitchcock spy thriller Saboteur (1942), made at Universal, with Priscilla Lane and Norman Lloyd. He played Barry Kane, an aircraft worker wrongfully accused of espionage, trying to clear his name.[65] In December 1941, John Chapman said Cummings was among "the most sought-after leading men in town" and was one of his "stars for 1942".[66] Universal announced Cummings for Boy Meets Baby with Deanna Durbin,[67] which became Between Us Girls (1942) with Diana Barrymore. He filmed it concurrently with a Hal Wallis movie at Warner Bros, and Princess O'Rourke (made 1942, released 1943), Norman Krasna's directorial debut. Cummings was meant to be in We've Never Been Licked (1943) for Walter Wanger at Universal,[68] but did not appear in the film.

World War II

In December 1941, Cummings joined the fledgling Civil Air Patrol, an organization of citizens and pilots interested in helping support the U.S. war effort. In February 1942, he helped establish Squadron 918-4 located in Glendale, California, at the Grand Central Air Terminal, becoming its first commanding officer. Two weeks later, he and other members of the squadron went in search of the Japanese submarine that had attacked the oil refinery at Goleta, California. During the war, Cummings participated in search and rescue missions, courier missions, and border and forestry patrols around the Western United States. For this work he used his own aircraft, Spinach I, a 1936 Porterfield, and Spinach II, a Cessna 165 Airmaster. The squadron he established still operates as San Fernando Senior Squadron 35 and is based at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, Los Angeles. In November 1942, Cummings joined the United States Army Air Forces.[69] During World War II, he served as a flight instructor.[2][6] After the war, Cummings served as a pilot in the United States Air Force Reserve, where he achieved the rank of captain.[70] Cummings played aircraft pilots in several of his postwar film roles. During the war service, he had small roles in the all-star Forever and a Day (1943) and Flesh and Fantasy (1943), but he was effectively off screen for two years.[71]

Suspension from Universal

Cummings was meant to be in Fired Wife with Teresa Wright, Charles Coburn, and Eddie Anderson and a director "comparable with" Leo McCarey. However, when he found out these actors would not be in the film, and the director would be Charles Lamont, he refused to be in it. (Filming began in April 1943 with Robert Paige taking Cummings's role.[72]) Universal put him on suspension for five weeks, refused to give him a new part, or pay his weekly salary of $1,500 after the suspension had been lifted. Cummings notified the studio in May 1943 that he considered himself no longer under contract. In September 1943, Cummings sued the studio for withheld wages of $10,700, also arguing that for some time, Universal tried to put him in minor roles to "run him ragged" and "to teach him a lesson".[73] In March 1944, the court ruled in Cummings's favor, saying Universal had voided its contract with the actor and owed him $10,700. This decision happened in the same fortnight as another court case involving Olivia de Havilland, which also ruled in the actor's favor.[74][75]

Freelance star

Hal Wallis

Cummings was considered free of Universal since August 1944. In January he signed a four-year exclusive contract with Hal Wallis, who had left Warner Brothers to become an independent producer.[76] Shortly after, he took leave from the Air Force to star in You Came Along (1945) for Hal Wallis, directed by John Farrow with a screenplay by Ayn Rand. The Army Air Forces pilot Cummings played, Bob Collins, died off camera, but was resurrected 10 years later for Cummings's television show. Cummings was under contract to Wallis for four years.[71][77] Also for Wallis—who had now moved to Paramount—he did The Bride Wore Boots (1946), a comedy with Barbara Stanwyck. He was announced for Dishonorable Discharge for Wallis from a story by John Farrow, but it appears to have not been made.[78] Neither was Its Love Love Love, which was announced by RKO,[79] or Dream Puss, which Wallis announced for Cummings at Paramount.[80]

In 1946, Cummings said, "Often I play the boyfriend of a girl young enough to be my daughter. I'm 36, and whenever I start drooping, I run one of my pictures and feel like a kid again."[81] Around this time, he also said he was more interested in producing and directing, and hoped to act in only one film per year.[82]

United California Productions

 
With Michèle Morgan in The Chase (1946)

Cummings had the leads in two films for Nero Films, a company of Seymour Nebenzal and Eugene Frenke, who released through United Artists: a film noir, The Chase (1946); and a Western, Heaven Only Knows (1947).

Cummings decided to form his own production company with Frenke and Philip Yordan, which they called United California. (They originally called it United World, but it was too similar to another company's name.[83][84]) In December 1946, it was announced that Cummings had signed an exclusive contract with United California Productions, and that his deal with Wallis was for one film a year for seven years.[85][86] They announced Bad Guy from a script by Yordan.[87] They were also going to do Joe MacBeth[88] (which was ultimately made by others).

In 1947, Cummings had reportedly earned $110,000 in the preceding12 months.[89] The Lost Moment (1947) with Susan Hayward was a film noir for Walter Wanger at Universal based on The Aspern Papers by Henry James. It was a resounding flop at the box office. Cummings was initially meant to follow it with The Big Curtain for Edward Alperson at Fox but that picture was never produced.[90]

Cummings appeared in Sleep, My Love (1948), another noir, directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Mary Pickford.

United California eventually brought in manufacturer Frank Hale as partner. Its first film, Let's Live a Little (1948), was a romantic comedy with Hedy Lamarr, released through United Artists.

Cummings announced a series of projects for United California: Ho the Fair Wind from a novel by IAR Wylie, The Glass Heart by Mary Holland, Poisonous Paradise (a docudrama for which some footage had been shot called Jungle), Passport to Love by Howard Irving Young, and a remake of Two Hearts in Three Quarter Time. Cummings was also trying to interest Norman Krasna into writing the story of how Cummings broke into acting, to be called Pardon My Accent.[91][92][93]

Cummings did The Accused (1949) for Hal Wallis at Paramount, supporting Loretta Young.

Reign of Terror (1949) was a thriller set in the French Revolution for director Anthony Mann; Eagle Lion co-produced with United California.[94]

Cummings did a comedy at Universal, Free for All (1949).

Columbia

In July 1949, Cummings signed a three-picture deal with Columbia.[95] He made Tell It to the Judge (1949), with Rosalind Russell, for them. He did one for Wallis at Paramount, Paid in Full (1950) (originally Bitter Victory), then went back to Columbia for The Petty Girl (1950) a musical with Joan Caulfield.

Cummings did announce he would make The Glass Heart for his own company and release through Columbia, but this did not happen.[96]

Cummings supported Clifton Webb in For Heaven's Sake (1950) at Fox, then played a con man in The Barefoot Mailman (1950), his third film for Columbia.

Cummings began working in television, appearing in Sure as Fate ("Run from the Sun") and Somerset Maugham TV Theatre ("The Luncheon").

He was in a Broadway play Faithfully Yours (originally The Philemon Complex), which had a short run in late 1951.[97][98]

At Columbia, he was in The First Time (1952), the first feature directed by Frank Tashlin. On TV, he was in Lux Video Theatre ("The Shiny People", "Pattern for Glory"), Betty Crocker Star Matinee ("Sense of Humor"), and Robert Montgomery Presents ("Lila My Love").

Cummings was one of the four stars featured in the short-run radio version of Four Star Playhouse.

He was offered Battle in Spain, the story of El Cid, with Linda Darnell, but turned it down because it was too controversial.[99]

Television star

My Hero

 
Publicity photo for My Hero (1952–53)

Cummings starred in his first regular television series in the comedy My Hero (1952–53), playing a bumbling real estate salesman. He also wrote and directed some episodes.[100] The series ran for 33 episodes before (it was reported) Cummings decided to end it and accept other offers.[101] In reality, the show had been axed. "After it was dropped, I was as dead as you could possibly get in show business" said Cummings. "I sat in my agent's office one day and heard a top producer tell him on the phone that nobody would buy me."[102] Out of work, he accepted the State Department's invitation to go on a goodwill mission to Argentina.[102] The show earned him an Emmy nomination.[103]

Cummings was in Marry Me Again (1953) at RKO for Tashlin, then went to England to star in another Hitchcock film, Dial M for Murder (1954), playing the lover of Grace Kelly, whose husband Ray Milland tries to kill her. The film was a hit.[2][6]

Cummings then supported Doris Day in a musical at Warner Bros, Lucky Me (1954).[104]

He was chosen by producer John Wayne as his co-star to play airline pilot Captain Sullivan in The High and the Mighty, partly due to Cummings's flying experience; however, director William A. Wellman overruled Wayne and hired Robert Stack for the part.[105]

Twelve Angry Men

In 1954, Cummings appeared in Twelve Angry Men, an original TV play for Westinghouse Studio One written by Reginald Rose and directed by Franklin Schaffner, alongside actors including Franchot Tone and Edward Arnold. Cummings played Juror Number Eight, the role taken by Henry Fonda in the feature-film adaptation.[6] Cummings's performance earned him the 1955 Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Single Performance.[106] Other television appearances included Campbell Summer Soundstage ("The Test Case"), Justice ("The Crisis"), The Elgin Hour ("Floodtide"), and a TV version of Best Foot Forward (1954).

Laurel Productions and The Bob Cummings Show

 
Ann B. Davis and Cummings in The Bob Cummings Show (rerun as Love That Bob)

 
With Rosemary DeCamp in 1959 for The Bob Cummings Show

In July 1954, Cummings formed his own independent film production company, Laurel Productions, Incorporated. The company's name had several affiliations to Cummings: his youngest daughter was named Laurel Ann Cummings; the street he and his family lived on was named Laurel Way; his wife's grandmother's name was Laurel; and finally, the fact that Laurel & Hardy had given Cummings his film debut back in 1933.[107][108][109] His wife Mary Elliott was appointed president of Laurel Productions.[108] In July 1954, Cummings filmed the pilot for his television show, The Bob Cummings Show, and would go on to produce 173 episodes.[109][110] Cummings intended to produce a film titled The Damned through Laurel Productions, from a novel by John D. MacDonald and to be written and directed by Frank Tashlin.[107][111] In December 1954, Cummings and George Burns formed Laurmac Productions, with the hope of co-producing a feature film in May 1955.[112]

In January 1955, The Bob Cummings Show began airing, and went through 1959. Cummings starred on the successful NBC sitcom, The Bob Cummings Show (known as Love That Bob in reruns), where he played Bob Collins, a former World War II pilot who became a successful professional photographer. As a bachelor in 1950s Los Angeles, the character considered himself quite the ladies' man. The sitcom was noted for some very risqué humor for its time.[citation needed]

A popular feature of the program was Cummings's portrayal of his elderly grandfather. His co-stars were Rosemary DeCamp as his sister Margaret MacDonald; Dwayne Hickman as his nephew Chuck MacDonald; and Ann B. Davis, in her first television success, as his assistant Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz.

When Cummings appeared on the NBC interview program Here's Hollywood,[6] he was seen by Nunnally Johnson, who cast him opposite Betty Grable in How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955) at Fox, which turned out to be Grable's last film. Cummings's contract was amended to allow him time off to rehearse and record his TV show.[113]

Around this time, Cummings said he had made 78 films, and "I always had the feeling I was distinguished for none of them. Hollywood's never been really hot about me. I was always second choice. I used to say to my wife Mary, 'Somebody's got to be sick someday – Bill Holden or maybe some boy not even born yet! I used to say 'If I could find another business where I could be successful!'."[103]

Cummings was one of the hosts on ABC's live broadcast of the opening day of Disneyland on July 17, 1955, along with Ronald Reagan and Art Linkletter. On that day, Cummings played off his playboy character image by being “caught” embracing and kissing a young woman in a bonnet with a stricken look on her face.

Cummings's performance in The Bob Cummings Show earned him another Emmy nomination for Best Actor in a Continuous Role in 1956.[114]

He turned down The Heavenly Twins for the Theatre Guild; and was mentioned for Bewitched by Charles Bennett in England, but did not do it.[115]

During the series' production, Cummings still found time to play other roles. He returned to Studio One ("A Special Announcement"), and did episodes of General Electric Theater ("Too Good with a Gun"), The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, and Schlitz Playhouse ("One Left Over", "Dual Control").

He was also in "Bomber's Moon" for Playhouse 90 (1958), from a Rod Serling script directed by John Frankenheimer, who said "Bobby's a really fine dramatic actor, but people usually associate him only with comedy. Naturally enough I suppose. Directing an actor like this who feels immediately what the script wants and what the director wants makes you love this business."[116]

"It's a great life, acting", Cummings said in 1959. "I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm a completely content actor."[117]

When his TV show ended in 1959, Cummings claimed it was his decision, as he was tired and wanted to take a year off. He was also keen to sell the show into syndication. "I don't think I'll do another comedy", he said.[118]

In 1960, Cummings starred in "King Nine Will Not Return", the opening episode of the second season of CBS's The Twilight Zone, written by Serling and directed by Buzz Kulik.

He guested on Zane Grey Theatre ("The Last Bugle", directed by Budd Boetticher), The DuPont Show of the Week ("The Action in New Orleans"), The Dick Powell Theatre ("Last of the Private Eyes", co-starring Ronald Reagan), and The Great Adventure ("Plague").

The New Bob Cummings Show

The New Bob Cummings Show followed on CBS for one season, from 1961 to 1962. It was a variation of The Bob Cummings Show with Cummings as a pilot who had various adventures.[119] It ran for 22 episodes before being cancelled.[120]

Cummings returned to films with a supporting role in My Geisha (1962), written by Krasna. He was top-billed in Beach Party (1963), although the film is better remembered today for first teaming Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.

Cummings had supporting roles in two popular films, The Carpetbaggers (1964) with George Peppard and Alan Ladd and What a Way to Go! (1964) with Shirley MacLaine, and was in Theatre of Stars ("The Square Peg").

Also in 1964, he was a guest as a beauty pageant judge in The Beverly Hillbillies episode, "The Race for Queen".

My Living Doll

 
Robert Cummings and Julie Newmar in a publicity still for My Living Doll

In 1964–65, Cummings starred in another CBS sitcom, My Living Doll, co-starring Julie Newmar as Rhoda the robot and Jack Mullaney as his friend. After 21 episodes, Cummings asked to be written out of the show.[121] It lasted five more episodes.

Later career

 
Trailer screenshot for The Carpetbaggers (1964)

In the late 1960s, Cummings had supporting roles in The Carpetbaggers (1964), Promise Her Anything (1966) and the remake of Stagecoach (1966) (playing the bank embezzler).

Cummings had the lead in Five Golden Dragons (1967) for producer Harry Alan Towers and supported in Gidget Grows Up (1969).

He was in another Broadway play, The Wayward Stork, which had a short run in early 1966.[122] A review in The New York Times said Cummings "is not in top form. He sounded a bit hoarse and somewhat strained. Usually he is a quite acceptible [sic], breezy farceur."[123]

He guest-starred again on Theatre of Stars ("Blind Man's Bluff"), as well as The Flying Nun ("Speak the Speech, I Pray You"), Green Acres ("Rest and Relaxation"), Here Come the Brides ("The She-Bear"), Arnie ("Hello, Holly"), Bewitched ("Samantha and the Troll"), Here's Lucy ("Lucy's Punctured Romance", "Lucy and Her Genuine Twimby"), and several episodes of Love, American Style.[124]

Cummings's last lead roles on film were in a pair of TV movies, The Great American Beauty Contest (1973) and Partners in Crime (1973).

During the 1970s for over 10 years, Cummings traveled the US performing in dinner theaters and short stints in plays while living in an Airstream travel trailer.

He relayed those experiences in the written introduction he provided for the book Airstream written by Robert Landau and James Phillippi in 1984.[125]

Cummings had a cameo in Three on a Date (1978) and appeared in 1979 as Elliott Smith, the father of Fred Grandy's Gopher on ABC's The Love Boat.[126]

In 1986, Cummings hosted the 15th-anniversary celebration of Walt Disney World on The Wonderful World of Disney.

In 1987, he said, "I wouldn't mind living until I'm 110. I still swim, do calisthenics, and keep fit. I've never been in hospital, except for a hernia operation at one time. People laugh about my using so many vitamins. When I tell them I take 50 liver pills a day, they look surprised, but whether they laugh or not, the thing works." He added, "I'm retired, I live on a pension" and "if I have a problem I get expert counsel, then ask the opinion of a good psychic."[127]

Robert Cummings's last public appearance was on The Magical World of Disney episode "The Disneyland 35th Anniversary Special" in 1990.

Personal life

Marriages

Cummings was married five times and fathered seven children. His first marriage was to Emma Myers, a girl from his hometown. His second marriage was to Vivi Janiss, an actress he met while performing in Ziegfeld Follies. His third wife, Mary Elliott, was a former actress and she ran Cummings's business affairs. They separated in 1968 and had a bitter divorce, during the course of which she accused him of cheating on her with his former secretary Regina Fond and using methamphetamines which she said caused wild mood swings. She also claimed he relied on astrologers and numerologists to make financial decisions with "disastrous" consequences.[128] In 1970, when the divorce was finalized, their communal property was estimated as being worth from $700,000 to $800,000 (equivalent to between $4.9 million and $5.6 million in 2021).[129]

He was married to Gina Fong from 1971 to 1987 and married Martha Burzynski two years later. He died the following year.

Hobbies

 
Cummings flew his Beechcraft to Joplin, Missouri—his hometown—in 1956

He was an avid pilot and owned a number of airplanes, all named "Spinach".[130] He was a staunch advocate of natural foods and published a book on healthy living, Stay Young and Vital, in 1960.[131]

Legal troubles

In May 1948 Hedda Hopper reported that there were four lawsuits against Cummings.[132]

In 1952, Cummings was sued by a writer of My Hero who had been fired. In 1952, Cummings was served with papers concerning the suit by LA County Deputy Sheriff William Conroy; Cummings assaulted Conroy and was then sued by the sheriff for damages. Conroy stated that when he tried to serve Cummings with a subpoena the actor gunned the motor of his car and dragged him along the pavement. Cummings explained that he didn't know Conroy was a deputy.[133] Both cases were settled in 1954.[134]

In 1972 he was charged with fraud for operating a pyramid scheme involving his company, Bob Cummings Inc, which sold vitamins and food supplements.[135]

In 1975 he was arrested for being in possession of a blue box used to defraud the telephone company.[136] He avoided trial under the double jeopardy rule.[137]

Reported drug addiction

Despite his interest in health, Cummings was alleged to have been a methamphetamine addict from the mid-1950s until the end of his life. In 1954, while in New York to star in the Westinghouse Studio One production of Twelve Angry Men, Cummings began receiving injections from Max Jacobson, the notorious "Dr. Feelgood".[138][139] His friends Rosemary Clooney and José Ferrer recommended the doctor to Cummings, who was complaining of a lack of energy. While Jacobson insisted that his injections contained only "vitamins, sheep sperm, and monkey gonads", they actually contained a substantial dose of methamphetamine.[140]

Cummings allegedly continued to use a mixture provided by Jacobson, eventually becoming a patient of Jacobson's son Thomas, who was based in Los Angeles, and later injecting himself. The changes in Cummings's personality caused by the euphoria of the drug and subsequent depression damaged his career and led to an intervention by his friend, television host Art Linkletter. The intervention was not successful, and Cummings's drug abuse and subsequent career collapse were factors in his divorces from his third wife, Mary, and fourth wife, Gina Fong.[138]

After Jacobson was forced out of business in the 1970s, Cummings developed his own drug connections based in The Bahamas. Suffering from Parkinson's disease, he was forced to move into homes for indigent older actors in Hollywood.[138]

Children

Cummings had seven children. His son, Tony Cummings, played Rick Halloway in the NBC daytime serial Another World in the early 1980s.

Political affiliation

Cummings was a supporter of the Republican Party.[141]

Death

On December 2, 1990, Cummings died of kidney failure and complications from pneumonia at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.[131]

He is interred in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.[142]

Filmography

Year Film Role Director Notes
1933 Seasoned Greetings Lita's Beau / Husband in Sunny Weather Number Short; uncredited
1933 Sons of the Desert "Blade Stanhope Conway") William A. Seiter credited as "Blade Stanhope Conway"
1935 So Red the Rose George Pendleton King Vidor
1935 The Virginia Judge Jim Preston Edward Sedgwick
1935 Millions in the Air Jimmy Ray McCarey
1936 Desert Gold Fordyce 'Ford' Mortimer James P. Hogan
1936 Forgotten Faces Clinton Faraday E.A. Dupont
1936 Border Flight Lt. Bob Dixon Otho Lovering
1936 Three Cheers for Love Jimmy Tuttle Ray McCarey
1936 Hollywood Boulevard Jay Wallace Robert Florey
1936 The Accusing Finger Jimmy Ellis James P. Hogan
1936 Hideaway Girl Mike Winslow George Archainbaud
1936 Arizona Mahoney Phillip Randall James P. Hogan
1937 The Last Train from Madrid Juan Ramos James P. Hogan
1937 Souls at Sea George Martin Henry Hathaway
1937 Sophie Lang Goes West Curley Griffin Charles Reisner
1937 Wells Fargo Prospector Frank Lloyd
1938 College Swing Radio Announcer Raoul Walsh
1938 You and Me Jim Fritz Lang
1938 The Texans Alan Sanford James P. Hogan
1938 Touchdown, Army Cadet Jimmy Howal Kurt Neumann
1938 I Stand Accused Frederick A. Davis John H. Auer
1939 Three Smart Girls Grow Up Harry Loren Henry Koster
1939 The Under-Pup Dennis King Richard Wallace
1939 Rio Bill Gregory John Brahm
1939 Everything Happens at Night Ken Morgan Irving Cummings
1939 Charlie McCarthy, Detective Scotty Hamilton Frank Tuttle
1940 And One Was Beautiful Ridley Crane Robert B. Sinclair
1940 Private Affairs Jimmy Nolan Albert S. Rogell
1940 Spring Parade Corporal Harry Marten Henry Koster
1940 One Night in the Tropics Steve Harper A. Edward Sutherland
1941 Free and Easy Max Clemington Edward Buzzell (uncredited)
1941 The Devil and Miss Jones Joe Sam Wood
1941 Moon Over Miami Jeffrey Boulton Walter Lang
1941 It Started with Eve Jonathan 'Johnny' Reynolds Jr. Henry Koster
1942 Kings Row Parris Mitchell Sam Wood
1942 Saboteur Barry Kane Alfred Hitchcock
1942 Between Us Girls Jimmy Blake Henry Koster
1943 Forever and a Day Ned Trimble multiple director[143]
1943 Flesh and Fantasy Michael Julien Duvivier Episode 1
1943 Princess O'Rourke Eddie O'Rourke Norman Krasna
1945 You Came Along Maj. Bob Collins John Farrow
1946 The Bride Wore Boots Jeff Warren Irving Pichel
1946 The Chase Chuck Scott Arthur Ripley
1947 Heaven Only Knows Michael, aka Mike Albert S. Rogell
1947 The Lost Moment Lewis Venable Martin Gabel
1948 Sleep, My Love Bruce Elcott Douglas Sirk
1948 Let's Live a Little Duke Crawford Richard Wallace
1949 The Accused Warren Ford William Dieterle
1949 Reign of Terror aka The Black Book Charles D'Aubigny Anthony Mann
1949 Free for All Christopher Parker Charles Barton
1949 Tell It to the Judge Peter B. 'Pete' Webb Norman Foster
1950 Paid in Full Bill Prentice William Dieterle
1950 The Petty Girl George Petty aka Andrew 'Andy' Tapp Henry Levin
1950 For Heaven's Sake Jeff Bolton George Seaton
1951 The Barefoot Mailman Sylvanus Hurley Earl McEvoy
1952 The First Time Joe Bennet Frank Tashlin
1953 Marry Me Again Bill Frank Tashlin
1954 Lucky Me Dick Carson Jack Donohue
1954 Dial M for Murder Mark Halliday Alfred Hitchcock
1955 How to Be Very, Very Popular Fillmore 'Wedge' Wedgewood Nunnally Johnson
1962 My Geisha Bob Moore Jack Cardiff
1963 Beach Party Professor Sutwell William Asher
1964 The Carpetbaggers Dan Pierce Edward Dmytryk
1964 What a Way to Go! Dr. Victor Stephanson J. Lee Thompson
1966 Promise Her Anything Dr. Philip Brock Arthur Hiller
1966 Stagecoach Henry Gatewood Gordon Douglas
1967 Five Golden Dragons Bob Mitchell Jeremy Summers

Stage work

  • The Roof (1931)
  • Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 (1934)
  • Faithfully Yours (1951)
  • The Wayward Stork (1966)
  • Remember It's Never Too Late (1972)

Television credits

Radio credits

References

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Bibliography

  • Ashbu, LeRoy. With Amusement For All. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2006. ISBN 978-0-81314-107-7.
  • Christensen, Lawrence O., ed. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 1999. ISBN 978-0-82621-222-1.
  • Critchlow, Donald T. When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1-107-65028-2.
  • Gilmore, Susan. "Tired of the commute? All you need is $3.5 million". The Seattle Times, September 5, 2006.
  • Greenwood, James R. "Meet Bob Cummings...Pilot, Actor, Businessman". Flying, 66:3, March 1960, pp. 44–46, 54, 56.
  • Lertzman, Richard A. and William J. Birnes. Dr. Feelgood: The Shocking Story of the Doctor Who May Have Changed History by Treating and Drugging JFK, Marilyn, Elvis, and Other Prominent Figures. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2013. ISBN 978-1-62087-589-6.
  • Lyon, Christopher, James Vinson, Susan Doll and Greg S. Faller. The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. New York: St. James Press, 1987. ISBN 978-1-55862-041-4.
  • Maltin, Leonard. "Robert Cummings". Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. New York: Dutton, 1994. ISBN 0-525-93635-1.
  • McGivern, Carolyn. The Lost Films of John Wayne. Nashville, Kentucky: Cumberland House, 2006. ISBN 978-1-58182-567-1.
  • Tucker, David C. Eve Arden: A Chronicle of All Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland& Company, 2011. ISBN 978-0-7864-8810-0.
  • Wise, James E. and Paul W. Wilderson. Stars in Khaki: Movie Actors in the Army and the Air Services. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2000. ISBN 978-1-55750-958-1.
  • Woog, Adam. Sexless Oysters and Self-Tipping Hats: 100 Years of Invention in the Pacific Northwest. Sasquatch Books, 1991. ISBN 978-0-91236-547-3.

External links

 
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May 04, 2023
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For other people named Robert Cummings see Robert Cummings disambiguation Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings June 9 1910 December 2 1990 1 was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as The Devil and Miss Jones 1941 and Princess O Rourke 1943 and in dramatic films especially two of Alfred Hitchcock s thrillers Saboteur 1942 and Dial M for Murder 1954 2 He received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Single Performance in 1955 On February 8 1960 he received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture and television industries 1 at 6816 Hollywood Boulevard and 1718 Vine Street 3 He used the stage name Robert Cummings from mid 1935 until the end of 1954 and was credited as Bob Cummings from 1955 until his death 4 Robert CummingsCummings in 1956BornCharles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings 1910 06 09 June 9 1910Joplin Missouri U S DiedDecember 2 1990 1990 12 02 aged 80 Los Angeles California U S Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial ParkOther namesBob CummingsBlade Stanhope ConwayBryce HutchensAlma materAmerican Academy of Dramatic ArtsOccupationActorYears active1931 1990Political partyRepublicanSpousesEmma Myers m 1931 div 1933 wbr Vivi Janiss m 1935 div 1943 wbr Mary Elliott m 1945 div 1970 wbr Gina Fong m 1971 div 1987 wbr Martha Burzynski m 1989 wbr Contents 1 Early life 1 1 Education 2 Early acting career 2 1 Blade Stanhope Conway 2 2 Bryce Hutchens 3 Paramount 4 Universal 4 1 A series of classic films 4 2 World War II 4 3 Suspension from Universal 5 Freelance star 5 1 Hal Wallis 5 2 United California Productions 5 3 Columbia 6 Television star 6 1 My Hero 6 2 Twelve Angry Men 6 3 Laurel Productions and The Bob Cummings Show 6 4 The New Bob Cummings Show 6 5 My Living Doll 7 Later career 8 Personal life 8 1 Marriages 8 2 Hobbies 8 3 Legal troubles 8 4 Reported drug addiction 8 5 Children 8 6 Political affiliation 9 Death 10 Filmography 11 Stage work 12 Television credits 13 Radio credits 14 References 14 1 Bibliography 15 External linksEarly life EditCummings was born in Joplin Missouri a son of Dr Charles Clarence Cummings and the former Ruth Annabelle Kraft 5 His father was a surgeon part of the original medical staff of St John s Hospital in Joplin and the founder of the Jasper County Tuberculosis Hospital in Webb City Missouri 6 Cummings s mother was an ordained minister of the Science of Mind 5 While attending Joplin High School Cummings learned to fly 7 His first solo flight was on March 3 1927 8 Some reports of his learning to fly refer to Orville Wright the aviation pioneer as being his godfather and flight instructor 9 10 11 12 However these reports appear to be based on either media interviews of Cummings or other anecdotal references 13 14 15 16 2 There is no historical record of Orville Wright having traveled to Joplin Missouri either around the time of the gestation or the birth of Cummings or during 1927 the year Cummings learned to fly 17 18 19 Cummings born in 1910 would have only been 8 years old when Orville Wright had essentially stopped flying as a result of injuries he sustained in an accident at Fort Myer Virginia on September 17 1918 20 21 22 The report that Orville Wright taught Cummings to fly is also contradicted by Cummings interview reported in the March 1960 Flying magazine 23 In the interview Cummings described how he learned to fly by trial and error mostly error during 3 hours of instruction from a Joplin Missouri plumber named Cooper before he soloed on March 3 1927 24 During high school Cummings gave Joplin residents rides in his aircraft for 5 per person 6 When the government began licensing flight instructors Cummings was issued flight instructor certificate No 1 making him the first official flight instructor in the United States 8 25 Education Edit Cummings studied briefly at Drury College in Springfield Missouri but his love of flying caused him to transfer to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh He studied aeronautical engineering for a year before he dropped out for financial reasons his family having lost heavily in the 1929 stock market crash 6 26 Cummings became interested in acting while performing in plays at Carnegie Tech and decided to pursue it as a career 27 Since the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City paid its male actors 14 a week Cummings decided to study there 28 He stayed only one season but later said he learned three basic principles of acting The first never anticipate second take pride in my profession And third trust in God And that last is said in reverence 29 Early acting career EditBlade Stanhope Conway Edit Cummings started looking for work in 1930 but couldn t find any roles forcing him to get a job at a theatrical agency 6 Realizing that at the time three quarters of Broadway plays were from England 30 and that English accents and actors were in demand Cummings decided to cash in an insurance policy and buy a round trip ticket there 31 He was driving a motorbike through the countryside picking up the accent and learning about the country when his bike broke down at Harrogate While waiting for repairs he devised a plan He invented the name Blade Stanhope Conway and bribed the janitor of a local theatre to put on the marquee Blade Stanhope Conway in Candida He then had a photo taken of himself in front of the marquee and had 80 prints made In London he outfitted himself with a new wardrobe composed a letter introducing the actor author manager director Blade of Harrogate Repertory Theatre and sent it off to 80 New York theatrical agents and producers 30 As a result when Cummings returned to New York he was able to obtain several meetings 28 6 One of the producers to whom he sent letters Charles Hopkings cast him in a production of The Roof by John Galsworthy playing the role of the Hon Reggie Fanning Also in the cast was Henry Hull 32 The play ran from October to November 1931 and Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times listed Conway among the cast who provided some excellent bits of acting 33 In November 1932 Conway replaced Edwin Styles in the Broadway revue Earl Carroll s Vanities 34 after studying song and dance by correspondence course 35 Cummings later encouraged an old drama school classmate Margaret Kies to use a similar deception she became the British Margaret Lindsay 27 He later said pretending to be Conway broke up his first marriage to a girl from Joplin She couldn t stand me 36 He was an extra in the Laurel and Hardy comedy film Sons of the Desert 1933 37 and in the musical short Seasoned Greetings 1933 Bryce Hutchens Edit Cummings decided to change his approach when in the words of one report suddenly the bottom dropped out of the John Bull market almost overnight demand switched from Londoners to lassoers 30 In 1934 Cummings changed his name to Bryce Hutchens 28 6 38 He appeared under this name in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 which ran from January to June in 1934 39 40 He had a duet with Vivi Janiss a native of Nebraska with whom he sang I Like the Likes of You 41 Cummings and Janiss went with the show when it went on tour after the Broadway run and they married towards the end of the tour 26 Paramount EditThe tour of Ziegfeld ended in Los Angeles in January 1935 Cummings enjoyed the city and wanted to move there 42 26 He returned to New York then heard King Vidor was looking for Texan actors for So Red the Rose 1935 He auditioned pretending to be a Texan having acquired his own version of a Texan accent by listening to cowboy bands on the radio 30 His ruse was exposed but Vidor nevertheless cast him under his actual name 35 43 31 In their review The New York Times said that Cummings does a fine bit and has the only convincing accent in the whole film 44 He followed this with a part in Paramount s The Virginia Judge 1935 45 In July the studio signed Cummings to a long term contract 46 Before his first two Paramount films were released he was also cast in a supporting part in Millions in the Air 1935 6 47 Cummings appeared as one of the leads in the Western Desert Gold 1936 then had a supporting role in Forgotten Faces 1936 and a starring part in Three Cheers for Love 1936 48 He also appeared in Beyond Flight 1936 Hollywood Boulevard 1936 The Accusing Finger 1936 Hideaway Girl 1936 Arizona Mahoney 1936 The Last Train from Madrid 1937 49 35 Most of these were B pictures He had a small role in an A picture Souls at Sea 1937 then appeared in Sophie Lang Goes West 1937 Wells Fargo 1937 and College Swing 1938 He had a small role in You and Me 1938 directed by Fritz Lang and was in The Texans 1938 and Touchdown Army 1938 Eventually Paramount dropped their option on him I was poison he said No agent would look at me 36 In June Paramount announced he would return for King of Chinatown with Anna May Wong but he does not appear in the final film 50 In September he was cast at Republic playing the lead in the crime movie I Stand Accused 1938 Cummings said it was a fluke hit so at least I could get inside the casting agents again 36 Universal Edit Cummings and Peggy Moran Spring Parade 1940 In November 1938 Cummings auditioned for the romantic lead in Three Smart Girls Grow Up 1939 starring Deanna Durbin for producer Joe Pasternak 51 Pasternak was reluctant to cast him preferring to find a musician but Cummings told him I could fake it He later said I d had a lot of experience faking things harder than that He let me try it and he signed me up 36 On 21 November Cummings gave Universal an option on a seven year contract starting at 600 a week going up to 750 a week the following year then ultimately up to 3 000 a week 52 His first film for them Three Smart Girls Grow Up 1939 was a big success and in March 1939 Universal took up their options on the actor The film was directed by Henry Koster who called Cummings brilliant wonderful I made five pictures with him I thought he was the best leading man I ever worked with He had that marvelous comedy talent and also a romantic quality 53 Reviewing the film The New York Times said Cummings displays a really astonishing talent for light comedy we never should have suspected it from his other pictures 54 Pasternak used him again supporting another singing star Gloria Jean in The Under Pup 1939 55 He was meant to reteam with Jean in Straight from the Heart but it appears not to have been made 56 In August 1939 Columbia wanted him for the lead in Golden Boy but could not come to terms with Universal 57 Cummings supported Basil Rathbone and Victor McLaglen in Rio 1939 then was borrowed by 20th Century Fox to romance Sonia Henie in Everything Happens at Night 1939 At Universal he had a key role in Charlie McCarthy Detective 1939 then was borrowed by MGM to play the lead in a B movie with Laraine Day And One Was Beautiful 1940 Back at Universal Cummings was the romantic male lead in a comedy Private Affairs 1940 then he romanced Durbin again in Spring Parade 1940 Cummings made his mark in the CBS Radio network s dramatic serial titled Those We Love which ran from 1938 to 1945 He also played the role of David Adair in the serial drama Those We Love opposite Richard Cromwell Francis X Bushman and Nan Grey A series of classic films Edit Saboteur 1942 Cummings and Allan Jones were cast as the comic team leads in the film One Night in the Tropics 1940 but were overshadowed by the performances as supporting actors in their first film by Abbott and Costello citation needed MGM borrowed Cummings a second time to play opposite Ruth Hussey in Free and Easy 1941 In the same period he was borrowed by a company established by Norman Krasna and Frank Ross who were making a comedy from a script by Krasna for release through RKO The Devil and Miss Jones 1941 Cummings played a union leader Jean Arthur s love interest under the direction of Sam Wood Cummings shot the film at the same time as Free and Easy 58 Free and Easy lost money for MGM but Devil and Miss Jones was a critical and commercial success 20th Century Fox borrowed him for Moon Over Miami 1941 starring Don Ameche and Betty Grable Fox was willing to postpone the film so Cummings could finish Devil and Miss Jones 59 In January 1941 Louella Parsons wrote is that boy going places in 1941 From the looks of things it s a Cummings year because all his troubles with Universal are ironed out and almost every studio in town wants to borrow him 60 Back at Universal Pasternak used Cummings as the romantic male lead in It Started with Eve 1941 from a script by Krasna opposite Deanna Durbin and Charles Laughton Meanwhile Sam Wood was directing an adaptation of the novel Kings Row 1942 over at Warner Bros where the head of production was Hal Wallis Wallis did not have any contract players at Warner Bros who were considered ideal for the role of Paris and after trying desperately to get Tyrone Power he tried to borrow Cummings who had done an impressive test 61 However Cummings was busy on It Started with Eve and the actor had to drop out Then the schedule was rearranged and Cummings was able to make both films 62 Production of Kings Row did have to be suspended for a week so Cummings could return to Universal to do reshoots for Eve 63 Both films were huge successes Hal Wallis said Cummings was actually too old for the part in Kings Row not quite right but he was helped considerably by an extraordinary support cast 64 Back at Universal Cummings starred in the Alfred Hitchcock spy thriller Saboteur 1942 made at Universal with Priscilla Lane and Norman Lloyd He played Barry Kane an aircraft worker wrongfully accused of espionage trying to clear his name 65 In December 1941 John Chapman said Cummings was among the most sought after leading men in town and was one of his stars for 1942 66 Universal announced Cummings for Boy Meets Baby with Deanna Durbin 67 which became Between Us Girls 1942 with Diana Barrymore He filmed it concurrently with a Hal Wallis movie at Warner Bros and Princess O Rourke made 1942 released 1943 Norman Krasna s directorial debut Cummings was meant to be in We ve Never Been Licked 1943 for Walter Wanger at Universal 68 but did not appear in the film World War II Edit In December 1941 Cummings joined the fledgling Civil Air Patrol an organization of citizens and pilots interested in helping support the U S war effort In February 1942 he helped establish Squadron 918 4 located in Glendale California at the Grand Central Air Terminal becoming its first commanding officer Two weeks later he and other members of the squadron went in search of the Japanese submarine that had attacked the oil refinery at Goleta California During the war Cummings participated in search and rescue missions courier missions and border and forestry patrols around the Western United States For this work he used his own aircraft Spinach I a 1936 Porterfield and Spinach II a Cessna 165 Airmaster The squadron he established still operates as San Fernando Senior Squadron 35 and is based at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima Los Angeles In November 1942 Cummings joined the United States Army Air Forces 69 During World War II he served as a flight instructor 2 6 After the war Cummings served as a pilot in the United States Air Force Reserve where he achieved the rank of captain 70 Cummings played aircraft pilots in several of his postwar film roles During the war service he had small roles in the all star Forever and a Day 1943 and Flesh and Fantasy 1943 but he was effectively off screen for two years 71 Suspension from Universal Edit Cummings was meant to be in Fired Wife with Teresa Wright Charles Coburn and Eddie Anderson and a director comparable with Leo McCarey However when he found out these actors would not be in the film and the director would be Charles Lamont he refused to be in it Filming began in April 1943 with Robert Paige taking Cummings s role 72 Universal put him on suspension for five weeks refused to give him a new part or pay his weekly salary of 1 500 after the suspension had been lifted Cummings notified the studio in May 1943 that he considered himself no longer under contract In September 1943 Cummings sued the studio for withheld wages of 10 700 also arguing that for some time Universal tried to put him in minor roles to run him ragged and to teach him a lesson 73 In March 1944 the court ruled in Cummings s favor saying Universal had voided its contract with the actor and owed him 10 700 This decision happened in the same fortnight as another court case involving Olivia de Havilland which also ruled in the actor s favor 74 75 Freelance star EditHal Wallis Edit Cummings was considered free of Universal since August 1944 In January he signed a four year exclusive contract with Hal Wallis who had left Warner Brothers to become an independent producer 76 Shortly after he took leave from the Air Force to star in You Came Along 1945 for Hal Wallis directed by John Farrow with a screenplay by Ayn Rand The Army Air Forces pilot Cummings played Bob Collins died off camera but was resurrected 10 years later for Cummings s television show Cummings was under contract to Wallis for four years 71 77 Also for Wallis who had now moved to Paramount he did The Bride Wore Boots 1946 a comedy with Barbara Stanwyck He was announced for Dishonorable Discharge for Wallis from a story by John Farrow but it appears to have not been made 78 Neither was Its Love Love Love which was announced by RKO 79 or Dream Puss which Wallis announced for Cummings at Paramount 80 In 1946 Cummings said Often I play the boyfriend of a girl young enough to be my daughter I m 36 and whenever I start drooping I run one of my pictures and feel like a kid again 81 Around this time he also said he was more interested in producing and directing and hoped to act in only one film per year 82 United California Productions Edit With Michele Morgan in The Chase 1946 Cummings had the leads in two films for Nero Films a company of Seymour Nebenzal and Eugene Frenke who released through United Artists a film noir The Chase 1946 and a Western Heaven Only Knows 1947 Cummings decided to form his own production company with Frenke and Philip Yordan which they called United California They originally called it United World but it was too similar to another company s name 83 84 In December 1946 it was announced that Cummings had signed an exclusive contract with United California Productions and that his deal with Wallis was for one film a year for seven years 85 86 They announced Bad Guy from a script by Yordan 87 They were also going to do Joe MacBeth 88 which was ultimately made by others In 1947 Cummings had reportedly earned 110 000 in the preceding12 months 89 The Lost Moment 1947 with Susan Hayward was a film noir for Walter Wanger at Universal based on The Aspern Papers by Henry James It was a resounding flop at the box office Cummings was initially meant to follow it with The Big Curtain for Edward Alperson at Fox but that picture was never produced 90 Cummings appeared in Sleep My Love 1948 another noir directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Mary Pickford United California eventually brought in manufacturer Frank Hale as partner Its first film Let s Live a Little 1948 was a romantic comedy with Hedy Lamarr released through United Artists Cummings announced a series of projects for United California Ho the Fair Wind from a novel by IAR Wylie The Glass Heart by Mary Holland Poisonous Paradise a docudrama for which some footage had been shot called Jungle Passport to Love by Howard Irving Young and a remake of Two Hearts in Three Quarter Time Cummings was also trying to interest Norman Krasna into writing the story of how Cummings broke into acting to be called Pardon My Accent 91 92 93 Cummings did The Accused 1949 for Hal Wallis at Paramount supporting Loretta Young Reign of Terror 1949 was a thriller set in the French Revolution for director Anthony Mann Eagle Lion co produced with United California 94 Cummings did a comedy at Universal Free for All 1949 Columbia Edit In July 1949 Cummings signed a three picture deal with Columbia 95 He made Tell It to the Judge 1949 with Rosalind Russell for them He did one for Wallis at Paramount Paid in Full 1950 originally Bitter Victory then went back to Columbia for The Petty Girl 1950 a musical with Joan Caulfield Cummings did announce he would make The Glass Heart for his own company and release through Columbia but this did not happen 96 Cummings supported Clifton Webb in For Heaven s Sake 1950 at Fox then played a con man in The Barefoot Mailman 1950 his third film for Columbia Cummings began working in television appearing in Sure as Fate Run from the Sun and Somerset Maugham TV Theatre The Luncheon He was in a Broadway play Faithfully Yours originally The Philemon Complex which had a short run in late 1951 97 98 At Columbia he was in The First Time 1952 the first feature directed by Frank Tashlin On TV he was in Lux Video Theatre The Shiny People Pattern for Glory Betty Crocker Star Matinee Sense of Humor and Robert Montgomery Presents Lila My Love Cummings was one of the four stars featured in the short run radio version of Four Star Playhouse He was offered Battle in Spain the story of El Cid with Linda Darnell but turned it down because it was too controversial 99 Television star EditMy Hero Edit Publicity photo for My Hero 1952 53 Cummings starred in his first regular television series in the comedy My Hero 1952 53 playing a bumbling real estate salesman He also wrote and directed some episodes 100 The series ran for 33 episodes before it was reported Cummings decided to end it and accept other offers 101 In reality the show had been axed After it was dropped I was as dead as you could possibly get in show business said Cummings I sat in my agent s office one day and heard a top producer tell him on the phone that nobody would buy me 102 Out of work he accepted the State Department s invitation to go on a goodwill mission to Argentina 102 The show earned him an Emmy nomination 103 Cummings was in Marry Me Again 1953 at RKO for Tashlin then went to England to star in another Hitchcock film Dial M for Murder 1954 playing the lover of Grace Kelly whose husband Ray Milland tries to kill her The film was a hit 2 6 Cummings then supported Doris Day in a musical at Warner Bros Lucky Me 1954 104 He was chosen by producer John Wayne as his co star to play airline pilot Captain Sullivan in The High and the Mighty partly due to Cummings s flying experience however director William A Wellman overruled Wayne and hired Robert Stack for the part 105 Twelve Angry Men Edit In 1954 Cummings appeared in Twelve Angry Men an original TV play for Westinghouse Studio One written by Reginald Rose and directed by Franklin Schaffner alongside actors including Franchot Tone and Edward Arnold Cummings played Juror Number Eight the role taken by Henry Fonda in the feature film adaptation 6 Cummings s performance earned him the 1955 Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Single Performance 106 Other television appearances included Campbell Summer Soundstage The Test Case Justice The Crisis The Elgin Hour Floodtide and a TV version of Best Foot Forward 1954 Laurel Productions and The Bob Cummings Show Edit Ann B Davis and Cummings in The Bob Cummings Show rerun as Love That Bob With Rosemary DeCamp in 1959 for The Bob Cummings Show In July 1954 Cummings formed his own independent film production company Laurel Productions Incorporated The company s name had several affiliations to Cummings his youngest daughter was named Laurel Ann Cummings the street he and his family lived on was named Laurel Way his wife s grandmother s name was Laurel and finally the fact that Laurel amp Hardy had given Cummings his film debut back in 1933 107 108 109 His wife Mary Elliott was appointed president of Laurel Productions 108 In July 1954 Cummings filmed the pilot for his television show The Bob Cummings Show and would go on to produce 173 episodes 109 110 Cummings intended to produce a film titled The Damned through Laurel Productions from a novel by John D MacDonald and to be written and directed by Frank Tashlin 107 111 In December 1954 Cummings and George Burns formed Laurmac Productions with the hope of co producing a feature film in May 1955 112 In January 1955 The Bob Cummings Show began airing and went through 1959 Cummings starred on the successful NBC sitcom The Bob Cummings Show known as Love That Bob in reruns where he played Bob Collins a former World War II pilot who became a successful professional photographer As a bachelor in 1950s Los Angeles the character considered himself quite the ladies man The sitcom was noted for some very risque humor for its time citation needed A popular feature of the program was Cummings s portrayal of his elderly grandfather His co stars were Rosemary DeCamp as his sister Margaret MacDonald Dwayne Hickman as his nephew Chuck MacDonald and Ann B Davis in her first television success as his assistant Charmaine Schultzy Schultz When Cummings appeared on the NBC interview program Here s Hollywood 6 he was seen by Nunnally Johnson who cast him opposite Betty Grable in How to Be Very Very Popular 1955 at Fox which turned out to be Grable s last film Cummings s contract was amended to allow him time off to rehearse and record his TV show 113 Around this time Cummings said he had made 78 films and I always had the feeling I was distinguished for none of them Hollywood s never been really hot about me I was always second choice I used to say to my wife Mary Somebody s got to be sick someday Bill Holden or maybe some boy not even born yet I used to say If I could find another business where I could be successful 103 Cummings was one of the hosts on ABC s live broadcast of the opening day of Disneyland on July 17 1955 along with Ronald Reagan and Art Linkletter On that day Cummings played off his playboy character image by being caught embracing and kissing a young woman in a bonnet with a stricken look on her face Cummings s performance in The Bob Cummings Show earned him another Emmy nomination for Best Actor in a Continuous Role in 1956 114 He turned down The Heavenly Twins for the Theatre Guild and was mentioned for Bewitched by Charles Bennett in England but did not do it 115 During the series production Cummings still found time to play other roles He returned to Studio One A Special Announcement and did episodes of General Electric Theater Too Good with a Gun The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and Schlitz Playhouse One Left Over Dual Control He was also in Bomber s Moon for Playhouse 90 1958 from a Rod Serling script directed by John Frankenheimer who said Bobby s a really fine dramatic actor but people usually associate him only with comedy Naturally enough I suppose Directing an actor like this who feels immediately what the script wants and what the director wants makes you love this business 116 It s a great life acting Cummings said in 1959 I wouldn t have it any other way I m a completely content actor 117 When his TV show ended in 1959 Cummings claimed it was his decision as he was tired and wanted to take a year off He was also keen to sell the show into syndication I don t think I ll do another comedy he said 118 In 1960 Cummings starred in King Nine Will Not Return the opening episode of the second season of CBS s The Twilight Zone written by Serling and directed by Buzz Kulik He guested on Zane Grey Theatre The Last Bugle directed by Budd Boetticher The DuPont Show of the Week The Action in New Orleans The Dick Powell Theatre Last of the Private Eyes co starring Ronald Reagan and The Great Adventure Plague The New Bob Cummings Show Edit The New Bob Cummings Show followed on CBS for one season from 1961 to 1962 It was a variation of The Bob Cummings Show with Cummings as a pilot who had various adventures 119 It ran for 22 episodes before being cancelled 120 Cummings returned to films with a supporting role in My Geisha 1962 written by Krasna He was top billed in Beach Party 1963 although the film is better remembered today for first teaming Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello Cummings had supporting roles in two popular films The Carpetbaggers 1964 with George Peppard and Alan Ladd and What a Way to Go 1964 with Shirley MacLaine and was in Theatre of Stars The Square Peg Also in 1964 he was a guest as a beauty pageant judge in The Beverly Hillbillies episode The Race for Queen My Living Doll Edit Robert Cummings and Julie Newmar in a publicity still for My Living Doll In 1964 65 Cummings starred in another CBS sitcom My Living Doll co starring Julie Newmar as Rhoda the robot and Jack Mullaney as his friend After 21 episodes Cummings asked to be written out of the show 121 It lasted five more episodes Later career Edit Trailer screenshot for The Carpetbaggers 1964 In the late 1960s Cummings had supporting roles in The Carpetbaggers 1964 Promise Her Anything 1966 and the remake of Stagecoach 1966 playing the bank embezzler Cummings had the lead in Five Golden Dragons 1967 for producer Harry Alan Towers and supported in Gidget Grows Up 1969 He was in another Broadway play The Wayward Stork which had a short run in early 1966 122 A review in The New York Times said Cummings is not in top form He sounded a bit hoarse and somewhat strained Usually he is a quite acceptible sic breezy farceur 123 He guest starred again on Theatre of Stars Blind Man s Bluff as well as The Flying Nun Speak the Speech I Pray You Green Acres Rest and Relaxation Here Come the Brides The She Bear Arnie Hello Holly Bewitched Samantha and the Troll Here s Lucy Lucy s Punctured Romance Lucy and Her Genuine Twimby and several episodes of Love American Style 124 Cummings s last lead roles on film were in a pair of TV movies The Great American Beauty Contest 1973 and Partners in Crime 1973 During the 1970s for over 10 years Cummings traveled the US performing in dinner theaters and short stints in plays while living in an Airstream travel trailer He relayed those experiences in the written introduction he provided for the book Airstream written by Robert Landau and James Phillippi in 1984 125 Cummings had a cameo in Three on a Date 1978 and appeared in 1979 as Elliott Smith the father of Fred Grandy s Gopher on ABC s The Love Boat 126 In 1986 Cummings hosted the 15th anniversary celebration of Walt Disney World on The Wonderful World of Disney In 1987 he said I wouldn t mind living until I m 110 I still swim do calisthenics and keep fit I ve never been in hospital except for a hernia operation at one time People laugh about my using so many vitamins When I tell them I take 50 liver pills a day they look surprised but whether they laugh or not the thing works He added I m retired I live on a pension and if I have a problem I get expert counsel then ask the opinion of a good psychic 127 Robert Cummings s last public appearance was on The Magical World of Disney episode The Disneyland 35th Anniversary Special in 1990 Personal life EditMarriages Edit Cummings was married five times and fathered seven children His first marriage was to Emma Myers a girl from his hometown His second marriage was to Vivi Janiss an actress he met while performing in Ziegfeld Follies His third wife Mary Elliott was a former actress and she ran Cummings s business affairs They separated in 1968 and had a bitter divorce during the course of which she accused him of cheating on her with his former secretary Regina Fond and using methamphetamines which she said caused wild mood swings She also claimed he relied on astrologers and numerologists to make financial decisions with disastrous consequences 128 In 1970 when the divorce was finalized their communal property was estimated as being worth from 700 000 to 800 000 equivalent to between 4 9 million and 5 6 million in 2021 129 He was married to Gina Fong from 1971 to 1987 and married Martha Burzynski two years later He died the following year Hobbies Edit Cummings flew his Beechcraft to Joplin Missouri his hometown in 1956 He was an avid pilot and owned a number of airplanes all named Spinach 130 He was a staunch advocate of natural foods and published a book on healthy living Stay Young and Vital in 1960 131 Legal troubles Edit In May 1948 Hedda Hopper reported that there were four lawsuits against Cummings 132 In 1952 Cummings was sued by a writer of My Hero who had been fired In 1952 Cummings was served with papers concerning the suit by LA County Deputy Sheriff William Conroy Cummings assaulted Conroy and was then sued by the sheriff for damages Conroy stated that when he tried to serve Cummings with a subpoena the actor gunned the motor of his car and dragged him along the pavement Cummings explained that he didn t know Conroy was a deputy 133 Both cases were settled in 1954 134 In 1972 he was charged with fraud for operating a pyramid scheme involving his company Bob Cummings Inc which sold vitamins and food supplements 135 In 1975 he was arrested for being in possession of a blue box used to defraud the telephone company 136 He avoided trial under the double jeopardy rule 137 Reported drug addiction Edit Despite his interest in health Cummings was alleged to have been a methamphetamine addict from the mid 1950s until the end of his life In 1954 while in New York to star in the Westinghouse Studio One production of Twelve Angry Men Cummings began receiving injections from Max Jacobson the notorious Dr Feelgood 138 139 His friends Rosemary Clooney and Jose Ferrer recommended the doctor to Cummings who was complaining of a lack of energy While Jacobson insisted that his injections contained only vitamins sheep sperm and monkey gonads they actually contained a substantial dose of methamphetamine 140 Cummings allegedly continued to use a mixture provided by Jacobson eventually becoming a patient of Jacobson s son Thomas who was based in Los Angeles and later injecting himself The changes in Cummings s personality caused by the euphoria of the drug and subsequent depression damaged his career and led to an intervention by his friend television host Art Linkletter The intervention was not successful and Cummings s drug abuse and subsequent career collapse were factors in his divorces from his third wife Mary and fourth wife Gina Fong 138 After Jacobson was forced out of business in the 1970s Cummings developed his own drug connections based in The Bahamas Suffering from Parkinson s disease he was forced to move into homes for indigent older actors in Hollywood 138 Children Edit Cummings had seven children His son Tony Cummings played Rick Halloway in the NBC daytime serial Another World in the early 1980s Political affiliation Edit Cummings was a supporter of the Republican Party 141 Death EditOn December 2 1990 Cummings died of kidney failure and complications from pneumonia at the Motion Picture amp Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills California 131 He is interred in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale California 142 Filmography EditYear Film Role Director Notes1933 Seasoned Greetings Lita s Beau Husband in Sunny Weather Number Short uncredited1933 Sons of the Desert Blade Stanhope Conway William A Seiter credited as Blade Stanhope Conway 1935 So Red the Rose George Pendleton King Vidor1935 The Virginia Judge Jim Preston Edward Sedgwick1935 Millions in the Air Jimmy Ray McCarey1936 Desert Gold Fordyce Ford Mortimer James P Hogan1936 Forgotten Faces Clinton Faraday E A Dupont1936 Border Flight Lt Bob Dixon Otho Lovering1936 Three Cheers for Love Jimmy Tuttle Ray McCarey1936 Hollywood Boulevard Jay Wallace Robert Florey1936 The Accusing Finger Jimmy Ellis James P Hogan1936 Hideaway Girl Mike Winslow George Archainbaud1936 Arizona Mahoney Phillip Randall James P Hogan1937 The Last Train from Madrid Juan Ramos James P Hogan1937 Souls at Sea George Martin Henry Hathaway1937 Sophie Lang Goes West Curley Griffin Charles Reisner1937 Wells Fargo Prospector Frank Lloyd1938 College Swing Radio Announcer Raoul Walsh1938 You and Me Jim Fritz Lang1938 The Texans Alan Sanford James P Hogan1938 Touchdown Army Cadet Jimmy Howal Kurt Neumann1938 I Stand Accused Frederick A Davis John H Auer1939 Three Smart Girls Grow Up Harry Loren Henry Koster1939 The Under Pup Dennis King Richard Wallace1939 Rio Bill Gregory John Brahm1939 Everything Happens at Night Ken Morgan Irving Cummings1939 Charlie McCarthy Detective Scotty Hamilton Frank Tuttle1940 And One Was Beautiful Ridley Crane Robert B Sinclair1940 Private Affairs Jimmy Nolan Albert S Rogell1940 Spring Parade Corporal Harry Marten Henry Koster1940 One Night in the Tropics Steve Harper A Edward Sutherland1941 Free and Easy Max Clemington Edward Buzzell uncredited 1941 The Devil and Miss Jones Joe Sam Wood1941 Moon Over Miami Jeffrey Boulton Walter Lang1941 It Started with Eve Jonathan Johnny Reynolds Jr Henry Koster1942 Kings Row Parris Mitchell Sam Wood1942 Saboteur Barry Kane Alfred Hitchcock1942 Between Us Girls Jimmy Blake Henry Koster1943 Forever and a Day Ned Trimble multiple director 143 1943 Flesh and Fantasy Michael Julien Duvivier Episode 11943 Princess O Rourke Eddie O Rourke Norman Krasna1945 You Came Along Maj Bob Collins John Farrow1946 The Bride Wore Boots Jeff Warren Irving Pichel1946 The Chase Chuck Scott Arthur Ripley1947 Heaven Only Knows Michael aka Mike Albert S Rogell1947 The Lost Moment Lewis Venable Martin Gabel1948 Sleep My Love Bruce Elcott Douglas Sirk1948 Let s Live a Little Duke Crawford Richard Wallace1949 The Accused Warren Ford William Dieterle1949 Reign of Terror aka The Black Book Charles D Aubigny Anthony Mann1949 Free for All Christopher Parker Charles Barton1949 Tell It to the Judge Peter B Pete Webb Norman Foster1950 Paid in Full Bill Prentice William Dieterle1950 The Petty Girl George Petty aka Andrew Andy Tapp Henry Levin1950 For Heaven s Sake Jeff Bolton George Seaton1951 The Barefoot Mailman Sylvanus Hurley Earl McEvoy1952 The First Time Joe Bennet Frank Tashlin1953 Marry Me Again Bill Frank Tashlin1954 Lucky Me Dick Carson Jack Donohue1954 Dial M for Murder Mark Halliday Alfred Hitchcock1955 How to Be Very Very Popular Fillmore Wedge Wedgewood Nunnally Johnson1962 My Geisha Bob Moore Jack Cardiff1963 Beach Party Professor Sutwell William Asher1964 The Carpetbaggers Dan Pierce Edward Dmytryk1964 What a Way to Go Dr Victor Stephanson J Lee Thompson1966 Promise Her Anything Dr Philip Brock Arthur Hiller1966 Stagecoach Henry Gatewood Gordon Douglas1967 Five Golden Dragons Bob Mitchell Jeremy SummersStage work EditThe Roof 1931 Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 1934 Faithfully Yours 1951 The Wayward Stork 1966 Remember It s Never Too Late 1972 Television credits EditMy Hero 1951 1952 as Robert S Beanblossom Justice The Crisis 1954 Disneyland 1954 as Himself Studio One in Hollywood 1954 1956 as George Lumley Juror No 8 The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show A Marital Mix Up 1957 as Bob Collins Bob Cummings General Electric Theater Too Good with a Gun 1957 as Russ Baker The Bob Cummings Show 1955 1959 as Bob Collins Grandpa Josh Collins Josh Collins The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour 1957 1960 The Ricardos Go To Japan 1959 as Himself The Twilight Zone King Nine Will Not Return 1960 as Capt James Embry Zane Grey Theater The Last Bugle 1960 as Lt Charles Gatewood The New Bob Cummings Show 1961 1962 as Bob Carson My Living Doll 1964 1965 as Dr Robert McDonald The Flying Nun Speak the Speech I Pray You 1969 as Father Walter Larson Gidget Grows Up 1969 as Russ Lawrence Love American Style 1969 1973 as Walding segment Love and the Secret Spouse Grandpa segment Love and the Second Time Bert Palmer segment Love and the Pill Hollywood Squares 1970 as Guest Appearance Green Acres Rest and Relaxation 1970 as Mort Warner Here Come the Brides The She Bear 1970 as Jack Crosse Bewitched Samantha and the Troll 1971 as Roland Berkley Here s Lucy Lucy s Punctured Romance 1972 as Bob Collins Partners in Crime 1973 as Ralph Elsworth The Love Boat Third Wheel Grandmother s Day Second String Mom 1979 as Eliott Smith Walt Disney s Wonderful World of Color Walt Disney World s 15th Anniversary Celebration 1986 as Host Narrator Himself Disneyland s 35th Anniversary Special 1990 as Himself final film role Radio credits EditScreen Directors Playhouse Bachelor Mother 1951 144 Cavalcade of America Going Up 1952 145 References Edit a b Oliver Myrna December 3 1990 Robert Cummings Los Angeles Times a b c d Wise and Wilderson 2000 p 189 Robert Cummings Hollywood Walk of Fame Retrieved June 27 2016 Robert Cummings Also Known As Bob Cummings at American Film Institute Catalog a b FilmReference com a b c d e f g h i j k Christensen 1999 p 225 Greenwood James R March 1960 Meet Bob Cummings Pilot Actor Businessman Flying Vol 66 3 pp 44 46 47 a b Greenwood 1960 p 45 Robert Cummings Walkoffame com Retrieved January 26 2019 WIse James E and WIlderson III Paul W 2000 Stars in Khaki Movie Actors in the Army and Air Services Naval Institute Press p 189 ISBN 9781557509581 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings Des Moines Register June 8 1980 Cummings Joins Lucy Show Ithaca Journal September 8 1972 The Robert Briem Show KABC AM Radio May 22 1982 12 07 a m to 1 56 a m referenced at http www classicmoviehub com blog classic movie trivia robert cummings and orville wright Retrieved September 26 2018 Gatti Annmarie May 1 2014 Classic Movie Trivia Robert Cummings and Orville Wright Classic Movie Hub Blog Retrieved January 26 2019 Cummings Joins Lucy Show Ithaca Journal 1972 Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings Des Moines Register 1980 Renstrom Arthur G 1975 Wilbur and Orville Wright A Chronology Commemorating the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Orville Wright Library of Congress pp 43 54 August 1909 through December 1910 83 84 1927 and 208 Orville Wright last flight as a pilot on May 13 1918 in his Wright 1911 biplane ISBN 0844401315 McCullough David G 2015 The Wright Brothers Simon amp Schuster ISBN 9781476728742 Correspondence of Stephen Wright of The Wright Brothers Family Foundation January 31 2019 The Wrights lives during this period 1909 1910 were busy and well documented Most of their time was spent in travel throughout Europe and the East Coast and consisted of meetings flying demonstrations ceremonial appearances and the work of building airplanes The story of Robert Cummings father having met Orville or both brothers in one account make it seem likely to have been impossible With regards to Orville having personally trained Robert Cummings to fly in 1927 I can tell you with reasonable certainty that Orville s last flight as Pilot in Command as documented in Arthur George Renstrom s Chronology was made in 1918 Renstrom 1975 p 32 Correspondence of Stephen Wright 2019 Edwards John Carver 2009 Orville s Aviators McFarland amp Co p 158 ISBN 9780786442270 Greenwood 1960 p 46 Greenwood 1960 p 46 The Life Story Of ROBERT CUMMINGS Voice Vol 23 no 35 Tasmania Australia September 2 1950 p 4 Retrieved October 12 2017 via National Library of Australia a b c THE LIFE STORY OF robert cummings Picture show No 36 December 5 1936 p 20 ProQuest 1880296370 a b P H August 29 1937 Greta Garbo and Hepburn used guile The Washington Post ProQuest 150943442 a b c Lyon et al 1987 p 164 Hopper Hedda October 1 1950 Movie Mills Prove Real Grind Says Old Hand Bob Cummings Bob Cummings Describes Screen Actors Problems Los Angeles Times p E1 a b c d WHAT S IN A NAME Los Angeles Times February 9 1963 ProQuest 168336124 a b Wilkinson L A October 29 1939 HOAXER OF HOLLYWOOD Los Angeles Times ProQuest 165014887 CBC Life And Times CBC ca November 12 2002 Retrieved July 25 2012 BROOKS B J October 31 1931 THE PLAY The New York Times NEW ROXY THEATRE PLANS ITS OPENING The New York Times November 23 1932 a b c Shaffer R October 18 1936 Bob Cummings is a modern Horatio Alger in Hollywood Chicago Daily Tribune a b c d Frederick C Othman March 29 1939 Prize faker finally lands regular job The Washington Post ProQuest 151188805 Features laurel and hardy com LIKEABLE ROBERT CUMMINGS Voice Vol 15 no 34 Tasmania Australia August 22 1942 p 3 Retrieved October 12 2017 via National Library of Australia Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 IBDB Bloom October 14 1934 CLEVER YOUNG FOLKS IN FOLLIES Chicago Daily Tribune ProQuest 181540837 Tucker 2011 p 185 Comic trio will appear Los Angeles Times January 23 1935 ProQuest 163299654 Paul H August 29 1937 Greta Garbo and Hepburn used Guile The Washington Post p 1 ProQuest 150943442 A S November 28 1935 THE SCREEN The New York Times p 6 Schallert E July 13 1935 D W Griffith preparing to film broken blossoms for English company Los Angeles Times ProQuest 163356338 SCREEN NOTES The New York Times July 17 1935 Scheuer Philip K August 26 1935 Luise Rainer and William Powell Escapade Stars United for Ziegfeld Los Angeles Times p 19 ProQuest 163390829 Cummings Groomed For Stellar Parts The Washington Post April 26 1936 p AA3 HARRISON F February 13 1936 Hollywood NEWS and GOSSIP The China Press Schallert Edwin July 29 1938 United Artists Allots Wanger 1 500 000 Los Angeles Times p 15 SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD The New York Times November 17 1938 Read K December 6 1938 Around and about in Hollywood Los Angeles Times ProQuest 164888934 Davis Ronald L 2005 Just making movies University Press of Mississippi p 8 FRANK S NUGENT March 18 1939 THE SCREEN Deanna Durbin Scores Again in Three Smart Girls Grow Up The New York Times p 9 Schallert E May 6 1939 Lead in Arizona looms for Cary Grant Los Angeles Times ProQuest 164927169 Gloria Jean s Starring Career to Gain New Zip Los Angeles Times May 13 1940 p 11 Schallert Edwin March 27 1939 Verne Sub Sea Saga Acquires Sudden Life Cary Carole Duettino Music Fills Disney Air Gertrude Michael Signs Cummings Bit for Boy Los Angeles Times p 18 Frank Daugherty March 7 1941 Easy to make a picture if combination is right The Christian Science Monitor ProQuest 515683755 DOUGLAS W CHURCHILL January 10 1941 Fox signs don ameche carole landis and robert cummings for roles in miami The New York Times ProQuest 105505046 Parsons Louella O January 11 1941 Close Ups and Long Shots Of the Motion Picture Scene The Washington Post p 6 Louella O Parsons May 1 1941 Close Ups and Long Shots of the Motion Picture Scene The Washington Post p 12 DOUGLAS W CHURCHILL July 11 1941 SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD The New York Times DOUGLAS W CHURCHILL September 15 1941 SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD The New York Times Wallis Hal B Higham Charles 1980 Starmaker the autobiography of Hal Wallis Macmillan Pub Co p 101 DOUGLAS W CHURCHILL November 8 1941 SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD The New York Times Chapman J December 28 1941 THE STARS OF 1942 Chicago Daily Tribune ProQuest 176583435 Article 12 no title The New York Times January 10 1942 ProQuest 106249615 SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD The New York Times October 3 1942 Ashbu 2006 p 265 Cummings Robert Orville Bob Capt Togetherweserved com Retrieved March 15 2015 a b CUMMINGS GOING PLACES Chicago Daily Tribune May 20 1945 ProQuest 177129879 SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD The New York Times April 16 1943 ProQuest 106690770 ACTOR ROBERT CUMMINGS SUES OVER MINOR ROLES Los Angeles Times September 24 1943 p 13 ProQuest 165469900 FRED S March 26 1944 HOLLYWOOD MULLS COURT DECISIONS The New York Times p 1 United States Court of Appeals For the Ninth Circuit Universal vs Robert Cummings via Internet archive a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help SCREEN NEWS Ida Lupino Zachary Scott Set for Mrs Carrolls January 25 1945 p 16 HEDDA HOPPER May 20 1945 CUMMINGS GOING PLACES LOOKING AT HOLLYWOOD Chicago Daily Tribune p C2 SCREEN NEWS The New York Times June 1 1945 ProQuest 107158033 Schallert E January 9 1946 Pickford Rogers line up six film subjects Los Angeles Times PARAMOUNT SIGNS ROBERT CUMMINGS The New York Times May 18 1946 Condon R June 9 1946 A kid of thirty six Los Angeles Times Zylstra F September 29 1946 Cummings is going places Chicago Daily Tribune T F March 2 1947 SIFTING THE HOLLYWOOD NEWS The New York Times ProQuest 107807555 FILM FIRM FORMED BY CHAPLIN S SON The New York Times August 20 1946 ProQuest 107520981 Schallert E December 2 1946 Jupiter juno deal on allied pacts bennett Los Angeles Times ProQuest 165749096 Scheuer P K December 12 1946 Bart Marshall signed as fourth star in Ivy Los Angeles Times ProQuest 165714841 Scheuer P K December 20 1946 Ruth Warrick to star in Unguarded Heart Los Angeles Times ProQuest 165708766 THOMAS F BRADY February 6 1947 NEW FILM CONCERN PLANS FIRST MOVIE The New York Times ProQuest 107836057 THEATER MOGUL WITH 568 143 TOP 45 EARNER Betty Grable s 208 000 Leads Women Chicago Daily Tribune August 26 1947 p 5 THOMAS F BRADY March 1 1947 COTTEN TO APPEAR IN SELZNICK FILM Actor Will Play Dual Role in Rupert of Hentzau Which Producer Is Remaking The New York Times p 11 A H WEILER October 17 1948 BY WAY OF REPORT Actor to star double lydia bailey on slate The New York Times p 1 ProQuest 108258717 Schallert E June 7 1948 Los Angeles Times ProQuest 165825061 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a Missing or empty title help Schallert E March 23 1948 Amdzon luring movies niesen back in cinema Los Angeles Times ProQuest 165803103 NEWS OF THE SCREEN The New York Times August 3 1948 ProQuest 108349600 Schallert E July 23 1949 Song of Norway film lurking for Jeffreys John Russell gets lead Los Angeles Times ProQuest 165982025 THOMAS F BRADY July 23 1949 DEBORAH KERR GETS METRO MOVIE LEAD The New York Times ProQuest 105803181 Faithfully Yours Broadway Play Original IBDB J P SHANLEY July 19 1951 TWO ON AISLE DUE TO ARRIVE TONIGHT The New York Times ProQuest 111914562 Hopper H July 2 1952 Looking at Hollywood Chicago Daily Tribune ProQuest 178376543 Ames W November 8 1952 Cummings my hero series to debut tonight pair of grid games for television fans Los Angeles Times ProQuest 166416368 Swirsky S August 13 1953 Robert Cummings explains why his TV show is off the air Los Angeles Times ProQuest 166519526 a b Thomas B January 12 1958 BOB CUMMINGS SHOW REMAINS RIGHT AT TOP Chicago Daily Tribune ProQuest 180290349 a b Scheuer P K April 3 1955 A TOWN CALLED HOLLYWOOD Los Angeles Times ProQuest 166745718 Hollywood Diary The World s News No 2727 New South Wales Australia March 27 1954 p 27 Retrieved October 12 2017 via National Library of Australia McGivern 2006 p 82 Gobel named top new TV personality Chicago Daily Tribune March 8 1955 ProQuest 179393566 a b Yumpu com Boxoffice September 24 1955 yumpu com Retrieved June 27 2021 a b Chicago Tribune from Chicago Illinois on May 12 1956 39 Newspapers com Retrieved June 27 2021 a b Chicago Tribune from Chicago Illinois on December 8 1956 61 Newspapers com Retrieved June 27 2021 Fink J December 8 1956 THE PRESIDENT OF THE CORPORATION SAYS Chicago Daily Tribune ProQuest 179997896 Scheuer Philip K November 21 1955 Drama Indie Setups Announced by Cummings Chandler Hello Barry Fitzgerald Los Angeles Times p 41 The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles California on December 30 1954 51 Newspapers com Retrieved June 27 2021 Louella parsons January 29 1955 Bob s already very very popular The Washington Post and Times Herald ProQuest 148745816 Ames W February 24 1956 TV emmy nominees named by DeFore daly emcees eastern awards Los Angeles Times ProQuest 166918241 Hopper H March 10 1955 Gregory gets rights to novels by Wolfe Los Angeles Times ProQuest 166753397 Smith C May 22 1958 THE TV SCENE Los Angeles Times J C March 29 1959 Bob is becoming TV s Dorian Gray The Washington Post and Times Herald ProQuest 149218267 Anderson R November 1 1959 Cummings is out to kill a rumor Chicago Daily Tribune ProQuest 182393364 Korman S September 16 1961 BOB TAKES THE HIGH ROAD Chicago Daily Tribune ProQuest 183017370 V A January 28 1962 NEWS OF TV RADIO The New York Times ProQuest 115932042 V A February 6 1965 COMEDIANS PLAN TV SERIES IN FALL The New York Times ProQuest 116738337 The Wayward Stork Broadway Play Original IBDB STANLEY KAUFFMANN January 20 1966 Theater Prime Time TV Bob Cummings Stars in Wayward Stork The New York Times p 27 ABC S WEEKLY PACKAGE OF LOVE AMERICAN STYLE IT S DIFFERENT Los Angeles Times October 19 1969 ProQuest 156324659 Airstream by Robert Landau and James Phillippi published in 1984 by Gibbs M Smith Inc and Peregrine Smith Books Salt Lake City Maltin 1994 p 189 Mitchell Smyth T S March 29 1987 Health nut actor heads for 100 Toronto Star ProQuest 435548849 Bob cummings used drug wife charges Chicago Tribune October 29 1969 ProQuest 169778070 Robert Cummings Divorced The New York Times January 16 1970 p 33 ProQuest 118877797 Woog 1991 p 192 a b Flint Peter B December 4 1990 Robert Cummings is dead at 82 Debonair actor in TV and films The New York Times Hedda Hopper May 8 1948 LOOKING AT HOLLYWOOD Los Angeles Times p 9 Cummings Assault Charge Dismissed Variety Publishing Company Retrieved June 28 2020 via Lantern 119 600 Suits Against Robert Cummings Settled Los Angeles Times August 4 1954 p 1 ProQuest 166673744 Auerbach Alexander September 26 1972 Actor Cummings Cosmetics Magnate Charged With Fraud Los Angeles Times p 3 Bob Cummings held in telephone fraud Chicago Tribune December 17 1975 p 3 N R KLEINFIELD March 27 1978 The Myriad Faces of Fraud on the Phone The New York Times p D1 a b c Lertzman and Birnes 2013 pp 83 89 Bryk William September 20 2005 Dr Feelgood New York Sun Lertzman and Birnes 2013 pp 79 82 Critchlow 2013 p 130 Wilson Scott August 19 2016 Resting Places The Burial Sites of More Than 14 000 Famous Persons 3d ed McFarland ISBN 9781476625997 via Google Books Directors Rene Clair Edmund Goulding Cedric Hardwicke Frank Lloyd Victor Saville Robert Stevenson and Herbert Wilcox Those Were The Days Nostalgia Digest 39 2 32 39 Spring 2013 Kirby Walter April 27 1952 Better Radio Programs for the Week The Decatur Daily Review p 48 Retrieved May 9 2015 via Newspapers com Bibliography Edit Ashbu LeRoy With Amusement For All Lexington Kentucky University Press of Kentucky 2006 ISBN 978 0 81314 107 7 Christensen Lawrence O ed Dictionary of Missouri Biography Columbia Missouri University of Missouri Press 1999 ISBN 978 0 82621 222 1 Critchlow Donald T When Hollywood Was Right How Movie Stars Studio Moguls and Big Business Remade American Politics Cambridge UK Cambridge University Press 2013 ISBN 978 1 107 65028 2 Gilmore Susan Tired of the commute All you need is 3 5 million The Seattle Times September 5 2006 Greenwood James R Meet Bob Cummings Pilot Actor Businessman Flying 66 3 March 1960 pp 44 46 54 56 Lertzman Richard A and William J Birnes Dr Feelgood The Shocking Story of the Doctor Who May Have Changed History by Treating and Drugging JFK Marilyn Elvis and Other Prominent Figures New York Skyhorse Publishing 2013 ISBN 978 1 62087 589 6 Lyon Christopher James Vinson Susan Doll and Greg S Faller The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers New York St James Press 1987 ISBN 978 1 55862 041 4 Maltin Leonard Robert Cummings Leonard Maltin s Movie Encyclopedia New York Dutton 1994 ISBN 0 525 93635 1 McGivern Carolyn The Lost Films of John Wayne Nashville Kentucky Cumberland House 2006 ISBN 978 1 58182 567 1 Tucker David C Eve Arden A Chronicle of All Film Television Radio and Stage Performances Jefferson North Carolina McFarland amp Company 2011 ISBN 978 0 7864 8810 0 Wise James E and Paul W Wilderson Stars in Khaki Movie Actors in the Army and the Air Services Annapolis Maryland Naval Institute Press 2000 ISBN 978 1 55750 958 1 Woog Adam Sexless Oysters and Self Tipping Hats 100 Years of Invention in the Pacific Northwest Sasquatch Books 1991 ISBN 978 0 91236 547 3 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Cummings Robert Cummings at IMDb Robert Cummings at AllMovie Robert Cummings at the Internet Broadway Database Robert Cummings at Find a Grave Bob Cummings Biography Robert Cummings papers L Tom Perry Special Collections Harold B Lee Library Brigham Young University Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Robert Cummings amp oldid 1145343028, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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