Robert Cummings 1 Robert Cummings Robert Cummings Cummings in 1979 Born Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings June 9, 1910 Joplin, Missouri, USA Died December 2, 1990 (aged 80) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA Cause of death Renal failure; Pneumonia Resting place Entombment at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California Other names Bob Cummings Blade Stanhope Conway Bruce Hutchens Alma mater American Academy of Dramatic Arts Occupation Actor Years active 1931–1990 [1] Political party Republican Spouse(s) Emma Myers (m. 1931–33) [2] Vivian Janis (m. 1933–1945) Mary Elliott (m. 1945–70) Regina Young (m. 1971–?) Martha "Jane" Burzynski (m. 1989–1990) Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990), mostly known professionally as Robert Cummings but sometimes as Bob Cummings,[3][4] was an American film and television actor. Cummings performed mainly in comedies, but was effective in his few dramas, especially two Alfred Hitchcock films, Saboteur (1942) and Dial M for Murder (1954).[5] Robert Cummings 2 Early life Cummings was born in Joplin, Missouri, a son of Dr. Charles Clarence Cummings and the former Ruth Annabelle Kraft.[6] His father was a surgeon, who was part of the original medical staff of St. John's Hospital in Joplin. He was the founder of the Jasper County Tuberculosis Hospital in Webb City, Missouri.[7][8] Cummings's mother was an ordained minister of the Science of Mind. While attending Joplin High School, Cummings was taught to fly by his godfather, Orville Wright, the aviation pioneer. His first solo was on 3 March 1927.[9] During high school, Cummings gave Joplin residents rides in his aircraft for $5 per person. 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. 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, Pennsylvania. He studied aeronautical engineering for a year before he dropped out because of financial reasons, his family having lost heavily in the 1929 stock market crash. Since the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City paid its male actors $14 a week, Cummings decided to study there. Acting career Cummings studied drama for two years before appearing on Broadway in 1931. As British actors were heavily in demand, Cummings traveled to England and learned to mimic an upper-class English accent. He had a brief career on Broadway under the name Blade Stanhope Conway, posing as an Englishman. In 1933, Cummings met and married his second wife, the actress Vivian Janis. They were both appearing in the Ziegfeld Follies, with Cummings as the male lead opposite comedian Fanny Brice.[10] In 1934, he moved to Hollywood, where he acted at first under the name Bruce Hutchens, having assumed the persona of a wealthy Texan. He made his film debut the following year in The Virginia Judge. Cummings then began to use his own name, acting throughout the 1930s as a contract player in a number of supporting roles. Achieving stardom He achieved stardom in 1939 in Three Smart Girls Grow Up, opposite Deanna Durbin. His many film comedies include: The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) with Jean Arthur, and The Bride Wore Boots (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck and Moon Over Miami (1941). Cummings gave memorable performances in three notable dramas. In Kings Row (1942), he played the lead role Parrish Mitchell alongside friend Ronald Reagan, Claude Rains, Ann Sheridan and an all-star cast. In spite of its mixed critical reaction, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture. Cummings also starred in the spy thriller Saboteur (1942) with Priscilla Lane and Norman Lloyd. He played Barry Kane, an Aircraft worker wrongfully accused of murder, trying to clear his name. Cummings appeared in another Hitchcock film: Dial M for Murder (1954), in which he played Mark Halliday with Grace Kelly and Ray Milland. The film was a box-office smash. Cummings also starred in Robert Cummings in the trailer for Saboteur Robert Cummings 3 You Came Along (1945), which featured a screenplay by Ayn Rand. The Army Air Forces pilot Cummings played ("Bob Collins") died off camera, but was resurrected ten years later for his television show. Cummings 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.[11] Cummings made his mark in the CBS Radio network's dramatic serial entitled Those We Love, which ran from 1938 to 1945. Cummings played the role of David Adair, opposite Richard Cromwell, Francis X. Bushman, and Nan Grey. He was also one of the four stars featured in the short-run radio version of Four Star Playhouse. World War II In November 1942, Cummings joined the United States Army Air Corps.[12] During World War II, he served as a flight instructor. After the war, Cummings served as a pilot in the United States Air Force Reserve, where he achieved the rank of Captain.[13] For a time he was the owner of a Porterfield 35-70 aircraft, named "Spinach",[14] which is still airworthy in the USA.[15] Television career Cummings began a long career on television in 1952, starring in the comedy My Hero. He received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his portrayal of "Juror Number Eight," in the first televised performance of Twelve Angry Men, a live production that aired in 1954 (Henry Fonda played the same role in the feature film adaptation). Cummings was one of the anchors on ABC's live broadcast of the opening day of Disneyland on July 17, 1955. From 1955 through 1959, Cummings starred on a successful NBC sitcom, The Bob Cummings Show (list of episodes) (known as Love That Bob in reruns), in which he played Bob Collins, an ex–World War II pilot who became a successful professional photographer. As a bachelor in 1950s Los Angeles, the character Bob Collins considered himself to be quite the ladies' man. This sitcom was noted for some very risque humor for its time. 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. Cummings also was a guest on the NBC interview program Here's Hollywood. Robert Cummings 4 In 1960 Cummings starred in "King Nine Will Not Return," the opening episode of the second season of CBS's The Twilight Zone. The New Bob Cummings Show (list of episodes) followed on CBS for one season, from 1961 to 1962. Cummings is depicted as the owner and pilot of Aerocar N102D[16] and this aircraft was featured on his show.[17][18] Cummings also starred in 1964–65 on another CBS sitcom, My Living Doll (list of episodes), which co-starred Julie Newmar as Rhoda the robot. Cummings's last significant role was the 1973 television movie Partners in Crime, co-starring Lee Grant. He also appeared in 1979 as Elliott Smith, the father of Fred Grandy's Gopher on ABC's The Love Boat.[19] In 1986, Cummings hosted the televised 15th Anniversary Celebration of Walt Disney World in Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Bob Cummings and Julie Newmar in a publicity still Robert Cummings's last public appearance was on The 35th for My Living Doll Anniversary Special of Disneyland in 1990. Personal life Cummings married five times and fathered seven children. He was a staunch advocate of natural foods and a healthy diet and in 1960 authored a book, Stay Young and Vital, which focused upon health foods and exercise. Cummings's son, Tony Cummings, played Rick Halloway in the NBC daytime serial Another World in the early 1980s. 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.[] He was interred in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. Filmography Stage • The Roof (1931) • Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 (1934) • Faithfully Yours (1951) • The Wayward Stork (1966) Robert Cummings 5 Films This filmography as actor is believed to be complete. Cummings also served as producer on 1948's Let's Live a Little. • Seasoned Greetings (1933) (short subject) • Sons of the Desert (1933) (extra, credited as "Blade Stanhope Conway") • The Virginia Judge (1935) • So Red the Rose (1935) • Millions in the Air (1935) • Desert Gold (1936) Robert Cummings, Judy Canova, unknown person, • Forgotten Faces (1936) Fritz Feld and his spouse Virginia Christine at the 1979 • Border Flight (1936) National Film Society Convention • Three Cheers for Love (1936) • Hollywood Boulevard (1936) • The Accusing Finger (1936) • Hideaway Girl (1936) • Arizona Mahoney (1936) • The Outer Gate (1937) • The Last Train from Madrid (1937) • Souls at Sea (1937) • Sophie Lang Goes West (1937) • Wells Fargo (1937) • College Swing (1938) • You and Me (1938) • The Texans (1938) • Touchdown, Army (1938) • I Stand Accused (1938) • Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939) • The Under-Pup (1939) • Rio (1939) • Everything Happens at Night (1939) • Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939) • And One Was Beautiful (1940) • Private Affairs (1940) • Spring Parade (1940) • One Night in the Tropics