biography
Born Charles Cummings in Joplin, Missouri, on June 10, 1908 (some sources indicate his year of birth as 1910), actor Robert Cummings was the son of a well-to-do
surgeon and spent his youth in Joplin. A distant relative of the Wright brothers, Cummings learned to fly as a teenager and maintained a life-long interest in flying.
In the mid to late 1920s, Cummings studied engineering at Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh before deciding on a career as an actor. Moving to New York at the dawn of the
Great Depression, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and began working in theater to support himself and his first wife. Cummings' comedic gifts got
him work quickly, and he eventually starred with Fanny Brice on Broadway in The Ziegfeld Follies of 1934. He met his second wife Vivian Janis, who was a singer,
while both appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies. Afterward, Cummings headed for Hollywood and signed a contract with Paramount Studios in 1935, beginning an on-again,
off-again association with the studio that lasted for nearly 30 years.
Although Cummings is best known for his comedies and film noir thrillers, initially he acted in dramas and a few westerns before finding his niche in comedy. He
also starred in such film noir thrillers as Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942; with Priscilla Lane and Otto Kruger) and The Chase (1946; with
Steve Cochran). After spending nearly 20 years in films, Cummings made the switch to television in the early 1950s in his first
series, the comedy My Hero, which aired on NBC from 1952-1953. His second series, The Bob Cummings Show, aired on NBC and CBS from 1955 to 1959
and is the one he is best known for. |
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the films of robert cummingsSpring Parade (1940)
With Anne Gwynne in the Universal musical comedy Spring ParadeFree and Easy (1941)
With Ruth Hussey and Nigel Bruce in the MGM romantic comedy Free and EasyKings Row (1942)
With Ann Sheridan in the Warner Bros. drama Kings RowSaboteur (1942)
Cummings portrays Barry Kane in Alfred Hitchcock's Universal thriller Saboteur. Also pictured is Priscilla LaneYou Came Along (1945)
With Lizabeth Scott in the Paramount romance You Came AlongThe Bride Wore Boots (1946)
From the Paramount comedy The Bride Wore Boots with Barbara StanwyckThe Lost Moment (1947)
From the Universal drama The Lost MomentLet's Live a Little (1948)
With Hedy Lamarr in the romantic comedy Let's Live a LittleFree for All (1949)
With Ann Blyth in the Universal romantic comedy Free for AllTell It to the Judge (1949)
As Pete Webb in the Columbia comedy Tell It to the JudgePaid in Full (1950)
Diana Lynn and Lizabeth Scott in the Paramount drama Paid in FullThe First Time (1952)
From the Columbia comedy The First Time with Bea Benaderet and Barbara HaleThe Bob Cummings Show (1955-1959 CBS and NBC TV Series)
With Joi Lansing in an episode of The Bob Cummings Show. In reruns, the series was retitled Love that BobBeach Party (1963) 
From the American International comedy Beach Party. LEFT and RIGHT: Cummings as Professor SutwellThe Carpetbaggers (1964)
With Martha Hyer in the Paramount potboiler The CarpetbaggersPromise Her Anything (1965)
Cummings as Dr. Peter Brock in the Paramount comedy Promise Her Anythinglater yearsAn avid health food and vitamin advocate, Robert Cummings maintained a youthful appearance into middle age. He also owned a company that sold vitamins and food supplements until the 1970s. However, in the 1950s Cummings unwittingly became addicted to methamphetamine, under the supervision of a doctor who administered the shots. Initially thinking that the shots contained vitamins, the drug produced wild mood swings for Cummings and was instrumental in the breakup of his third and fourth marriages, ruined his acting career, and eventually left him destitute in his old age. Sadly, he was unable to break his addiction to the drug. He was also known to have had several brushes with the law from the 1940s onward.His film career wound down in the late 1960s with the release of his final theatrical film, the European action flick Five Golden Dragons (1967; with Margaret Lee and Christopher Lee). In the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Cummings appeared as a guest star on several TV series such as Love American Style and Bewitched, and he toured the country in dinner theater productions throughout the 1970s. His final TV appearance was on a 1979 episode of the ABC series The Love Boat. In his last years, Cummings suffered from Parkinson's disease. After the breakup of his fourth marriage to wife Regina in 1987, he married his fifth wife in 1989, just one year before his death. Cummings passed away at age 82 on December 2, 1990, and was survived by his fifth wife and seven children. |
filmographyFILMS
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This page premiered July 13, 2010.
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