Robert Cummings

Biography

Effective light comedian of '30s and '40s films and '50s and '60s TV series, Robert Cummings was renowned for his eternally youthful looks (which he attributed to a strict vitamin and health-food diet). He was educated at Carnegie Tech and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Deciding that Broadway producers would be more interested in an upper-crust Englishman than a kid from Joplin, Missouri, Cummings passed himself off as Blade Stanhope Conway, British actor. The ploy was successful. Cummings decided that if it worked on Broadway, it would work in Hollywood, so he journeyed west and assumed the identity of a rich Texan named Bruce Hutchens. The plan worked once more, and he began securing small parts in films. He soon reverted to his real name and became a popular leading man in light comedies, usually playing well-meaning, pleasant but somewhat bumbling young men. He achieved much more success, however, in his own television series in the '50s, The Bob Cummings Show (1955) and My Living Doll (1964). Cummings was born June 10, 1910, in Joplin, Missouri, and he died of kidney failure December 2, 1990, in Woodland Hills, California. He is interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, in the Great Mausoleum, Columbarium of Sanctity.

Known For

Mark Halliday

Dial M for Murder

Curley Griffin

Sophie Lang Goes West

Cab Driver

Three on a Date

Dr. Victor Stephanson

What a Way to Go!

Barry Kane

Saboteur

Eddie O'Rourke

Princess O'Rourke

Johnny Reynolds Jr.

It Started with Eve

Professor Sutwell

Beach Party

Dick Carson

Lucky Me

Bill Gregory

Rio

Charles D'Aubigny

Reign of Terror

Friar Lawrence

Romeo and Juliet

Chuck Scott

The Chase

Steve Harper

One Night in the Tropics

Warren Ford

The Accused

Dan Pierce

The Carpetbaggers

Bob Moore

My Geisha

George Martin

Souls at Sea

Jeffrey 'Jeff' Boulton II

Moon Over Miami

Joe O'Brien

The Devil and Miss Jones

Harry Loren

Three Smart Girls Grow Up

Bill Prentice

Paid in Full

Henry Gatewood (as Bob Cummings)

Stagecoach

Lewis Venable

The Lost Moment

Parris Mitchell

Kings Row

Bruce Elcott

Sleep, My Love

Bob Mitchell

Five Golden Dragons

Dr. Philip Brock

Promise Her Anything

Michael, aka Mike

Heaven Only Knows

Jeff Bolton

For Heaven's Sake

Alan Sanford

The Texans

Jimmy Ellis

The Accusing Finger

Dan Trimball, prospector

Wells Fargo

George Petty, aka Andrew 'Andy' Tapp

The Petty Girl

Ken Morgan

Everything Happens at Night

Radio Announcer

College Swing

Michael (segment 1)

Flesh and Fantasy

Jim

You and Me

Ridley Crane

And One Was Beautiful

Fordyce 'Ford' Mortimer

Desert Gold

Jeff Warren

The Bride Wore Boots

Russell Lawrence

Gidget Grows Up

Joe Bennett

The First Time

Corporal Harry Marten

Spring Parade

Pete Webb

Tell It to the Judge

Juan Ramos

The Last Train from Madrid

Scotty Hamilton

Charlie McCarthy, Detective

George Pendleton

So Red the Rose

Maj. Bob Collins

You Came Along

Colonel Culver

Bomber's Moon

Sylvanus Hurley

The Barefoot Mailman

Duke Crawford

Let's Live a Little

Frederick A. Davis

I Stand Accused

Christopher Parker

Free For All

Dan Carson (as Bob Cummings)

The Great American Beauty Contest

Self

Holiday Time at Disneyland

Steamship Announcement Witness (uncredited)

Sons of the Desert

Husband (uncredited)

Seasoned Greetings

Dennis Lane

The Under-Pup

Phillip Randall

Arizona Mahoney

Fillmore 'Wedge' Wedgewood

How To Be Very, Very Popular

Jay Wallace

Hollywood Boulevard

Self

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood

Cadet Jimmy Howal

Touchdown, Army

Max Clemington

Free and Easy

Juror #8

Twelve Angry Men

Jimmy Blake

Between Us Girls

Ned

Forever and a Day

Bill

Marry Me Again

Lt. Bob Dixon

Border Flight

Jim Preston

The Virginia Judge

Mike Winslow

Hideaway Girl

Self

Gala Day at Disneyland

Disneyland's Opening Day Broadcast

Jimmy Nolan

Private Affairs

Self

Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Special

Self

Disneyland '59

Himself

Screen Snapshots (Series 23, no. 3)

Ralph Elsworth

Partners in Crime

Self

Breakdowns of 1942

Clinton Faraday

Forgotten Faces

Jimmy

Millions in the Air

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

82

Gender

Male

Birthday

1910-06-09

Place of Birth

Joplin, Missouri, USA

Also Known As

Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings