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.
Series | Matt Houston | Unknown | 1982-09-26 |
Movie | Three on a Date | Cab Driver | 1978-02-17 |
Movie | The Great American Beauty Contest | Dan Carson (as Bob Cummings) | 1973-02-13 |
Movie | Partners in Crime | Ralph Elsworth | 1973-03-24 |
Series | Arnie | Unknown | 1970-09-19 |
Series | Love, American Style | Unknown | 1969-09-29 |
Movie | Gidget Grows Up | Russell Lawrence | 1969-12-30 |
Series | Here's Lucy | Unknown | 1968-09-23 |
Movie | Five Golden Dragons | Bob Mitchell | 1967-08-03 |
Movie | Promise Her Anything | Dr. Philip Brock | 1966-02-22 |
Movie | Stagecoach | Henry Gatewood (as Bob Cummings) | 1966-04-21 |
Series | Green Acres | Unknown | 1965-09-15 |
Movie | Hollywood My Home Town | Self (archive footage) | 1965-12-31 |
Series | The Hollywood Palace | Unknown | 1964-01-04 |
Movie | The Carpetbaggers | Dan Pierce | 1964-04-08 |
Series | Bewitched | Unknown | 1964-09-17 |
Movie | What a Way to Go! | Dr. Victor Stephanson | 1964-07-31 |
Movie | Hollywood Without Make-Up | Self (archive footage) | 1963-07-01 |
Series | The Great Adventure | Unknown | 1963-09-27 |
Movie | Beach Party | Professor Sutwell | 1963-08-07 |
Movie | My Geisha | Bob Moore | 1962-03-09 |
Series | The Beverly Hillbillies | Unknown | 1962-09-26 |
Series | The New Bob Cummings Show | 1961-10-05 | |
Movie | Gala Day at Disneyland | Self | 1960-01-21 |
Series | The Twilight Zone | Capt. James Embry | 1959-10-02 |
Movie | Disneyland '59 | Self | 1959-06-15 |
Movie | Bomber's Moon | Colonel Culver | 1958-08-07 |
Series | The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour | Unknown | 1957-11-06 |
Series | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | Unknown | 1956-10-05 |
Series | The Steve Allen Show | Unknown | 1956-06-24 |
Series | The Dinah Shore Chevy Show | Unknown | 1956-10-05 |
Series | The Bob Cummings Show | Bob Collins | 1955-01-02 |
Movie | How To Be Very, Very Popular | Fillmore 'Wedge' Wedgewood | 1955-07-22 |
Movie | Lucky Me | Dick Carson | 1954-04-09 |
Movie | Dial M for Murder | Mark Halliday | 1954-05-29 |
Movie | Twelve Angry Men | Juror #8 | 1954-09-20 |
Series | General Electric Theater | Unknown | 1953-02-01 |
Movie | Marry Me Again | Bill | 1953-09-22 |
Movie | The First Time | Joe Bennett | 1952-01-31 |
Series | My Hero | Robert Beanblossom | 1952-11-08 |
Series | This Is Your Life | Unknown | 1952-10-01 |
Series | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Unknown | 1951-10-05 |
Movie | The Barefoot Mailman | Sylvanus Hurley | 1951-12-03 |
Movie | For Heaven's Sake | Jeff Bolton | 1950-12-15 |
Series | Robert Montgomery Presents | Unknown | 1950-01-30 |
Series | Your Show of Shows | Unknown | 1950-02-25 |
Movie | Paid in Full | Bill Prentice | 1950-02-15 |
Movie | The Petty Girl | George Petty, aka Andrew 'Andy' Tapp | 1950-08-17 |
Series | The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show | Unknown | 1950-10-12 |
Series | The Colgate Comedy Hour | Unknown | 1950-09-10 |
Movie | The Accused | Warren Ford | 1949-01-12 |
Movie | Reign of Terror | Charles D'Aubigny | 1949-10-15 |
Movie | Tell It to the Judge | Pete Webb | 1949-11-18 |
Movie | Free For All | Christopher Parker | 1949-11-01 |
Movie | Sleep, My Love | Bruce Elcott | 1948-02-18 |
Series | Studio One | Unknown | 1948-11-07 |
Movie | Let's Live a Little | Duke Crawford | 1948-12-09 |
Movie | Heaven Only Knows | Michael, aka Mike | 1947-09-12 |
Movie | The Lost Moment | Lewis Venable | 1947-11-21 |
Movie | The Bride Wore Boots | Jeff Warren | 1946-06-05 |
Movie | The Chase | Chuck Scott | 1946-11-16 |
Movie | You Came Along | Maj. Bob Collins | 1945-07-04 |
Movie | Forever and a Day | Ned | 1943-01-21 |
Movie | Princess O'Rourke | Eddie O'Rourke | 1943-10-23 |
Movie | Flesh and Fantasy | Michael (segment 1) | 1943-10-29 |
Movie | Kings Row | Parris Mitchell | 1942-02-02 |
Movie | Saboteur | Barry Kane | 1942-04-24 |
Movie | Breakdowns of 1942 | Self | 1942-12-31 |
Movie | Between Us Girls | Jimmy Blake | 1942-09-04 |
Movie | Free and Easy | Max Clemington | 1941-02-28 |
Movie | The Devil and Miss Jones | Joe O'Brien | 1941-04-11 |
Movie | It Started with Eve | Johnny Reynolds Jr. | 1941-09-26 |
Movie | Moon Over Miami | Jeffrey 'Jeff' Boulton II | 1941-07-04 |
Movie | And One Was Beautiful | Ridley Crane | 1940-04-05 |
Movie | Private Affairs | Jimmy Nolan | 1940-07-05 |
Movie | One Night in the Tropics | Steve Harper | 1940-11-15 |
Movie | Spring Parade | Corporal Harry Marten | 1940-09-27 |
Movie | Three Smart Girls Grow Up | Harry Loren | 1939-03-24 |
Movie | The Under-Pup | Dennis Lane | 1939-08-31 |
Movie | Charlie McCarthy, Detective | Scotty Hamilton | 1939-12-22 |
Movie | Rio | Bill Gregory | 1939-09-29 |
Movie | Everything Happens at Night | Ken Morgan | 1939-12-22 |
Movie | You and Me | Jim | 1938-06-01 |
Movie | College Swing | Radio Announcer | 1938-04-29 |
Movie | The Texans | Alan Sanford | 1938-08-12 |
Movie | Touchdown, Army | Cadet Jimmy Howal | 1938-08-04 |
Movie | I Stand Accused | Frederick A. Davis | 1938-10-29 |
Movie | The Last Train from Madrid | Juan Ramos | 1937-06-11 |
Movie | The Outer Gate | Judge (uncredited) | 1937-08-04 |
Movie | Souls at Sea | George Martin | 1937-09-03 |
Movie | Wells Fargo | Dan Trimball, prospector | 1937-12-31 |
Movie | Sophie Lang Goes West | Curley Griffin | 1937-09-10 |
Movie | Border Flight | Lt. Bob Dixon | 1936-05-29 |
Movie | Hollywood Boulevard | Jay Wallace | 1936-08-20 |
Movie | Desert Gold | Fordyce 'Ford' Mortimer | 1936-03-26 |
Movie | Lady Be Careful | First Officer | 1936-09-03 |
Movie | Arizona Mahoney | Phillip Randall | 1936-12-04 |
Movie | The Accusing Finger | Jimmy Ellis | 1936-11-17 |
Movie | The Virginia Judge | Jim Preston | 1935-09-17 |
Movie | So Red the Rose | George Pendleton | 1935-12-20 |
Movie | Sons of the Desert | Steamship Announcement Witness (uncredited) | 1933-12-29 |
Movie | Seasoned Greetings | Husband (uncredited) | 1933-09-23 |
Movie | The Law of Compensation | Horace Benton | 1917-04-01 |
Movie | A Rich Man's Plaything | 'Smash' Regan | 1917-09-30 |
Movie | Betsy Ross | Joel Radley | 1917-09-16 |
Movie | The Brand of Cowardice | Col. Gordon West | 1916-10-23 |
Movie | Paying the Price | General Corbin, U.S.A. | 1916-07-09 |
Movie | The Awakening of Helena Ritchie | Lloyd Pryor | 1916-12-18 |
Movie | Alias Jimmy Valentine | Doyle | 1915-02-22 |
Movie | Camille | Monsieur Duval | 1915-12-27 |
Movie | The Jungle | Connor | 1914-05-25 |