Robert Cummings

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Birthday:

9 June 1910, Joplin, Missouri, USA

Birth Name:

Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings

Height:

178 cm

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). Show less «

[on his lifelong devotion to healthy eating] I'd love to tell all those critics how well I feel today because of my diet. But they're all de...Show more »

[on his lifelong devotion to healthy eating] I'd love to tell all those critics how well I feel today because of my diet. But they're all dead. Show less «

The girls have it easy, everything they wear in pictures is suppled by the studio- their dress, stockings, shoes, underwear, jewelry, hair, ...Show more »

The girls have it easy, everything they wear in pictures is suppled by the studio- their dress, stockings, shoes, underwear, jewelry, hair, even their falsies. They could arrive at the studio naked, if they cared to. But the actor has to pay for everything himself. He even has to bring his own toupee, if he wears one. Show less «

I had to have a sharp wardrobe and a fancy car and foot the bill at the night clubs. And my date, who was earning 10 times as much as I was,...Show more »

I had to have a sharp wardrobe and a fancy car and foot the bill at the night clubs. And my date, who was earning 10 times as much as I was, would brag about how she borrowed her dress and furs from the studio. Show less «

[complaining that none of the actor's wardrobe--theoretically a part of the tools of his job--is tax-deductible] Every year I used to take m...Show more »

[complaining that none of the actor's wardrobe--theoretically a part of the tools of his job--is tax-deductible] Every year I used to take my clothes and still photos from my pictures to the Post Office building in Hollywood. I would explain to the income tax people how I used which suit in which picture. This year, they decided clothes weren't deductible, even though I have to dress well in my job. Show less «

[In 1949] I figure producers are paying me a lot of money and I ought to dress well.

[on his involvement in several business enterprises that he described as "practically catastrophic"] . . . an actor, when he's working, ceas...Show more »

[on his involvement in several business enterprises that he described as "practically catastrophic"] . . . an actor, when he's working, ceases to be a part of the world. He's on a sound stage from early morning [until] night. He loses track of what goes on outside. Elaborate practical matters, like having his car filled with gas, confuse him. Nothing exists but his own tight little corner. That's when he's working, I say. Of course, when he's not working, he's not an actor. He's a bum. So someone has to take care of the other part, and it has to be someone you can trust. Show less «

[Asked if he was upset by the cancellation of The Bob Cummings Show (1961)] No, we knew, by about the 15th show, that we had too much, that ...Show more »

[Asked if he was upset by the cancellation of The Bob Cummings Show (1961)] No, we knew, by about the 15th show, that we had too much, that it was too expensive to do a full adventure show in a half-hour, and with airplanes. Show less «

[In 1962, about doing a play] The main thing is to stay active, even if you are very bad. After all, an actor is a commodity. The things tha...Show more »

[In 1962, about doing a play] The main thing is to stay active, even if you are very bad. After all, an actor is a commodity. The things that are really important for him are his health--he has to be able to deliver the body; a knowledge of the law--there are so many loopholes in contracts; and last, I'm afraid, ability. Show less «

[In 1964, about Julie Newmar, who played a robot in his series My Living Doll (1964)] This is probably the most difficult role ever played b...Show more »

[In 1964, about Julie Newmar, who played a robot in his series My Living Doll (1964)] This is probably the most difficult role ever played by an actress. The character--if that's what you call it--she plays has no thoughts, no emotions, no desires, no ethics, no social conscience. It is very difficult because she cannot instigate anything and she cannot feel anything. She must divorce herself completely from her ego, which is the hardest thing in the world to do. Show less «

[about his birth] Dad delivered me and mother christened me an hour later, but dad [named] me after a cousin of mine, Orville Wright . . . w...Show more »

[about his birth] Dad delivered me and mother christened me an hour later, but dad [named] me after a cousin of mine, Orville Wright . . . who was my godfather. Dad has cured him of diverticulitis, ptomaine and barber's itch in 1909, when my mother was carrying me. Must be why I like to fly. I'll have been flying 44 years next March. Show less «

[In 1970] I was born during the first month birth certificates were issued in Missouri and my dad wrote "Robert Orville Cummings" on the nam...Show more »

[In 1970] I was born during the first month birth certificates were issued in Missouri and my dad wrote "Robert Orville Cummings" on the name line because that's what he'd decided to name me. Then mother looked at the birth certificate afterwards and said, "No, no, we talked about that, but we're going to name him after his father, Charles Clarence Cummings Jr.". So she took a pencil and scratched through the "Robert Orville" and added "Charles Clarence". She didn't leave any room for the surgical nurse so Sister Mary Alfonsas had to sign her name right under it . . . she was a food-nut nun my dad got started on health food and is over 100 years old today. Show less «

[on the breakup of his first marriage] I was accused of being a vitamin addict, of eating 40 or 50 tablets a day. I said, "That's a dastardl...Show more »

[on the breakup of his first marriage] I was accused of being a vitamin addict, of eating 40 or 50 tablets a day. I said, "That's a dastardly lie, I take 140!". Show less «

[In 1972] It was my dad's theory that nature usually knows best. It isn't so much what you eat as what you don't get when you eat.

You can accomplish anything you want, if you act as if it were already accomplished. Know what you want, where you are going. But don't tell...Show more »

You can accomplish anything you want, if you act as if it were already accomplished. Know what you want, where you are going. But don't tell anyone what you're constructing. Show less «

[on people who don't recognize him when they pass him on the street] I've signed everything anybody ever handed to me--wet paper napkins, be...Show more »

[on people who don't recognize him when they pass him on the street] I've signed everything anybody ever handed to me--wet paper napkins, beach balls . . . When you're the star of a show, you're on the go all day at TV programs, interviews, public appearances. We didn't get in from Orlando until 4 a.m. Thursday. The driver got lost and we spent two hours driving around. Then the storm and rain woke us up at 2 p.m. I haven't had time to eat breakfast yet and the show stars in a few hours. Show less «

Unwind! Unwind from that? If the play closed tomorrow, it wouldn't ruin Bob Cummings. These people who claim they have to unwind by going so...Show more »

Unwind! Unwind from that? If the play closed tomorrow, it wouldn't ruin Bob Cummings. These people who claim they have to unwind by going somewhere and having a few drinks and losing a lot of sleep are crazy. It's a job. The curtain closes and you walk off the stage. Show less «

[When asked if he didn't want to go back to Hollywood] No, I wouldn't go back to California. I'm too old for that. Besides, the air there wo...Show more »

[When asked if he didn't want to go back to Hollywood] No, I wouldn't go back to California. I'm too old for that. Besides, the air there would kill me. Show less «

[In 1978] I've been in this business 50 years and I'm a nervous wreck! I'm getting too old for all this excitement. I've already lost eight ...Show more »

[In 1978] I've been in this business 50 years and I'm a nervous wreck! I'm getting too old for all this excitement. I've already lost eight pounds from running around the stage. I'll just have to pray to St. Jude and I'm not even Catholic. Show less «

It's a hard life. Much harder than it looks. It can get to be lonely and frustrating. People have this idea of what luxury a star must have....Show more »

It's a hard life. Much harder than it looks. It can get to be lonely and frustrating. People have this idea of what luxury a star must have. Some towns are terrible. Show less «

I always take my family with me. I'd die without them!

[speaking of his wife "Gee-Gee"] I just love my wife! She's brilliant! Half my age and twice as smart.

If I have a problem I get expert counsel,then ask the opinion of a good psychic.