Robert Cummings
Robert Cummings | |
---|---|
Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
Other names | Bob Cummings Blade Stanhope Conway Bryce Hutchens |
Alma mater | American Academy of Dramatic Arts |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1931–1990 |
Political party | Republican |
Spouses | Emma Myers
(m. 1931; div. 1933)Mary Elliott
(m. 1945; div. 1970)Regina Fong
(m. 1971; div. 1987)Martha Burzynski (m. 1989) |
Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990)
Early life
Cummings was born in
While attending Joplin High School, Cummings learned to fly.[7] His first solo flight was on March 3, 1927.[8] Some reports of his learning to fly refer to Orville Wright, the aviation pioneer, as being his godfather and flight instructor.[9][10][11][12] However, these reports appear to be based on either media interviews of Cummings or other anecdotal references.[13][14][15][16][2] There is no historical record of Orville Wright having traveled to Joplin, Missouri either around the time of the gestation or the birth of Cummings, or during 1927, the year Cummings learned to fly.[17][18][19] Cummings, born in 1910, would have only been 8 years old when Orville Wright had essentially stopped flying on May 13, 1918, as a result of injuries he sustained in an accident at Fort Myer, Virginia, on September 17, 1908.[20][21][22] The report that Orville Wright taught Cummings to fly is also contradicted by Cummings' interview reported in the March 1960 Flying magazine.[23] In the interview, Cummings described how he learned to fly "by trial and error, mostly error" during 3 hours of instruction from a Joplin, Missouri plumber named Cooper before he soloed on March 3, 1927.[23] During high school, Cummings gave Joplin residents rides in his aircraft for $5 per person.[6]
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.[8][24]
Education
Cummings studied briefly at
Cummings became interested in acting while performing in plays at Carnegie Tech, and decided to pursue it as a career.[26] Since the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City paid its male actors $14 a week, Cummings decided to study there.[27] He stayed only one season, but later said he learned "three basic principles of acting. The first – never anticipate; second – take pride in my profession. And third – trust in God. And that last is said in reverence."[28]
Career
Blade Stanhope Conway
Cummings started looking for work in 1930, but couldn't find any roles, forcing him to get a job at a theatrical agency.[6] Realizing that, at the time, "three quarters of Broadway plays were from England"[29] and that English accents and actors were in demand, Cummings decided to cash in an insurance policy and buy a round-trip ticket there.[30]
He was driving a motorbike through the countryside, picking up the accent and learning about the country, when his bike broke down at Harrogate. While waiting for repairs, he devised a plan. He invented the name "Blade Stanhope Conway" and bribed the janitor of a local theatre to put on the marquee: "Blade Stanhope Conway in Candida". He then had a photo taken of himself in front of the marquee and had 80 prints made. In London, he outfitted himself with a new wardrobe, composed a letter introducing the actor-author-manager-director "Blade" of Harrogate Repertory Theatre, and sent it off to 80 New York theatrical agents and producers.[29]
As a result, when Cummings returned to New York, he was able to obtain several meetings.[27][6]
One of the producers to whom he sent letters, Charles Hopkings, cast him in a production of The Roof by John Galsworthy, playing the role of the Hon. Reggie Fanning. Also in the cast was Henry Hull.[31] The play ran from October to November 1931 and Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times listed "Conway" among the cast who provided "some excellent bits of acting".[32]
In November 1932, "Conway" replaced
Cummings later encouraged an old drama school classmate, Margaret Kies, to use a similar deception – she became the "British" Margaret Lindsay.[26] He later said pretending to be Conway broke up his first marriage, to a girl from Joplin. "She couldn't stand me."[35]
He was an extra in the Laurel and Hardy comedy film Sons of the Desert (1933)[36] and in the musical short Seasoned Greetings (1933).
Bryce Hutchens
Cummings decided to change his approach, when in the words of one report, "suddenly the bottom dropped out of the John Bull market; almost overnight, demand switched from Londoners to lassoers."[29]
In 1934, Cummings changed his name to "Bryce Hutchens".[27][6][37] He appeared under this name in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934, which ran from January to June in 1934.[38][39] He had a duet with Vivi Janiss, a native of Nebraska, with whom he sang "I Like the Likes of You".[40] Cummings and Janiss went with the show when it went on tour after the Broadway run, and they married towards the end of the tour.[25]
Paramount
The tour of Ziegfeld ended in Los Angeles in January 1935. Cummings enjoyed the city and wanted to move there.
He followed this with a part in Paramount's The Virginia Judge (1935).[44] In July, the studio signed Cummings to a long-term contract.[45] Before his first two Paramount films were released, he was also cast in a supporting role in Millions in the Air (1935).[6][46]
Cummings appeared as one of the leads in the Western Desert Gold (1936), then had a supporting role in Forgotten Faces (1936) and a starring role in Three Cheers for Love (1936).[47] He also appeared in:
- Beyond Flight (1936)
- Hollywood Boulevard (1936)
- The Accusing Finger (1936)
- Hideaway Girl (1936)
- Arizona Mahoney (1936)
- The Last Train from Madrid (1937).[48][34]
Most of these were B pictures. He had a small role in an A picture, Souls at Sea (1937), then appeared in Sophie Lang Goes West (1937), Wells Fargo (1937) and College Swing (1938). He had a small role in You and Me (1938) (directed by Fritz Lang), and was in The Texans (1938) and Touchdown, Army (1938).
Eventually, Paramount dropped their option on him. "I was poison", he said. "No agent would look at me."[35] In June, Paramount announced he would return for King of Chinatown with Anna May Wong, but he does not appear in the final film.[49] In September he was cast at Republic, playing the lead in the crime movie I Stand Accused (1938). Cummings said it was "...a fluke hit—so at least I could get inside the casting agents again."[35]
Universal
In November 1938, Cummings auditioned for the romantic lead in Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939), starring Deanna Durbin, for producer Joe Pasternak.[50] Pasternak was reluctant to cast him, preferring to find a musician, but Cummings told him, "I could fake it". He later said, "I'd had a lot of experience faking things harder than that. He let me try it and he signed me up."[35]
On 21 November Universal gave Cummings an option on a seven-year contract starting at $600 a week, going up to $750 a week the following year, then ultimately up to $3,000 a week.
A series of classic films
Cummings and
World War II
In December 1941, Cummings joined the fledgling
Suspension from Universal
Cummings was meant to be in Fired Wife with Teresa Wright, Charles Coburn, and Eddie Anderson and a director "comparable with" Leo McCarey. However, when he found out these actors would not be in the film, and the director would be Charles Lamont, he refused to be in it. (Filming began in April 1943 with Robert Paige taking Cummings's role.[71]) Universal put him on suspension for five weeks, refused to give him a new part, or pay his weekly salary of $1,500 after the suspension had been lifted. Cummings notified the studio in May 1943 that he considered himself no longer under contract. In September 1943, Cummings sued the studio for withheld wages of $10,700, also arguing that for some time, Universal tried to put him in minor roles to "run him ragged" and "to teach him a lesson".[72] In March 1944, the court ruled in Cummings's favor, saying Universal had voided its contract with the actor and owed him $10,700. This decision happened in the same fortnight as another court case involving Olivia de Havilland, which also ruled in the actor's favor.[73][74]
Freelance star
Hal Wallis
Cummings was considered free of Universal since August 1944. In January he signed a four-year exclusive contract with Hal Wallis, who had left Warner Brothers to become an independent producer.
In 1946, Cummings said, "Often I play the boyfriend of a girl young enough to be my daughter. I'm 36, and whenever I start drooping, I run one of my pictures and feel like a kid again."[80] Around this time, he also said he was more interested in producing and directing, and hoped to act in only one film per year.[81]
United California Productions
Cummings had the leads in two films for Nero Films, a production company run by Seymour Nebenzal and Eugene Frenke, who released through United Artists: a film noir, The Chase (1946); and a Western, Heaven Only Knows (1947).
Cummings decided to form his own production company with Frenke and Philip Yordan, which they called United California. (They originally called it United World, but it was too similar to another company's name.[82][83]) In December 1946, it was announced that Cummings had signed an exclusive contract with United California Productions, and that his deal with Wallis was for one film a year for seven years.[84][85] They announced Bad Guy from a script by Yordan.[86] They were also going to do Joe MacBeth[87] (which was ultimately made by others).
In 1947, Cummings had reportedly earned $110,000 in the preceding 12 months.[88] The Lost Moment (1947) with Susan Hayward was a film noir for Walter Wanger at Universal based on The Aspern Papers by Henry James. It was a resounding flop at the box office. Cummings was initially meant to follow it with The Big Curtain for Edward Alperson at Fox but that picture was never produced.[89]
Cummings appeared in Sleep, My Love (1948), another noir, directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Mary Pickford.
United California eventually brought in manufacturer Frank Hale as partner. Its first film, Let's Live a Little (1948), was a romantic comedy with Hedy Lamarr, released through United Artists.
Cummings announced a series of projects for United California: Ho the Fair Wind from a novel by IAR Wylie, The Glass Heart by Mary Holland, Poisonous Paradise (a docudrama for which some footage had been shot called Jungle), Passport to Love by Howard Irving Young, and a remake of Two Hearts in Three Quarter Time. Cummings was also trying to interest Norman Krasna into writing the story of how Cummings broke into acting, to be called Pardon My Accent.[90][91][92]
Cummings did The Accused (1949) for Hal Wallis at Paramount, supporting Loretta Young.
Reign of Terror (1949) was a thriller set in the French Revolution for director Anthony Mann; Eagle Lion co-produced with United California.[93]
Cummings did a comedy at Universal, Free for All (1949).
Columbia
In July 1949, Cummings signed a three-picture deal with Columbia.[94] He made Tell It to the Judge (1949), with Rosalind Russell, for them. He did one for Wallis at Paramount, Paid in Full (1950) (originally Bitter Victory), then went back to Columbia for The Petty Girl (1950) a musical with Joan Caulfield.
Cummings did announce he would make The Glass Heart for his own company and release through Columbia, but this did not happen.[95]
Cummings supported Clifton Webb in For Heaven's Sake (1950) at Fox, then played a con man in The Barefoot Mailman (1950), his third film for Columbia.
Cummings began working in television, appearing in Sure as Fate ("Run from the Sun") and Somerset Maugham TV Theatre ("The Luncheon").
He was in a Broadway play Faithfully Yours (originally The Philemon Complex), which had a short run in late 1951.[96][97]
At Columbia, he was in The First Time (1952), the first feature directed by Frank Tashlin. On TV, he was in Lux Video Theatre ("The Shiny People", "Pattern for Glory"), Betty Crocker Star Matinee ("Sense of Humor"), and Robert Montgomery Presents ("Lila My Love").
Cummings was one of the four stars featured in the short-run radio version of Four Star Playhouse.
He was offered Battle in Spain, the story of El Cid, with Linda Darnell, but turned it down because it was too controversial.[98]
Television star
My Hero
Cummings starred in his first regular television series in the comedy
Cummings was in Marry Me Again (1953) at RKO for Tashlin, then went to England to star in another Hitchcock film, Dial M for Murder (1954), playing the lover of Grace Kelly, whose husband Ray Milland tries to kill her. The film was a hit.[2][6]
Cummings then supported Doris Day in a musical at Warner Bros, Lucky Me (1954).[103]
He 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.[104]
Twelve Angry Men
In 1954, Cummings appeared in
Laurel Productions and The Bob Cummings Show
In July 1954, Cummings formed his own independent
In January 1955, The Bob Cummings Show began airing, and went through 1959. Cummings starred on the successful
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; Lyle Talbot as his old Air Force buddy Paul Fonda, and Ann B. Davis, in her first television success, as his assistant Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz.
When Cummings appeared on the NBC interview program Here's Hollywood,[6] he was seen by Nunnally Johnson, who cast him opposite Betty Grable in How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955) at Fox, which turned out to be Grable's last film. Cummings's contract was amended to allow him time off to rehearse and record his TV show.[112]
Around this time, Cummings said he had made 78 films, and "I always had the feeling I was distinguished for none of them. Hollywood's never been really hot about me. I was always second choice. I used to say to my wife Mary, 'Somebody's got to be sick someday – Bill Holden or maybe some boy not even born yet! I used to say 'If I could find another business where I could be successful!'."[102]
Cummings was one of the hosts on ABC's live broadcast of the opening day of Disneyland on July 17, 1955, along with Ronald Reagan and Art Linkletter. On that day, Cummings played off his playboy character image by being “caught” embracing and kissing a young woman in a bonnet with a stricken look on her face.
Cummings's performance in The Bob Cummings Show earned him another Emmy nomination for Best Actor in a Continuous Role in 1956.[113]
He turned down The Heavenly Twins for the Theatre Guild; and was mentioned for Bewitched by Charles Bennett in England, but did not do it.[114]
During the series' production, Cummings still found time to play other roles. He returned to Studio One ("A Special Announcement"), and did episodes of
He was also in "
"It's a great life, acting", Cummings said in 1959. "I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm a completely content actor."[116]
When his TV show ended in 1959, Cummings claimed it was his decision, as he was tired and wanted to take a year off. He was also keen to sell the show into syndication. "I don't think I'll do another comedy", he said.[117]
In 1960, Cummings starred in "
He guested on
The New Bob Cummings Show
The New Bob Cummings Show followed on CBS for one season, from 1961 to 1962. It was a variation of The Bob Cummings Show with Cummings as a pilot who had various adventures.[118] It ran for 22 episodes before being cancelled.[119]
Cummings returned to films with a supporting role in My Geisha (1962), written by Krasna. He was top-billed in Beach Party (1963), although the film is better remembered today for first teaming Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.
Cummings had supporting roles in two popular films,
Also in 1964, he was a guest as a beauty pageant judge in The Beverly Hillbillies episode, "The Race for Queen".
My Living Doll
In 1964–65, Cummings starred in another CBS sitcom, My Living Doll, co-starring Julie Newmar as Rhoda the robot and Jack Mullaney as his friend. After 21 episodes, Cummings asked to be written out of the show.[120] It lasted five more episodes.
Later career
In the late 1960s, Cummings had supporting roles in The Carpetbaggers (1964), Promise Her Anything (1966) and the remake of Stagecoach (1966) (playing the bank embezzler).
Cummings had the lead in Five Golden Dragons (1967) for producer Harry Alan Towers and supported in Gidget Grows Up (1969).
He was in another Broadway play, The Wayward Stork, which had a short run in early 1966.[121] A review in The New York Times said Cummings "is not in top form. He sounded a bit hoarse and somewhat strained. Usually he is a quite acceptible [sic], breezy farceur."[122]
He guest-starred again on Theatre of Stars ("Blind Man's Bluff"), as well as The Flying Nun ("Speak the Speech, I Pray You"), Green Acres ("Rest and Relaxation"), Here Come the Brides ("The She-Bear"), Arnie ("Hello, Holly"), Bewitched ("Samantha and the Troll"), Here's Lucy ("Lucy's Punctured Romance", "Lucy and Her Genuine Twimby"), and several episodes of Love, American Style.[123]
Cummings's last lead roles on film were in a pair of TV movies, The Great American Beauty Contest (1973) and Partners in Crime (1973).
During the 1970s for over 10 years, Cummings traveled the US performing in dinner theaters and short stints in plays while living in an Airstream travel trailer.
He relayed those experiences in the written introduction he provided for the book Airstream written by Robert Landau and James Phillippi in 1984.[124]
Cummings had a cameo in Three on a Date (1978) and appeared in 1979 as Elliott Smith, the father of Fred Grandy's Gopher on ABC's The Love Boat.[125]
In 1986, Cummings hosted the 15th-anniversary celebration of
In 1987, he said, "I wouldn't mind living until I'm 110. I still swim, do calisthenics, and keep fit. I've never been in hospital, except for a hernia operation at one time. People laugh about my using so many vitamins. When I tell them I take 50 liver pills a day, they look surprised, but whether they laugh or not, the thing works." He added, "I'm retired, I live on a pension" and "if I have a problem I get expert counsel, then ask the opinion of a good psychic."[126]
Robert Cummings's last public appearance was on
Personal life
Marriages
Cummings was married five times and fathered seven children. His first marriage was to Emma Myers, a girl from his hometown. His second marriage was to Vivi Janiss, an actress he met while performing in Ziegfeld Follies. His third wife, Mary Elliott, was a former actress and she ran Cummings's business affairs. They separated in 1968 and had a bitter divorce, during the course of which she accused him of cheating on her with his former secretary Regina Fong and using methamphetamines which she said caused wild mood swings. She also claimed he relied on astrologers and numerologists to make financial decisions with "disastrous" consequences.[127] In 1970, when the divorce was finalized, their communal property was estimated as being worth from $700,000 to $800,000 (equivalent to between $5.5 million and $6.3 million in 2023).[128]
He was married to Regina Fong from 1971 to 1987 and married Martha Burzynski two years later. He died the following year.
Hobbies
He was an avid pilot and owned a number of airplanes, all named "Spinach".
Legal troubles
In May 1948 Hedda Hopper reported that there were four lawsuits against Cummings.[131]
In 1952, Cummings was sued by a writer of My Hero who had been fired. In 1952, Cummings was served with papers concerning the suit by LA County Deputy Sheriff William Conroy; Cummings assaulted Conroy and was then sued by the sheriff for damages. Conroy stated that when he tried to serve Cummings with a subpoena the actor gunned the motor of his car and dragged him along the pavement. Cummings explained that he didn't know Conroy was a deputy.[132] Both cases were settled in 1954.[133]
In 1972 he was charged with fraud for operating a pyramid scheme involving his company, Bob Cummings Inc, which sold vitamins and food supplements.[134]
In 1975 he was arrested for being in possession of a blue box used to defraud the telephone company.[135] He avoided trial under the double jeopardy rule.[136]
Reported drug addiction
Despite his interest in health, Cummings was alleged to have been a
Cummings allegedly continued to use a mixture provided by Jacobson, eventually becoming a patient of Jacobson's son Thomas, who was based in Los Angeles, and later injecting himself. The changes in Cummings's personality caused by the euphoria of the drug and subsequent depression damaged his career and led to an intervention by his friend, television host Art Linkletter. The intervention was not successful, and Cummings's drug abuse and subsequent career collapse were factors in his divorces from his third wife, Mary, and fourth wife, Gina Fong.[137]
After Jacobson was forced out of business in the 1970s, Cummings developed his own drug connections based in The Bahamas. Suffering from Parkinson's disease, he was forced to move into homes for indigent older actors in Hollywood.[137]
Children
Cummings had seven children. His son, Tony Cummings, played Rick Halloway in the NBC daytime serial Another World in the early 1980s.
Political affiliation
Cummings was a supporter of the Republican Party.[140]
Death
On December 2, 1990, Cummings died of
He is interred in the Great Mausoleum at
Filmography
Stage work
- The Roof (1931)
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 (1934)
- Faithfully Yours (1951)
- The Wayward Stork (1966)
- Remember It's Never Too Late (1972)
Television credits
- My Hero(1951–1952) as Robert S. Beanblossom
- Justice ("The Crisis") (1954)
- Dateline: Disneyland (1955) as Himself / Co-Host
- Studio One in Hollywood(1954–1956) as George Lumley / Juror No. 8
- The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show ("A Marital Mix-Up") (1957) as Bob Collins / Bob Cummings
- General Electric Theater ("Too Good with a Gun") (1957) as Russ Baker
- The Bob Cummings Show (1955–1959) as Bob Collins / Grandpa Josh Collins / Josh Collins
- The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour(1957–1960) ("The Ricardos Go To Japan") (1959) as Himself
- The Twilight Zone ("King Nine Will Not Return") (1960) as Capt. James Embry
- Zane Grey Theater("The Last Bugle") (1960) as Lt. Charles Gatewood
- The New Bob Cummings Show (1961–1962) as Bob Carson
- My Living Doll (1964–1965) as Dr. Robert McDonald
- The Flying Nun ("Speak the Speech, I Pray You") (1969) as Father Walter Larson
- Gidget Grows Up (1969) as Russ Lawrence
- Love, American Style (1969–1973) as Walding (segment "Love and the Secret Spouse") / Grandpa (segment "Love and the Second Time") / Bert Palmer (segment "Love and the Pill")
- Hollywood Squares (1970) as Guest Appearance
- Green Acres ("Rest and Relaxation") (1970) as Mort Warner
- Here Come the Brides ("The She-Bear") (1970) as Jack Crosse
- Bewitched ("Samantha and the Troll") (1971) as Roland Berkley
- Here's Lucy ("Lucy's Punctured Romance") (1972) as Bob Collins
- Partners in Crime (1973) as Ralph Elsworth
- The Love Boat ("Third Wheel/Grandmother's Day/Second String Mom") (1979) as Eliott Smith
- Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color("Walt Disney World's 15th Anniversary Celebration") (1986) as Host / Narrator / Himself
- Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Special (1990) as Himself (final film role)
Radio credits
- Screen Directors Playhouse ("Bachelor Mother") (1951)[143]
- Cavalcade of America ("Going Up") (1952)[144]
References
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- ^ a b c d Wise and Wilderson 2000, p. 189.
- ^ "Robert Cummings". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ Robert Cummings Also Known As Bob Cummings at American Film Institute Catalog
- ^ a b FilmReference.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Christensen 1999, p. 225.
- ^ Greenwood, James R. (March 1960). "Meet Bob Cummings ... Pilot, Actor, Businessman". Flying. Vol. 66, no. 3. pp. 44, 46–47.
- ^ a b Greenwood 1960, p. 45.
- ^ "Robert Cummings". Walkoffame.com. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
- ISBN 9781557509581.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ "Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings". Des Moines Register. June 8, 1980.
- ^ "Cummings Joins Lucy Show". Ithaca Journal. September 8, 1972.
- ^ The Robert Briem Show, KABC-AM Radio (May 22, 1982 12:07 a.m. to 1:56 a.m), referenced at http://www.classicmoviehub.com/blog/classic-movie-trivia-robert-cummings-and-orville-wright/ Retrieved September 26, 2018.
- ^ Gatti, Annmarie (May 1, 2014). "Classic Movie Trivia: Robert Cummings and Orville Wright". Classic Movie Hub Blog. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
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- ^ Correspondence of Stephen Wright of The Wright Brothers Family Foundation, January 31, 2019 ("The Wrights' lives during this period [1909 - 1910] were busy and well documented. Most of their time was spent in travel throughout Europe and the East Coast and consisted of meetings, flying demonstrations, ceremonial appearances and the work of building airplanes. The story of Robert Cummings' father having met Orville, or both brothers in one account, make it seem likely to have been impossible. ... With regards to Orville having personally trained Robert Cummings to fly [in 1927]: I can tell you with reasonable certainty that Orville's last flight as Pilot in Command, as documented in Arthur George Renstrom's Chronology, was made in 1918.")
- ^ Renstrom 1975, pp. 32, 71.
- ^ Correspondence of Stephen Wright 2019.
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Bibliography
- Ashbu, LeRoy. With Amusement For All. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2006. ISBN 978-0-81314-107-7.
- Christensen, Lawrence O., ed. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 1999. ISBN 978-0-82621-222-1.
- Critchlow, Donald T. When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1-107-65028-2.
- Gilmore, Susan. "Tired of the commute? All you need is $3.5 million". The Seattle Times, September 5, 2006.
- Greenwood, James R. "Meet Bob Cummings...Pilot, Actor, Businessman". Flying, 66:3, March 1960, pp. 44–46, 54, 56.
- Lertzman, Richard A. and William J. Birnes. Dr. Feelgood: The Shocking Story of the Doctor Who May Have Changed History by Treating and Drugging JFK, Marilyn, Elvis, and Other Prominent Figures. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2013. ISBN 978-1-62087-589-6.
- Lyon, Christopher, James Vinson, Susan Doll and Greg S. Faller. The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. New York: St. James Press, 1987. ISBN 978-1-55862-041-4.
- Maltin, Leonard. "Robert Cummings". Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia. New York: Dutton, 1994. ISBN 0-525-93635-1.
- McGivern, Carolyn. The Lost Films of John Wayne. Nashville, Kentucky: Cumberland House, 2006. ISBN 978-1-58182-567-1.
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- Wise, James E. and Paul W. Wilderson. Stars in Khaki: Movie Actors in the Army and the Air Services. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2000. ISBN 978-1-55750-958-1.
- Woog, Adam. Sexless Oysters and Self-Tipping Hats: 100 Years of Invention in the Pacific Northwest. Sasquatch Books, 1991. ISBN 978-0-91236-547-3.
External links
- Robert Cummings at IMDb
- Robert Cummings at AllMovie
- Robert Cummings at the Internet Broadway Database
- Robert Cummings at Find a Grave
- "Bob Cummings Biography."
- Robert Cummings papers, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University