Robert Cummings
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 ...Show More
[In 1970] I was born during the first month birth certificates were issued in Missouri and my dad wr 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. Hide
[In 1978] I've been in this business 50 years and I'm a nervous wreck! I'm getting too old for all t 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. Hide
[Asked if he was upset by the cancellation of The Bob Cummings Show (1961)] No, we knew, by about th 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. Hide
Unwind! Unwind from that? If the play closed tomorrow, it wouldn't ruin Bob Cummings. These people w 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. Hide
[on his lifelong devotion to healthy eating] I'd love to tell all those critics how well I feel toda 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. Hide
If I have a problem I get expert counsel,then ask the opinion of a good psychic.
If I have a problem I get expert counsel,then ask the opinion of a good psychic.
[about his birth] Dad delivered me and mother christened me an hour later, but dad [named] me after 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. Hide
[In 1962, about doing a play] The main thing is to stay active, even if you are very bad. After all, 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. Hide
[on the breakup of his first marriage] I was accused of being a vitamin addict, of eating 40 or 50 t 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!". Hide
[In 1949] I figure producers are paying me a lot of money and I ought to dress well.
[In 1949] I figure producers are paying me a lot of money and I ought to dress well.
[speaking of his wife "Gee-Gee"] I just love my wife! She's brilliant! Half my age and twice as smar Show more
[speaking of his wife "Gee-Gee"] I just love my wife! She's brilliant! Half my age and twice as smart. Hide
[In 1964, about Julie Newmar, who played a robot in his series My Living Doll (1964)] This is probab 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. Hide
[When asked if he didn't want to go back to Hollywood] No, I wouldn't go back to California. I'm too 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. Hide
[complaining that none of the actor's wardrobe--theoretically a part of the tools of his job--is tax 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. Hide
The girls have it easy, everything they wear in pictures is suppled by the studio- their dress, stoc 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. Hide
[on his involvement in several business enterprises that he described as "practically catastrophic"] 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. Hide
I had to have a sharp wardrobe and a fancy car and foot the bill at the night clubs. And my date, wh 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. Hide
[on people who don't recognize him when they pass him on the street] I've signed everything anybody 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. Hide
[In 1972] It was my dad's theory that nature usually knows best. It isn't so much what you eat as wh Show more
[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. Hide
You can accomplish anything you want, if you act as if it were already accomplished. Know what you w 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. Hide
It's a hard life. Much harder than it looks. It can get to be lonely and frustrating. People have th 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. Hide
I always take my family with me. I'd die without them!
I always take my family with me. I'd die without them!
Robert Cummings's FILMOGRAPHY
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as Actor (79)
Robert Cummings'S roles
Max Halliday
