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Philadelphia Daily News (03/Dec/1990) - Obituary: Robert Cummings

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Obituary: Robert Cummings

Most of his roles were light comedies but included some serious portrayals, such as in "King's Row" and in "Dial M for Murder," Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 thriller.

Other film roles included "The Devil and Miss Jones" in 1941, "The Bride Wore Boots" in 1946 and "For Heaven's Sake" in 1950.

He entered the burgeoning TV industry in the 1950s, appearing in dramas and his own shows. "The Bob Cummings Show" was probably the closest thing to a sex comedy on television at the time.

On "The Bob Cummings Show," which ran as a sitcom on NBC and CBS from 1955 to 1959, he played Bob Collins, a photographer who squired beautiful models around town. The series was known as "Love that Bob" in syndication.

The show was given a comedy-adventure format for a 1961-62 run on CBS, and Cummings played Bob Carson, charter pilot and amateur detective.

In 1954, he won an Emmy as best actor for "Twelve Angry Men."

Born in Joplin, Mo., Cummings studied engineering and business before turning to the theater to earn money for his family during the Depression.

He worked as a straight man for Milton Berle and starred with Fanny Brice in "The Ziegfeld Follies."

Cummings got his first film role in 1935 playing a tall Texan opposite Margaret Sullavan in "So Red the Rose."

After retiring from show business, Cummings became an ardent believer in the power of health food and astrology. Preserving his youthful looks even into his later years, Cummings wrote a book on nutrition, "How To Stay Young and Vital."

Cummings is survived by his fifth wife, Janie, whom he married in 1989.

The actor had seven children and nine grandchildren.

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