Screenland (May-Oct 1939)

clause from the preview had not died ;lo\vn before Universal signed him to a ong-term contract. Joe Pasternak cast him n the top role of his next production, "The jjnder Pup," which will be followed immediately with the lead opposite Deanna burbin in her new film "After School bays." The radio paged him and Bob ioined the N.B.C. dramatic serial "Those A e Love," besides making guest appearnces on various programs. The afternoon !>f our interview he received phone calls , 'vith radio offers for two popular summer jpots, and he had spent the two previous la s with a well-known writer sent to ecure material for Robert Cummings' life itory. It's all very exciting, especially when ■oil remember the six idle months when le was left cooling his heels. But Bob has asted excitement before, for he's crowded lot of color and many unusual exteriences into his twenty-nine years. Robert Cummings, who's mad about planes, holds only private pilot's license with instructor's rating in country. Born in Joplin, Missouri, he was given n expensive education and finally landed A Carnegie Tech, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylania, to study engineering, but instead, he ;11 victim to airplane fever. Wanting a lane of his own more than anything in At world, he decided to become an actor :>ng enough to earn the necessary money fter being told he "wasn't bad" in the ollege play of "The Three Musketeers." Hastening to New York, he entered the vmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts, and n graduating stepped boldly onto Broadway, confident of a speedy and brilliant access. To his dismay,producers greeted im coolly, murmuring, "Now, if you were nly a British juvenile !" So, summoning all of his Missouri cou.age, (gall, he calls it) he hopped out and old an insurance policy, took his pay of S00 and sailed for England. There he ought a second-hand motorcycle, toured he country, learned the accent, idioms and geography, and selected the name of Blake tanhope Conway, because it sounded ltra-British. "It was then that I got a really swell iea," said Bob. "I had my picture taken 1 front of a small provincial theatre, standig beside a big lobby card announcing ie engagement of Blake Stanhope Conay in a series of plays. The card set me ack two and sixpence, the photograph ten hillings. I sent the picture to various New 'ork agents, saying I was prepared to con sider American offers and believe it or not, I had half a dozen favorable replies. "With my broad-A accent and my newly acquired knowledge of England, I hurried back to New York and stepped into the role of an Englishman in Charles Hopkins' production of Galsworthy's 'The Roof starring Henry Hull. I was pretty bad, but for some reason I drew good notices and in my second engagement, playing straight to Milton Berle in Earl Carroll's 'Vanities,' (10th edition) I saw my -name in lights. When the show closed, I continued with Berle in a tab version of our act on a long vaudeville tour, then returned to New York and became the juvenile in the 'Ziegfeld Follies,' 1933-34-35. I got this part because they wanted a smartly dressed young Englishman who could sing and dance. During all this time no one suspected I wrasn't 100 percent British." It was in February, 1935, that Bob married the dazzling little Vivian Janis, singing star of the Follies, and he confesses he still enjoys reminding her that the first kind word she ever spoke to him was to say that the only reason she liked him was because he was English ! When the show closed that season, Bob and Vivian, being in a venturesome mood, decided to look over Hollywood. They bought a station wagon, invited both mothers to accompany them, and set forth on a grand tour that included a belated honeymoon glimpse of Niagara Falls, and visits to all the relatives on both sides. "Arriving in Hollywood," Bob took up the story, "I discovered an English accent wasn't in demand, so I owned up to my agent that I was from the Middle West and could go American on a moment's notice. The best picture in sight was King Yidor's 'So Red The Rose,' a drama of Texas, for which the Texas-born Yidor insisted the actors must all be natives of the Lone Star State. "After all, acting is building illusion, faking scenes and emotions, and here's where a second hoax came in. I convinced my agent I could talk like a native Texan because I had spent several summers as a small boy, on my uncle's ranch in that state, so finally he introduced me to Yidor. I told him I had been born in San Angelo, even stood up under inquiries regarding several of the town's leading families by making my replies very elastic. After reading portions of the script for him I unconsciously cinched the deal by saying I knew I could 'knock the tar out of the part.' Yidor was delighted, said he hadn't heard that expression since leaving the old home town of Galveston. I got the role and Paramount signed me to a contract ; I was there four years. I resumed my own name but it took me nearly a year to get back into my MidWest speech for at the slightest provocation I'd stiffen up and trot out my Sunday accent." An eager, handsome, smiling chap. Bob is so typically American that it is amazing he should ever be mistaken for any other nationality. At that, he proved himself a convincing actor. He's still mad about planes, having owned three during these eleven years, the latest being a fourpassenger sport model, and he holds the only private pilot's license with instructor's rating in the United States. He's mighty proud of this. Safe Flying is his motto, and his enthusiasm burns at white heat as he explains his dream for the future of aviation as a peace-making influence among the peoples of the world. During the afternoon I discovered also that he's a great reader ; loves all outdoor sports ; never goes to night clubs ; is a vegetarian; has more loyal friends than most people ; is happy and optimistic. This is but a very brief glimpse of Robert Cummings. but vou'll be hearine more of him. 'can't hide your legs! UNSIGHTLY HAIR WASHES OFF QUICKLY with New Cream Up go skirts this season, up near the knee ...fashion says "17 inches from the ground!' That means the spotlight is on your legs ... so keep them glamorous. Do as millions of women do . . . remove ugly hair with quick and easy NEET. You just spread NEET (like a cold cream) on unwanted hair. Then you rinse it off with water. ..and the hair disappears "like magic." Gentle NEET removes hair from the forearms, too— leaves your skin soft and baby-smooth. 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