Lesson From Bob Cummings

The passing of actor Robert Cummings on Dec. 2 leads me to share publicly a small memory which exemplifies the thoughtfulness and generosity that were the hallmarks of this talented and genuinely nice man.

In 1975, when I was a college student in Edmond, Okla., rehearsing a school production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and unsure of the directorial approach of the professor incharge, I came up with a rather outrageous plan to get the show “back on track.” I wrote to Cummings, who was appearing at a dinner theater in nearby Oklahoma City, and asked him to attend a rehearsal on his off night and give us any suggestions he might have. Thankfully, his sense of theater professionalism was light years ahead of mine.

Two days later, I was stunned to get a call from him. He gently explained how, with one night a week off, actors rarely feel like going to another theater that night. He was kind enough not to mention that only an idiot brings someone in to critique a show without the director’s knowledge or acquiescence.

What he did do, on his night off, was to spend nearly two hours on the phone with me, telling me everything a young actor might need to know to get ahead in the business and a good deal of what he might need to know as an artist. He told me his life story, but only in terms of how to proceed toward a career, never with any sense of self-aggrandizement. I had always admired him as an actor, but on that day I realized that he was also a true professional and a complete gentleman.

Now, 15 years later, I am a working actor who has never ceased to find use for the advice and direction given me by Robert Cummings, and I will never forget it or him.

JIM BEAVER

Van Nuys