Constance Cummings
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Constance Cummings, CBE (May 15, 1910 – November 23, 2005) was an American-born British actress, known for her work on both screen and stage.
Born Constance Halverstadt in Seattle, Washington to Dallas Halverstadt and Kate Cummings, she began as a stage actress, landing her first role on Broadway by the age of 18. While appearing on Broadway, she was discovered by Sam Goldwyn, who brought her to Hollywood in 1931.
Between 1931 and 1934, Cummings appeared in 21 films, most notably the Harold Lloyd picture Movie Crazy and American Madness, directed by Frank Capra. She was married to the playwright and screenwriter Benn Levy MBE from 1933 until his death in 1973. Levy went on to write and direct films for Cummings, such as The Jealous God (1939); he also served in the United Kingdom Parliament from 1945-50 as the Labour MP for Eton and Slough. They had a son and a daughter.
Cummings was uncomfortable in Hollywood and moved to England, where she continued acting, both in movies and on the stage. Few of these films became popular in America, although included amongst those that did is Blithe Spirit, adapted from a play by Sir Noël Coward.
In 1974, Cummings, who resided in the UK for many decades, was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to the British entertainment industry.
She played Mary Tyrone in the Royal National Theatre's production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night opposite Sir Laurence Olivier, to great acclaim. She later recreated the role for a television version. In 1979, she won a Tony Award for Best Actress for her performance in the role in the play Wings (written by Arthur Kopit) of Emily Stilson, a former aviator who has suffered a stroke, from which she struggles to recover.
She was a committee member of the Royal Court Theatre and the Arts Council. Despite her truncated career in the U.S., she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6211 Hollywood Blvd.
Constance Cummings Levy died on November 23, 2005 at the age of 95.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Constance Cummings, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 1.956 |
Birthday | 1910-05-15 |
Place of Birth | Seattle, Washington, USA |
Also Known As | Constance Cummings Halverstadt, Констанция Каммингс, |
1932
American Madness
7.1/40
Socially-conscious banker Thomas Dickson faces a crisis when his protégé is wrongly accused of robbing the bank, gossip of the robbery starts a bank r...
Watch Now
American Madness
1986
Dead Man's Folly
6.1/42
During a murder hunt game at a country house, to which Hercule Poirot is invited as an "expert", a real murder occurs.
Watch Now
Dead Man's Folly
1931
The Last Parade
0/0
During the war two friends love the same nurse. After the war one becomes a detective, the other a racketeer.
Watch Now
The Last Parade
1932
Behind the Mask
5.8/14
A Secret Service agent nabs a scalpel-happy doctor who runs drugs in caskets.
Watch Now
Behind the Mask
1963
Sammy Going South
6/12
After he is orphaned by an air raid on Port Said during the Suez Crisis, a young boy attempts to go by himself from the Suez Canal to Durban in South...
Watch Now
Sammy Going South
1931
The Criminal Code
6.089/28
After young Robert Graham commits a murder while drunk and defending his girlfriend, he is prosecuted by ambitious Mark Brady and sentenced to 10 year...
Watch Now
The Criminal Code
1960
The Battle of the Sexes
6.6/27
Angela Barrows is a man-eating business woman sent by her American employer to investigate their export opportunities in Edinburgh. En route she meets...
Watch Now
The Battle of the Sexes
1985
Love Song
0/0
The life of a successful student couple at Cambridge University.
Watch Now
Love Song
1945
Blithe Spirit
6.9/145
An English mystery novelist invites a medium to his home, so she may conduct a séance for a small gathering. The writer hopes to gather enough materia...
Watch Now
Blithe Spirit
1932
Night After Night
6.1/18
A former boxer purchases a classy speakeasy and falls in love with a wealthy society girl.
Watch Now
Night After Night
1936
Seven Sinners
5.5/10
Ed Harwood, a wisecracking private investigator from New York, discovers a crime at a hotel in Nice during a carnival. The unraveling of the mystery w...
Watch Now
Seven Sinners
1932
Movie Crazy
6.2/23
After a mix-up with his application photograph, an aspiring actor is invited to a screen test and goes off to Hollywood.
Watch Now
Movie Crazy
1935
Remember Last Night?
4.6/4
After a night of wild partying at a friend's house, a couple wake up to discover the party's host has been murdered in his bed.
Watch Now
Remember Last Night?
1956
Finger of Guilt
5.8/11
Film producer Reggie Wilson is worried he may have a dual personality. Fleeing Hollywood, he finds himself in England and married to the studio boss's...
Watch Now
Finger of Guilt
1938
Cyrano de Bergerac
0/0
Inspired by Edmond Rostand's 1897 play, this 1938 BBC Television studio production retells the comic and heroic drama of the 17th-century Gascon sword...
Watch Now
Cyrano de Bergerac
1942
The Foreman Went to France
6.2/9
Based on the true story of Melbourne Johns, an aircraft factory foreman sent to France to prevent the Nazis getting hold of some vital equipment.
Watch Now
The Foreman Went to France
1933
The Mind Reader
6.3/10
Con-man Chandler and his partner Frank decide to start a clairvoyant act. Chandler falls for Sylvia, one of their marks, but their relationship is cha...
Watch Now
The Mind Reader
1940
Busman's Honeymoon
5.5/10
When Lord Peter Wimsey marries Harriet Vane, a crime author, they both promise to give up crime for good. As a wedding present, Peter purchases the ol...
Watch Now
Busman's Honeymoon
1934
Looking for Trouble
7/3
Joe and Casey trouble-shoot for the phone company. They try to prove that Joes's girl Ethel's boss Dan is a crook but are trapped by criminals and lef...
Watch Now
Looking for Trouble
1963
In the Cool of the Day
5.4/10
After he mends a marital rift between a vacationing young couple, the bored, fragile wife falls hopelessly in love with the husband's ex-colleague who...
Watch Now
In the Cool of the Day
1933
Broadway Thru a Keyhole
5.7/3
Racketeer Frank Rocci is smitten with Joan Whelan, a dancer at Texas Guinan's famous Broadway night spot. He uses his influence to help her get a star...
Watch Now
Broadway Thru a Keyhole
1933
Channel Crossing
0/0
Money isn't everything. Tycoon races against time to cross the English Channel in order to save a business deal, but along the way his whole value sys...
Watch Now
Channel Crossing
1934
This Man Is Mine
5.5/8
The seemingly happy relationship between Tony and Jim is threatened when his manipulative, seductive former fiancee visits.
Watch Now
This Man Is Mine
1931
The Guilty Generation
6/6
The children of feuding gangsters fall in love and fight to escape their parents' notoriety.
Watch Now
The Guilty Generation
1955
John and Julie
4.8/6
The adventures of two children who runaway to London to see the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.
Watch Now
John and Julie
1932
Attorney for the Defense
6/3
A lawyer is haunted by a previous case in which he manipulated evidence and convicted an innocent man.
Watch Now
Attorney for the Defense
1941
This England
6.2/3
Set in Claverly Village, it follows the fortunes of the Rookebys (Clements) and the ne'r-do-well Appleyards (Williams) from the time of the Normans, 1...
Watch Now
This England
1932
The Big Timer
3.5/4
Loud-mouth hamburger flipper, Cooky, thinks he can box. His big chance comes when everyone else quits the gym when it is inherited by a dame.
Watch Now
The Big Timer
1931
Traveling Husbands
4/2
A salesman gets in trouble with a party girl and a debutante in Detroit.
Watch Now
Traveling Husbands
1973
Long Day's Journey Into Night
7/2
On a day in the summer of 1912, the family of retired matinee idol James Tyrone grapples with the morphine addiction of Tyrone's wife Mary, the illnes...
Watch Now
Long Day's Journey Into Night
1932
Washington Merry-Go-Round
6.7/3
Button Gwinett Brown is a freshman congressman on a mission to rid Washington of corruption. He quickly runs afoul of the powerful Senator Norton...
Watch Now
Washington Merry-Go-Round
1963
Late Summer
0/0
Helga and David travel to a secluded hotel for some alone time. Helga is much older than David and tongues wag among the other guests. The more time t...
Watch Now
Late Summer
1934
Glamour
3.5/2
Watch Now
Glamour
1950
Into the Blue
0/0
Enjoying a holiday in the sun, Mr and Mrs Fergusson are relaxing on board a chartered yacht off the coast of France - their only crew, the skipper-own...
Watch Now
Into the Blue
1933
Heads We Go
0/0
A model inherits a great deal of money and pretends to be a movie star.
Watch Now
Heads We Go
1933
The Billion Dollar Scandal
0/0
An ex-convict working for a wealthy oil baron uncovers trouble while his brother becomes involved with the boss's daughter.
Watch Now
The Billion Dollar Scandal
1983
Wings
0/0
An elderly woman, a former aviatrix, is gradually recovering from a stroke.
Watch Now
Wings
1956
The Bitter Waters
0/0
At the beginning of the 20th century, a rich American boy touring Europe with his uncle stops at a trendy German resort and meets a pretty young girl...
Watch Now
The Bitter Waters
1962
Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy
7.3/3
Hilarious scenes from his silent and sound films as compiled and produced by Harold Lloyd himself.
Watch Now