On February 8, , he received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion picture and television industries, [ 1 ] at Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. Cummings was born in Joplin, Missouri , a son of Dr. While attending Joplin High School , Cummings learned to fly. When the government began licensing flight instructors , Cummings was issued flight instructor certificate No.
Cummings studied briefly at Drury College in Springfield, Missouri , but his love of flying caused him to transfer to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh.
He studied aeronautical engineering for a year before he dropped out for financial reasons, his family having lost heavily in the stock market crash. Cummings became interested in acting while performing in plays at Carnegie Tech, and decided to pursue it as a career.
The first β never anticipate; second β take pride in my profession. And third β trust in God. And that last is said in reverence. Cummings started looking for work in , but couldn't find any roles, forcing him to get a job at a theatrical agency. He was driving a motorbike through the countryside, picking up the accent and learning about the country, when his bike broke down at Harrogate. While waiting for repairs, he devised a plan. He invented the name "Blade Stanhope Conway" and bribed the janitor of a local theatre to put on the marquee: "Blade Stanhope Conway in Candida ".
He then had a photo taken of himself in front of the marquee and had 80 prints made. In London, he outfitted himself with a new wardrobe, composed a letter introducing the actor-author-manager-director "Blade" of Harrogate Repertory Theatre, and sent it off to 80 New York theatrical agents and producers. As a result, when Cummings returned to New York, he was able to obtain several meetings. One of the producers to whom he sent letters, Charles Hopkings, cast him in a production of The Roof by John Galsworthy , playing the role of the Hon.
