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Susan Cummings (actress)

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Susan Cummings
Susan Cummings with Craig Stevens on Peter Gunn (1960)
Born
Gerda Susanne Tafel

(1930-07-10)July 10, 1930
Bavaria, Germany
DiedDecember 3, 2016(2016-12-03) (aged 86)
Chandler, Arizona, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1944-1974
Spouse(s)Wayne Dunafon
(m. 194?; div. 19??)
​
​
(m. 1953; div. 1960)​

Charles T. Pawley
​
​
(m. 1962; died 1975)​

Robert E. Strasser
​
​
(m. 1976)​
Children1

Susan Cummings (née Gerda Susanne Tafel; July 10, 1930 – December 3, 2016) was a German-American actress active from the 1940s to 1960s who started as a teenager in the earliest days of commercial television and appeared in television shows, feature films and on Broadway. Her birth surname of Tafel was sometimes printed as Ta Fel.[1]

Early years

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Born Gerda Susanne Tafel in Bavaria, Germany, she immigrated to the United States at age 7 on March 12, 1938, shortly before the outbreak of World War II.[2] The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Tafel,[1] she was raised in Newark, New Jersey, where her father ran a bakery.[2]

Career

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Cummings (billed as Suzanne Tafel) was a teenager when she became a regular on the American television variety series At Home, which aired on New York City station WCBW (now WCBS-TV) from 1944 to 1945 in the earliest years of commercial television.[3] She first appeared in Broadway theatre in 1945, portraying Susan Peters in Carousel.[4]

During the 1958–59 season, Cummings portrayed Georgia, proprietress of the Golden Nugget Saloon, in the syndicated Western television series Union Pacific.[5]

She made two guest appearances on Perry Mason: one as Lois Fenton in the title role in the 1957 episode "The Case of the Fan Dancer's Horse" and as Margaret Swaine in the 1959 episode "The Case of the Lame Canary".

In 1960, she appeared as Stella Carney, a love interest of Marshal Dillon, in an episode of the television Western series Gunsmoke. She appeared as Patty in a 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone titled "To Serve Man". In February 1964, she appeared in an episode of the TV series McHale's Navy.

Personal life

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In the late 1940s, Cummings was married to rodeo performer Wayne Dunafon.[3] She married actor Keith Larsen[6] on December 28, 1953, in Ensenada, Mexico. She was also married to actor Charles T. Pawley and accountant Robert E. Strasser.[1][7]

According to Cummings, she was a registered Republican[2] and was raised Lutheran but converted to Mormonism upon her marriage to Larsen.[2]

Cummings died on December 3, 2016.[citation needed]

With Dennis Weaver in Gunsmoke, 1960

Filmography

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Film
Year Title Role Notes
1946 Merrily We Sing Suzanne Short
1951 An American in Paris Patron at Flodair Café Uncredited
1954 Security Risk Joan Cochran
1955 Headline Hunters Elsa - Receptionist Uncredited
1956 Swamp Women Marie
1956 Secret of Treasure Mountain Tawana
1957 Utah Blaine Angie Kinyon
1957 Tomahawk Trail Ellen Carter
1958 Man from God's Country Mary Jo Ellis
1959 Verboten! Helga Schiller / Brent
1959 Perry Mason Margaret Swaine Season 2 Episode 30 "The Case of the Lame Canary"
1966 The Street Is My Beat Cora
1974 A Time For Love Woman (final film role)
2003 Images of Indians: How Hollywood Stereotyped the Native American Herself / Ellen Carter (archival footage) TV movie documentary
2019 The Twilight Zone: A 60th Anniversary Celebration Herself / Patty (archival footage) TV movie documentary (released posthumously)
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1944–45 At Home herself early variety show
1955–57 Soldiers of Fortune Simone LeBeau / Pilar 2 episodes
1955–60 The Millionaire Virginia 'Ginny' Hendricks / Claire 2 episodes
1956 Science Fiction Theater Ellen Barton / Peggy Kendler 2 episodes
1957 The Frank Sinatra Show Miss Douglas 1 episode
1957–59 Perry Mason Margaret Swaine / Lois Fenton 2 episodes
1958–59 Union Pacific Georgia 33 episodes
1958–60 Bat Masterson Rona Glyn / Lili Napoleon / Valorie Mitchell 3 episodes
1959 Man with a Camera Monique Thaxter Episode: "The Positive Negative"
1959 The Dennis O'Keefe Show Babette Benoit Episode: "The Marriage of Babette Benoit"
1960 The Untouchables Hazel Stanley Episode: "Little Egypt"
1960 Gunsmoke Stella Carney Episode: "The Peace Offer"
1960 Peter Gunn Paula Garrett Episode: "The Long Green Kill"
1960 Lock-Up Janet Collins Baron Episode: "The Frame Up"
1961 Checkmate Countess Johanna Episode: "A Slight Touch of Venom"
1961 Cheyenne Helen Ransom Episode: "Winchester Quarantine"
1961 Riverboat Tekla Kronen Episode: "End of a Dream"
1962 The Twilight Zone Patty Episode: "To Serve Man"
1964 McHale's Navy Renee Episode: "The Big Impersonation"

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Keith Larsen's Marriage to Actress Told". The Los Angeles Times. California, Los Angeles. February 1, 1954. p. Part II, P 8. Retrieved January 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d An Interview With Susan Cummings, Skip E. Lowe, 1990
  3. ^ a b "Article Tells Of Early Television". The Manhattan, Kansas, Republic. Kansas, Manhattan. June 22, 1949. p. 3. Retrieved January 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Suzanne Tafel". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  5. ^ Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 1130. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  6. ^ Carroll, Harrison (January 9, 1954). "Glenn Ford Turns Down Millions". The News-Messenger. Ohio, Fremont. p. 4. Retrieved January 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Susan Cummings - The Private Life and Times of Susan Cummings. Susan Cummings Pictures". Glamour Girls.
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