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 Constance Cummings was appointed CBE in 1974 for services to the theatre, one of the few foreigners to be so rewarded.
She was born in Seattle on May 15th 1910, the daughter of a lawyer. As she grew up she first wanted to be a dancer and, after a walk-on part in a local review, she was selected to join a Broadway chorus line. She was spotted by Sam Goldwyn who auditioned her for a part in a Ronald Colman film but did not select her for the role. Colman felt sorry for her and asked his agent to get her a part in another film and she played opposite Walter Huston in The Criminal Code which was a big success. Over the next few years she made fourteen films.
In 1933 she met and married the English dramatist Benn Levy and moved with him to London. She appeared on stage in the American comedy Sour Grapes which occasioned the headline in the Daily Telegraph 'A film star who can act!'. Another appearance in Young Madame Conti at the Savoy convinced James Agate that "she made a roaring success out of what, in other hands, might so easily have been an inarticulate, elegant flop."
She appeared in several of her husband's plays on both sides of the Atlantic and continued to make films including Blithe Spirit, Long Days Journey into Night with Laurence Olivier and The Battle of the Sexes with Peter Sellers. In all she made 53 films.
She was equally successful on television and, in her later years, appeared in television series such as The Power Game and Craig's Wife and Rodney Ackland's play The Old Ladies.
She and her husband moved to Oxfordshire in the early 70s to take over and run a 600 acre dairy farm but she continued with her acting career and appeared in theatres throughout the country including the Glasgow Citizens Theatre and the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. She later accepted Olivier's invitation to join him at the National Theatre and played parts in Coriolanus, Amphitryon 38 and The Cherry Orchard.
Benn Levy died in 1973 but Constance continued to run the dairy farm while
making occasional acting performances. In 1988, at the age of 78, she toured theatres in Richmond, Winchester, Gloucester Wisbech and Dumfries, among others, performing her one-woman production written by Laurier Lister, Fanny Kemble at Home. This was the production which she played with great success at the Kenton from September 8th to 13th.
She continued to tour and, at the age of 90, she was performing in Uncle Vanya at theatres around the South of England. She died in November 2005 at the age of 95.
Bill Port
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