Before Hollywood,
There Was the Sky
He became one of America's most beloved TV stars — but for Bob Cummings, acting was never the dream. Flying was.
Most people know the name Bob Cummings from the silver screen — the charming bachelor photographer, the quick wit, the easy smile. What they don't know is that the man who lit up televisions across America in the 1950s and 60s grew up right here in Joplin, Missouri, and spent his whole life chasing something far more thrilling than fame.
He was chasing the sky.
It started with a friendship that most people don't know about. When Orville and Wilbur Wright passed through Kansas in 1909, Orville fell ill — a fungal infection called "barber's itch." The man who treated him was Dr. Charles Cummings of Joplin, a surgeon and aviation enthusiast who became one of Orville Wright's close friends.
The next year, Dr. Cummings had a son. He wanted to name the boy Robert Orville — after his famous friend. His wife objected. A compromise was struck. The baby became Robert Charles Clarence Orville Cummings.
From the beginning, the boy was destined to fly.
By 16, Bob Cummings was already obsessed with airplanes, spending hours at the landing field west of Schifferdecker Park watching planes take off and land. When a local plumber paid for a class repair with free airplane rides, Bob didn't just take the ride — he started paying for lessons. Twenty-five dollars an hour. Week after week.
On March 3, 1927, after three hours and fifteen minutes of total instruction time, his teacher didn't show up for their session. He left a simple message: "Take her up alone. You're ready."
Bob Cummings was 17 years old. He took the plane up — and landed it safely
What followed was a life that looked like two different stories at once. In one, he became a celebrated actor — Broadway, Hollywood, the Bob Cummings Show, decades of film and television work. In the other, he was a tireless aviation pioneer. He became a partner in a flying service at what would later become Los Angeles International Airport (he was offered a chance to buy a share of Mines Field for $40,000 and couldn't raise the money — today, LAX sits on that land). He organized California's first Civil Air Patrol during World War II. He flew his own planes for decades, naming every single one "Spinach."
And in 1938, when the Civil Aviation Administration created a brand-new rating called "flight instructor," Bob Cummings applied before a qualifying exam had even been written. The inspector drafted a 10-hour written test and a flight test on the spot.
Bob passed both. He was issued Flight Instructor Certificate No. 1 — the first in the entire country.
A Joplin boy
The son of a doctor who treated Orville Wright. America's first certified flight instructor. A television star who never stopped believing that aviation was the most important thing in the world.
Next time you're near Schifferdecker Park, look west and imagine a teenage Bob Cummings watching planes rise over the tree line — and deciding that nothing else would ever matter quite as much.
Want to dig deeper into Joplin's aviation roots? The story doesn't end with Bob Cummings. Not even close.
A Leadership Joplin Class 2026 Project
Powered By
Various Joplin, MO photographs provided by 1281 Photography and Waypoint UAV.