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.
Early years 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. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Tafel, she was raised in Newark, New Jersey, where her father ran a bakery.
Career 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. She first appeared in Broadway theatre in 1945, portraying Susan Peters in Carousel.
During the 1958–59 season, Cummings portrayed Georgia, proprietress of the Golden Nugget Saloon, in the syndicated Western television series Union Pacific.
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 In the late 1940s, Cummings was married to rodeo performer Wayne Dunafon. She married actor Keith Larsen on December 28, 1953, in Ensenada, Mexico. She was also married to actor Charles T. Pawley and accountant Robert E. Strasser.
Cummings died on December 3, 2016.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1946 Merrily We Sing Suzanne Short1951 An American in Paris Patron at Flodair Café Uncredited1954 Security Risk Joan Cochran 1955 Headline Hunters Elsa - Receptionist Uncredited1956 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 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 documentary2019 The Twilight Zone: A 60th Anniversary Celebration Herself / Patty (archival footage) TV movie documentary (released posthumously) Television Year Title Role Notes1944–45 At Home herself early variety show1955–57 Soldiers of Fortune Simone LeBeau / Pilar 2 episodes1955–60 The Millionaire Virginia 'Ginny' Hendricks / Claire 2 episodes1956 Science Fiction Theater Ellen Barton / Peggy Kendler 2 episodes1957The Frank Sinatra Show Miss Douglas 1 episode1957–59 Perry Mason Margaret Swaine / Lois Fenton 2 episodes1958–59 Union Pacific Georgia 33 episodes1958–60 Bat Masterson Rona Glyn / Lili Napoleon / Valorie Mitchell 3 episodes1959 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 Laramie Holly Episode: "Rimrock"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"
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