Theodore E. Cummings (December 25, 1907 – March 30, 1982) was an Austrian-born American diplomat. A non-career appointee, he served as the American ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

until his death on March 30, 1982. A longtime friend of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

, Cummings was considered a member of his

Kitchen Cabinet Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often Silver (household), silverware and Dishware, dishes for table service. Home appliance, Appliances such as refrigerators, dis ...

. He had known Reagan for a long time before he became president. Cummings had served in Reagan's governor administration as commissioner, California Commission on Judicial Qualification, California Hospital Commissioner and was a member of the Commission on Health Services Industry of the Cost of Living Council.

Biography

Cummings was a native of Austria. He was a resident of

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

, at the time of his death from cancer at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

. He was Chairman of Cedars-Sinai from 1954 until his appointment as Ambassador. Prior to that, he opened the first Food Giant supermarket, in 1944, in

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

and then went on to build and develop a string of stores called Builders Emporiums. He sold his holdings in 1968 for $52.5 million to Vornado Inc., of

Garfield, New Jersey Garfield is a city in Bergen County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 32,655, an increase of 2,168 (+7.1%) from the 2010 census count of 30,487, which in turn reflected an increas ...

. Cummings died in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on March 30, 1982, at the age of 74.

References

1907 births 1982 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Austria People from Beverly Hills, California American company founders Reagan administration personnel Austrian emigrants to the United States American business executives {{US-diplomat-stub