Cindy Robbins
Cynthia Chenault (born January 5, 1937) is an American television actress and producer/writer active from the mid-1950s to the present. She used the screen name Cindy Robbins in her acting credits.
Cynthia Chenault | |
|---|---|
 Robbins with Bette Davis in Wagon Train, 1959 | |
| Born | Cynthia Robinaux January 5, 1937 |
| Occupation | Actor, television producer & writer |
| Years active | 1955–present |
| Spouse(s) | (his death) Robert Chenault ( m. 1983–2009) |
| Children | Kimberly Beck |
Television career
Her first acting role on television was in 1955, in the episode Moonfire of the television western series Brave Eagle. In 1960, Robbins appeared as a ballerina in the "Bullets and Ballet" episode of Tightrope!.[1]
Her last acting role in television was on the television comedy series McHale's Navy in 1964.
Her best-known role was that of Carol Porter, one of the daughters in the one-season sit-com The Tom Ewell Show (1960–61).[2][3] She also made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Teddi Hart in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Treacherous Toupee." and the role of Mabel Richmond in the 1962 episode, "The Case of Melancholy Marksman.".
Her other television work consisted of appearances in comedy shows (Ensign O'Toole, Father Knows Best, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It To Beaver), McHale's Navy & military/action shows (Steve Canyon, Whirlybirds, Harbor Command), westerns (Wagon Train, The Tall Man), and dramas (Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, Tightrope, Dragnet).
Film career
She appeared in several films from 1957 to 1959:
- I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) playing Pearl, Vic's Girl
- Dino (1957), a Sal Mineo drama, playing Sylvia
- Rockabilly Baby (1957), a film about family secrets and small-town life (featuring Les Brown and His Band of Renown), playing Vougette #1
- Gunsight Ridge (1957), a Joel McCrea Western, playing the Bride
- This Earth Is Mine (1959), a Rock Hudson drama about California wine country, playing Buz Dietrick
Producing/Writing Career
In the mid-1980s, she produced/wrote several ABC Weekend Specials (notably, Pippi Longstocking) and a CBS Schoolbreak Special. She was also a writer in 1984 for the TV cartoon series Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats.
In 1986, she shared in the nomination for a Daytime Emmy in the category Outstanding Writing in a Children's Special, for the ABC Weekend Special The Adventures of Con Sawyer and Hucklemary Finn.[4]
Personal life
Cynthia Chenault was born January 5, 1937, in Hammond, Louisiana to Louis Robinaux.
She had one child, actress Kimberly Beck,[5] born in Glendale, California, in January 1956.
Cynthia, then still known as Cindy Robbins, married New Jersey singer-songwriter Tommy Leonetti on November 27, 1965, in Beverly Hills, California.[6] The two of them, plus her young daughter, moved to Sydney, Australia, and lived there for the remainder of the 1960s and for most of the 1970s before returning to America in the late 70's. Her husband Tommy died in 1979. She then married writer Robert Parks Chenault in 1983, and began around that time using her married name for her writing credits, rather than her screen name.
References
- "(photo caption)". California, San Rafael. Daily Independent Journal. May 28, 1960. p. 33. Retrieved April 29, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- Tucker, David C. (2014). Lost Laughs of '50s and '60s Television: Thirty Sitcoms That Faded Off Screen. McFarland. p. 205. ISBN 9780786455829. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
- The Tom Ewell Show webpage on the Classic TV Archive website
- 1986 Daytime Emmy Awards webpage at the IMDB website
- Kleiner, Dick (February 16, 1977). "'Roots II' may be in making". Abilene Reporter-News. Texas, Abilene. Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 12. Retrieved November 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Singer & Actress Honeymooning". Standard-Speaker. Pennsylvania, Hazleton. Associated Press. November 29, 1965. p. 15. Retrieved November 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.