Jack Cummings

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia John Jack Cummings February 16 1905 April 28 1989 was an American film producer and director He was the second husband of Betty Kern daughter of Jerome Kern Cummings spent most of his career at his uncle Louis B Mayers studio MetroGoldwynMayer where he began work in the 1920s Mayer started his nephew out as an office boy and expected him to work his way up through the ranks Cummings became a staff producer at MGM in 1934 where he worked in the Bfeature unit for two years In 1936 he produced the extravagant Cole Porter musical Born to Dance which established his reputation as a respected producer Cummings remained at MGM even after his uncle was fired from the studio in 1951 working with talent such as the Marx Brothers Red Skelton Esther Williams and Fred Astaire and producing some of the eras bestknown musicals including 1953s Kiss Me Kate and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in 1954 for which he received an Academy Award nomination He left MGM to become an independent producer affiliated with Twentieth CenturyFox and produced the 1959 remake of The Blue Angel and the 1960 movie version of the Abe BurrowsCole Porter Broadway musical CanCan In 1964 he returned to MGM one last time to produce the Elvis Presley musical Viva Las Vegas Other credits included Easy to Wed It Happened in Brooklyn Three Little Words The Last Time I Saw Paris Interrupted Melody and The Teahouse of the August Moon Jack Cummings was the son of Ida Mayer Cummings sister of Louis B Mayer He had two sisters Ruth married to film director Roy Rowland and Mitzi married to film producer Sol Baer Fielding as well as a younger half brother Leonard Sonny Cummings Mr Cummings was survived by his four daughters Julie Cummings Siff of Manhattan Kathy Cummings St Aubin of Los Angeles Linda Kern Cummings of Danville Ky and Carla Luisa Cummings of Los Angeles