Quinn Cummings

{{short description|American writer, inventor and former child actress}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Quinn Cummings

| image = QC Green Sweater.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Quinn Cummings in 2015

| birth_name = Quinn L. Cummings

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1967|08|13}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| education = University of California, Los Angeles

| occupation = Author, humorist, actress, inventor, entrepreneur

| yearsactive = 1975–1992

| partner = Don DiPietro

| children = 1

}}

Quinn L. Cummings (born August 13, 1967) is an American entrepreneur, author, humorist, inventor and former actress.

Cummings came to prominence as a child actor, playing Lucy McFadden in Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, one of the youngest people to ever be nominated for an Academy Award. She was also known for her recurring role as Annie Cooper on the television series Family. Since quitting acting, Cummings has become an entrepreneur, and has authored several books.

Early life

Cummings was born in Los Angeles.{{cite web| url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/42091%7C0/Quinn-Cummings/| title=Quinn Cummings| website=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=September 16, 2020}} Her father, Sumner, was a businessman who died when she was still a child. Her mother, Jan, was a bookkeeper.

Career

=Film and television=

Cummings began her career after being discovered by cinematographer James Wong Howe. She soon began landing roles in numerous television commercials, eventually winning the role of Marsha Mason's daughter, Lucy McFadden, in the 1977 film The Goodbye Girl. Cummings' performance was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.{{cite web| url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/55916| title=The Goodbye Girl (1977)| website=AFI Catalog of Feature Films|access-date=July 26, 2020}}

In 1978, Cummings had a recurring role on the drama series Family. In 1985, Cummings appeared in the short-lived ABC sitcom Hail to the Chief as the daughter of the first female president of the United States, played by Patty Duke. During the late 1980s, Cummings acted occasionally and worked as a casting agent. She attended UCLA for two years and had a stint recruiting writers to publish short stories online. Her last acting role was a 1992 episode of Evening Shade.

= Other ventures =

Inspired by the birth of her daughter, Cummings created the HipHugger, a sling-type device for carrying a baby. She was the president of the HipHugger company before selling it in 2006.

In February 2005, Cummings started a blog, The QC Report, which discussed the ironies of modern life from the point of view of a career mother in her 30s.{{cite magazine| url=https://www.newsweek.com/blogwatch-118653| title=Blogwatch| author=| magazine=Newsweek| date=May 15, 2005| access-date=July 26, 2020}}

=Books and essays=

Cummings' first book, Notes from the Underwire: Adventures from My Awkward and Lovely Life, was published in July 2009.{{cite news| url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4013-2286-1| title=Notes from the Underwire: Adventures from My Awkward and Lovely Life| date=June 29, 2009| magazine=Publishers Weekly| access-date=January 18, 2019}} Her second book, The Year of Learning Dangerously, which explores the current state of home schooling in America, was published by Perigee Books in August 2012.{{cite magazine| url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-399-53760-8| title=The Year of Learning Dangerously: Adventures in Homeschooling| magazine=Publishers Weekly| access-date=July 26, 2020}} Pet Sounds, a collection of humorous stories relating to animals and pet ownership was released in the summer of 2013.{{cite book |title=Pet Sounds: New and Improved Stories from the QC Report |first=Quinn |last=Cummings |publisher=Quinella Publishing |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-9894-4730-0 |access-date=2025-04-13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDu6nQEACAAJ}} In 2019, she launched a podcast, Quinn Cummings Gives Bad Advice,{{cite web| url=http://www.quinncummings.com/bad-advice| title=Bad Advice| website=Quinn Cummings| accessdate=February 14, 2021}} in which she responds to listener questions on any advice topic, highlighting the fact that she has no particular knowledge or expertise in the subject being raised.

In 2021, Cummings self-published a book, Modest Blessings for Modern Times. The book is a humorous collection of scenarios where the reader might feel "modestly" grateful if such a scenario happened, such as "You shower after a teenage boy, and yet there is still hot water." Cummings has donated a portion of proceeds from the book to various non-profit organizations.{{cite web |url=https://www.modestblessings.com/ |title=Home |website=modestblessings.com}}

In the wake of the #MeToo scandal, Cummings made several statements and wrote an essay in 2017 about sexual harassment abuse in Hollywood, particularly abuse of children in the industry.{{cite news| url=https://www.npr.org/2017/11/04/562058159/a-former-child-actress-on-hollywood-and-sexual-assault| title=A Former Child Actress On Hollywood And Sexual Assault| work=Weekend Edition}}{{cite magazine| url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a13097605/quinn-cummings-child-actress/| title=I Was a Child Actress in Hollywood. There Were Always Whispers.| first=Quinn| last=Cummings| date=October 27, 2017| magazine=Esquire}}

Personal life

In 2000, Cummings gave birth to a daughter, Anneke DiPietro, by her boyfriend Donald DiPietro.{{cite magazine| last=Horsburgh| first=Susan| url=http://people.com/archive/getting-the-hang-of-it-vol-57-no-6/| title=Getting the Hang of It| magazine=People| date=February 18, 2002| access-date=August 20, 2014| volume=57| issue=6}}

Filmography

The Goodbye Girl (1977)
Listen to Me (1989)

=Television=

Big Eddie (Unknown episodes, 1975)
Jeremiah of Jacob's Neck (1976)
The Six Million Dollar Man (1 episode, 1976)
Night Terror (1977)
Visions (1 episode, 1977)
Intimate Strangers (1977)
Starsky and Hutch (1 episode, 1978)
Baretta (1 episode, 1978)
CBS Library (1 episode – The Incredible Book Escape, 1980)
Family (36 episodes, 1978–1980)
The Babysitter (1980)
Darkroom (1 episode, 1981)
Grandpa, Will You Run with Me? (1983)
Remington Steele (1 episode, 1984)
Hail to the Chief (Unknown episodes, 1985)
The Love Boat (1 episode, 1986)
Blossom (1 episode, 1991)
Evening Shade (1 episode, 1992)

Bibliography

Notes from the Underwire: Adventures from My Awkward and Lovely Life (2009)
The Year of Learning Dangerously (2012)
Pet Sounds (2013)
Modest Blessings for Modern Times (2021)

Awards and nominations

;Academy Award

:Nominated: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, The Goodbye Girl (1978)

;Golden Globe

:Nominated: Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role, The Goodbye Girl (1978)

;Young Artist Award

:Nominated: Best Juvenile Actress in a TV Series or Special, Family (1980){{cite web|url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716012642/http://youngartistawards.org/pastnoms1.htm|title=Second Annual Youth in Film Awards 1978–1979|website=Young Artist Award|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 16, 2015}}

:Won: Best Young Actress in a Television Series, Family (1981){{cite web|url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms2.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910235952/http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms2.htm|title=Second Annual Youth in Film Awards 1979–1980|website=Young Artist Award|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 10, 2015}}

:Nominated: Best Young Actress in a Movie Made for Television, Grandpa, Will You Run with Me? (1984){{cite web|url=http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms5.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110403132035/http://www.youngartistawards.org/pastnoms5.htm|title=Fifth Annual Youth in Film Awards 1982–1983|website=Young Artist Award|archive-date=April 3, 2011}}