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. Mayer's studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 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 B-feature 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 pr...read more