Her work as the bright-beyond-her-years daughter in the 1977 feature earned her an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress, although her subsequent feature career sputtered.
Cummings first moved in front of the cameras as a precocious girl after famed cinematographer James Wong Howe met her and suggested to Cummings' mother that they give the girl a chance. Cummings appeared in several TV commercials before playing Sheldon Leonard's granddaughter in the short-lived sitcom "Big Eddie" (CBS, 1975). In 1976, she had a small role in the NBC TV-movie "Night Terror" and a more substantial part as the daughter of a wife-beater (Dennis Weaver) in "Intimate Strangers" (ABC, 1977). When her success in "The Goodbye Girl" failed to translate into a big screen career, the dark-haired player joined the cast of the established ABC drama series "Family" for two seasons (1978-80) as Annie Cooper Lawrence, an orphaned cousin taken in by James Broderick and Sada Thompson. As Cummings moved into adolescence, roles became sporadic. She was the daughter of the first female president of the US in "Hail to the Chief", a short-lived 1985 ABC sitcom and returned briefly to features as a right-wing debater in "Listen to Me" (1989). In the 90s, Cummings made guest appearances on "Blossom" and "Evening Shade."
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