Jack Cummins; ‘Addams Family’ Co-Producer

Jack Cummins, 49, producer, director and writer for motion pictures and short films. Cummins grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, earned degrees in speech and dramatic arts at the University of Iowa, then began his career in New York. His first credit was for “The Groove Tube” in 1974, followed by “Lords of Flatbush” and “Mean Streets.” He moved to Los Angeles in 1975 and worked as assistant director on such films as “The Runaway Train,” “Airplane,” “The Scout,” “The Howling” and “Breaking In.” Cummins co-produced “The Addams Family,” “Highlander II” and “Amos and Andrew,” and produced “Needful Things” starring Max Von Sydow and Ed Harris and the cult hit “Reform School Girls.” Commenting negatively on the women-behind-bars sendup, a Times reviewer said “Reform School Girls” would have improved had the producer written the script. Cummins’ mere production notes, the reviewer said, “show a wonderful flair for comedy.” Cummins did write occasional screenplays and articles. His anthology of short films, “Bloody Bottlecaps,” premiered at FILMEX and is housed in the permanent collection of the Long Beach Museum of Art. On Wednesday in Los Angeles of cancer.