Photo Credit: © 2016 Joseph Martinez / PictureLux – All Rights Reserved
Our colleague, contributor and beloved friend Jean Cummings passed away at the age of 87 in Los Angeles, CA. She had joined the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) in 1977 and served, covering the beat she loved, for 42 uninterrupted years as a journalist and photographer.
Jean was born in England and, as a young girl, she worked as a magician’s assistant, handing him props and sometimes participating in his performance.
She met and married Roy Cummings, a photographer and a journalist who worked for an agency. The couple moved to New York, worked there for a few years and then relocated to Los Angeles where they gained access to stars and their homes as the basis for their articles.
Jean and Roy also opened a sort-of coffee shop on Santa Monica Boulevard where he screened old movies. He was a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press and when he died, Jean replaced him as a contributor to their agency in London and fellow member of HFPA.
She went on to become a secretary under three Hollywood Foreign Press presidents. (Courtesy HFPA)
Jean was also a photographer/contributor to The Hollywood Archive and Getty Images among other stock photo agencies. With no close family nearby, Jean, nevertheless will be missed by her friends and colleagues.