Anyone who comments about a rare early morning start to play himself in a movie that, "Birds were singing. How long has that been going on?" I could have had a lot of fun with. Of all the early Hollywood elite that I have written about, the one I most wished I could have met … Continue reading Sid Grauman: the hair, the theaters, the chutzpah.
On October 29th, 1957 Louis B. Mayer died from leukemia, a disease which would claim his nephew, Leonard Cummings, the youngest child of my great-grandmother, Ida Mayer Cummings, just eight years later.
This is one of the oddest photos in the collection. Clearly, Louis B Mayer is chairing a meeting, but which one? And who is the amazing mustachioed man? The boardroom table, with its incredibly polished surface, mirrors these men of power. In fact, through some freak of lighting, the table reflects them in an even … Continue reading A Room So Powerful…
My great-grandmother Ida Mayer Cummings was Louis B Mayer's sister and best friend. They were the middle children of five - Yetta, Ida, LB, Gerald and Ruben. Louis B Mayer's legacy was MGM, AMPAS, the Oscars, the MPAA and other major achievements. What is not as known is that his sister was the same mover and shaker in fundraising, and to this day an event she founded (the same year as LB founded the Academy Awards) is still a fixture in Los Angeles today. She was also the mother of four children, one of whom, Jack Cummings, went on to be a film producer in his own right.
The Film Colony ♛ 
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