Marsha Mason has said that of all her films, "The Goodbye Girl" is the one she thinks has potential as a classic, and if that is the case, Quinn Cummings will be immortalized. 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