Peter MacNicol spent four decades building one of the most recognizable careers in American television. His wife spent roughly the same time doing something almost nobody covered — running youth theater programs in New York and college scholarship funds in Los Angeles, largely without a single byline to her name.
Her name is Martha Sue Cumming. She is a social activist and philanthropist, and the details of what she has actually built are more interesting than the fact that she married an Emmy winner.
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Who Is Martha Sue Cumming?
She goes by several names across public records. Martha Cumming, Martha Sue Cumming, Marsue Cumming, and Marsue Cummings all refer to the same person. There is no verified social media presence, no solo press interviews, and no publicist. What is documented about her comes directly from IMDB’s official biography of her husband, TV Guide’s published profile of MacNicol, the EBSCO Research Starters academic database, the 52nd Street Project’s institutional records, and the California Community Foundation.
Her professional identity breaks into two distinct bodies of work:
- Former Executive Director of the 52nd Street Project, a nonprofit youth theater organization in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan
- Manager and supporter of the Corie Williams Scholarship Fund, which provides college grants to graduating seniors in South Central Los Angeles
Neither role has ever gotten her on a talk show or into a magazine profile. She has kept it that way for close to 40 years.
How Martha Cumming Met Peter MacNicol
They were set up on a blind date in the early 1980s. Peter was in his late twenties at the time, already gaining recognition on Broadway after winning the Theatre World Award for Crimes of the Heart in 1981. Martha was reportedly about eight years older.
The evening centered on a game of Password, the classic word-guessing television game show. Martha gave Peter a clue and got him to say the word pneumatic. According to accounts tracing directly to MacNicol’s own interviews, that was the moment he knew she was the one.
They married on October 11, 1986, in a private ceremony. The couple has no children, something Peter MacNicol has addressed in interviews, stating he has no regrets about the choices he made in his personal life. As of March 2026, the two have been married for close to 40 years and live in Beverly Hills, California.
Martha Cumming and the 52nd Street Project
The 52nd Street Project is one of New York City’s long-standing nonprofit theater institutions. Founded in 1981 by actor and playwright Willie Reale in response to the conditions facing children in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, the organization’s mission has stayed consistent since day one: pair kids from the neighborhood, starting at age nine and running through their teens, with professional theater artists to write and perform original plays, all free to the public.
Martha Cumming served as the organization’s Executive Director. The EBSCO Research Starters academic database, updated in 2024, describes her specifically as the “former director,” indicating her active tenure has concluded. During her years connected to the Project:
- The organization built a permanent 17,000 square foot headquarters at 789 10th Avenue, Manhattan, funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
- Total scholarship support distributed to members exceeded $500,000
- Programs covered playwriting, stage direction, one-on-one mentoring, SAT preparation, and college application guidance for graduating seniors
- The Project was named in Vanity Fair’s “Hall of Fame” section in March 2009
- Volunteer professionals who contributed time to the organization over the years included Frances McDormand, Billy Crudup, and Edie Falco
Every program the 52nd Street Project runs is free. The shows are free to attend. The support is free to receive. The organization has been doing this for over four decades.
The Corie Williams Scholarship Fund and the Story Behind the Name
Martha Cumming’s work in Los Angeles is tied to the Corie Williams Scholarship Fund, which operates through the California Community Foundation, one of California’s most established philanthropic institutions.
TV Guide’s biography of Peter MacNicol states directly that he “often supports the Corie Williams Scholarship Fund, a non-profit foundation run by his wife Martha Sue.” The EBSCO profile describes her role as helping manage the fund, which was established in 1997.
The fund makes college grants to graduating high school seniors from South Central Los Angeles. It specifically focuses on:
- Students who are the first in their family to pursue higher education
- Young people from single-parent households
- Applicants who have grown up in poverty and are on the edge of changing the course of their lives
The name carries a specific history. Corie Williams was a 17-year-old student at Centennial High School in Compton, California. On January 16, 1997, she boarded an MTA bus to ride home from school. She never made it. A confrontation between rival gang members on the bus ended with a bullet striking her in the head. She was an innocent passenger. Her death was reported by UPI and prompted a formal $12,500 reward posted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Within months of her death, the scholarship fund bearing her name was created to direct college resources toward students in the same community she came from.
The Corie Williams Scholarship Fund has been operating for nearly 30 years. Martha Cumming has been part of it for most of that time.
A Decades-Long Public Record — Mostly in the Background
Outside of her philanthropic work, Martha Cumming has appeared publicly in documented form on very few occasions. Getty Images records confirm two appearances at major industry events:
- August 28, 1999 — Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California, alongside Peter MacNicol
- September 15, 2019 — Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California, alongside Peter MacNicol
Two photographs. Twenty years apart. The same woman, the same husband, the same low profile.
Martha Sue Cumming: Key Facts
| Full Name | Martha Sue Cumming |
| Also Known As | Marsue Cumming / Marsue Cummings |
| Spouse | Peter MacNicol |
| Married | October 11, 1986 |
| Children | None |
| Residence | Beverly Hills, California |
| Professional Role | Former Executive Director, 52nd Street Project (Hell’s Kitchen, NYC) |
| Philanthropy | Corie Williams Scholarship Fund, South Central Los Angeles |
| Age Difference | Approximately 8 years older than Peter MacNicol |
The 52nd Street Project has been serving children in Hell’s Kitchen for over 40 years. The Corie Williams Scholarship Fund has been sending first-generation students to college for nearly 30. Martha Cumming has had a hand in both. For a woman who has spent close to four decades avoiding any real public profile, that is a substantial record — and the most honest answer to anyone searching her name.
