Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress whose career across film, television, theater and radio spanned over 70 years, died Tuesday. At age 102, she passed of natural causes surrounded by family and loved ones at her home in Los Angeles.
Saint began her film career opposite Marlon Brando in Elia Kazan’s “On the Waterfront” (1954), winning the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her performance. She went on to star in such films as “A Hatful of Rain” (1957), “Raintree County” (1957), Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” (1959), “Exodus” (1960), “The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming” (1966), “Grand Prix” (1966), “The Stalking Moon” (1968), “Nothing in Common” (1986) and “I Dreamed of Africa” (2000).
Her later film credits included “Because of Winn-Dixie” (2005), “Don’t Come Knocking” (2005), “Superman Returns” (2006) and “Winter’s Tale” (2014), starring Colin Farrell.
Saint’s leading men included Brando, Montgomery Clift, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, Richard Burton, Warren Beatty, James Garner, Jason Robards, George C. Scott, Burt Lancaster and Tom Hanks, with whom she co-starred in “Nothing in Common.”
Born and raised in Albany and Delmar, New York, Saint attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio with plans to become a schoolteacher. After trying out for a school play at the suggestion of her drama professor, she landed the leading role and changed the course of her life. She later studied at the American Theatre Wing and with Lee Strasberg at The Actors Studio after moving to New York City.
Saint began her professional career during the golden age of live television and earned multiple Emmy nominations. Her first came for Paddy Chayefsky’s “Middle of the Night” on “The Philco Television Playhouse” in 1954. She earned another nomination for the 1955 live musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” in which she played Emily opposite Frank Sinatra and Paul Newman. She received subsequent nominations for “How the West Was Won” and “Taxi!!” before winning an Emmy in 1990 for the miniseries “People Like Us.”
Her television work also included “Moonlighting,” in which she played Cybill Shepherd’s mother, as well as “Fatal Vision,” “A Year in the Life,” “My Antonia,” the “Titanic” miniseries and “The Legend of Korra.” She was a presenter at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009 and the 90th Academy Awards in 2018.
Saint also maintained a connection to the stage throughout her career, earning Drama Critics Award and Outer-Circle Critics Award honors for “The Trip to Bountiful” on Broadway in 1953. Her other stage credits included “The Lincoln Mask,” “Duet for One,” “Summer and Smoke,” “Desire Under The Elms” and “Death of a Salesman.”
Saint and her late husband of 65 years, director Jeffrey Hayden, produced the PBS documentaries “Primary Colors: The Story of Corita” and “Children in America’s Schools with Bill Moyers,” winning an Emmy for the latter. Hayden died in December 2016.
Saint is survived by her two children, Darrell and Laurette; four grandchildren, Eli, Tyler, Molly and Stella; and two great-grandchildren, Arlo and Finley.
