Eva Marie Saint, 'North by Northwest' Star, Dies at 102
-------------------------------------------------------
Oscar-winning actress Eva Marie Saint, who starred in such
memorable classic films as "On the Waterfront" and
"North by Northwest," died Tuesday at her home in
Los Angeles. She was 102.

The delicate, fine-boned actress, one of the first breakout
talents from early television, won her Academy Award as
best supporting actress for "On the Waterfront" in 1955,
making her the oldest living Oscar winner. She played Edie
Doyle in the Marlon Brando starring film, with the New York
Times writing in its review, "Amid scenes of carnage, she
gives tenderness and sensitivity to genuine romance."

As Saint raised her family from the late 1950s on, she
returned to acting intermittently, and many of her later
appearances were onstage and on television, most notably in
the ABC series "Moonlighting" and later as Clark Kent's
adoptive mother in the 2006 movie "Superman Returns."

One of her most memorable roles was as the cool but
seductive blonde spy in Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 spy
thriller "North by Northwest." "Not only does she provide
the requisite icy sex appeal as Eve Kendall, a shadowy
secret agent, but she also proves to be much more than a
standard damsel in distress," Variety wrote in an
appreciation on her 97th birthday.

"Saint's character is fully capable of pulling the wool
over the eyes of sinister villains and usually remains two
or three steps ahead of Grant's hapless Madison Avenue
executive Roger Thornhill," the appreciation continues.

Saint made her TV debut on "Camp Hoop La," then became a
regular on "One Man's Family." She broadened her dramatic
range in such anthology series as "Philco Playhouse,"
"Robert Montgomery Presents" and "Studio One." Highlights
during the period included Paddy Chayevsky's "Middle of the
Night" (1954) and a musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder's
"Our Town" (1955) co-starring Paul Newman and Frank Sinatra
(both shows brought her Emmy nominations); Sidney Howard's
"Yellow Jack"; and the drama "Claudia."

Saint appeared opposite Lillian Gish in 1953 Horton Foote
teleplay "The Trip to Bountiful," which became the first TV
drama to move to Broadway (for 39 performances). Her
"touching and beautifully sensitive performance," as one
New York critic described it, won the approbation of Elia
Kazan, who cast her opposite Marlon Brando in "On the
Waterfront" in a role coveted by many more experienced
actresses.

The 1954 Budd Schulberg drama was nominated for 12 Oscars and
won eight including best picture, actor, director and, for
Saint, supporting actress.

Rather than tie herself to a studio contract, however, she
returned to the theater in stock productions of
"The Rainmaker" and "Desire Under the Elms."

In 1956 she took on the glamorous female lead in
"That Certain Feeling" opposite Bob Hope, followed by the
1957 film version of "A Hatful of Rain" and "Raintree County."

After "North by Northwest," she appeared in "Exodus" and
"All Fall Down." The latter, directed by John Frankenheimer
and co-starring Warren Beatty, saw her give one of her best
dramatic performances.

She was the numinous but scorned wife in 1965's Elizabeth
Taylor-Richard Burton adultery tale "The Sandpiper" and then
appeared in a better vehicle, Norman Jewison's comedy
"The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming," in 1966.
Her performance in "Loving," co-starring with George Segal,
was highly regarded and rated with her best work. Other roles
include "36 Hours" and "Grand Prix." Except for another Hope
comedy, "Cancel My Reservation," she spent most of the next
two decades on TV and onstage.

On Broadway she acted in "The Lincoln Mask" in 1972 and then,
opposite Henry Fonda, in "The First Monday in October" in 1979.
In 1983 she appeared in a Chicago production of "Duet for One."
Her television credits include "School for Bachelors," "A Carol
for Another Christmas," "'The First Woman President,"
"Mrs. Epenshade," "Taxi" and miniseries "How the West Was Won."
The latter two roles also brought Emmy nominations.

Saint received good critical notices for "A Christmas to
Remember" with Jason Robards, "When Hell Was in Session,"
"The Curse of King Tut's Tomb," "The Best Little Girl in the
World," "Malibu," "My Antonia" and "Jane Doe," among other
roles.

The actress had a recurring role on the ABC series
"Moonlighting," starring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis, as
Shepherd's mother.

In 1986 she returned to the bigscreen with a role in the
Tom Hanks-Jackie Gleason vehicle "Nothing in Common."

Saint appeared in many TV movies throughout the 1990s,
including roles in "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "Kiss of a
Killer," "After Jimmy" and "Open House," along with a cameo as
Roz's mother in "Frasier." After four previous Emmy
nominations, Saint finally took the statuette with a
supporting actress Emmy win in 1990 for her role in the NBC
miniseries "People Like Us."

Saint returned to film again in the 2000s, appearing in pics
such as "I Dreamed of Africa" (2000), "Because of Winn-Dixie"
and "Don't Come Knocking" (2005) and 2006's "Superman Returns,"
in which she played Martha Kent. In 2014 she made her final
bigscreen appearance, in the Akiva Goldsman written and
directed "Winter's Tale."

Saint was born in Newark, N.J.; the family later moved to
Delmar, N.Y., near Albany. With plans to become a teacher,
Saint attended Ohio's Bowling Green State U., where she became
interested in acting. After receiving her B.A., she turned full
time to seeking acting work, first in radio. She received her
first paycheck, $10, as an off-camera applauder on "The Borden
Show." To make ends meet, she did some modeling and then landed
roles in radio serials such as "Rosemary" and "Young Doctor
Malone."

In 1947 she was cast in "Mister Roberts" only to be reduced to
an understudy when director Joshua Logan didn't think she had
enough experience. Jocelyn Brando played the roles. A year
later she began studying at the Actors Studio.

A testament to her ability to straddle both the film and
television world, Saint has two separate stars on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for TV. Saint took
time to pay homage to "North by Northwest" by hosting TCM
documentary "The Making of North by Northwest" in 2000.

She also appeared in the 2003 documentary "Broadway: The Golden
Age, by the Legends Who Were There" and the 2011 documentary
"Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age."

Saint appeared at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009 to present the
Oscar for supporting actress, some 55 years after her
"Waterfront" win.

She was a longtime supporter of the Motion Picture and Television
Fund and the Epilepsy Foundation of Los Angeles. An early
proponent of making cars cell-phone-free, she created and
distributed her own bumper sticker: "Get Off The Phone Or Get Off
The Road." She also served on the Nicholl Screenwriting
Fellowship Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts &
Sciences.

Her husband, TV director Jeffrey Hayden, died in 2016.

Survivors include her two children, Darrell and Laurette, four
grandchildren, Eli, Tyler, Molly, and Stella and two great
grandchildren, Arlo and Finley.



<https://variety.com/2026/film/news/eva-marie-saint-dead-north-by-northwest-1236903677/>






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