Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress, died Tuesday of natural causes at her Los Angeles home, surrounded by family. She was 102.
Saint won the best supporting actress Academy Award for her first film, 1954’s “On the Waterfront.” She played Edie Doyle, the dockworker’s sister who shames Marlon Brando’s character into confronting corrupt union bosses, in Elia Kazan’s drama. She was nine months pregnant when she collected the statue, and her son Darrell was born two days later.
Alfred Hitchcock cast her five years later as the poised, elusive Eve Kendall opposite Cary Grant in “North by Northwest,” a role that placed her among the director’s best-known blondes. Her film work continued for decades: “Raintree County,” “Exodus,” “Grand Prix,” “Nothing in Common” with Tom Hanks, “Superman Returns” and “Winter’s Tale.”
Television came first, though. Saint built her reputation in the live broadcasts of the 1950s and earned Emmy nominations for “Middle of the Night” and a musical “Our Town” that paired her with Frank Sinatra and Paul Newman. She won an Emmy in 1990 for the miniseries “People Like Us” and later played Cybill Shepherd’s mother on “Moonlighting.” On Broadway, she earned critics’ honors for “The Trip to Bountiful” in 1953.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, and raised in the Albany area, Saint enrolled at Bowling Green State University in Ohio intending to teach. A drama professor pushed her toward a school play, and she never went back. She later trained at The Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg.
Her husband of 65 years, director Jeffrey Hayden, died in December 2016. The pair produced PBS documentaries together and won an Emmy for “Children in America’s Schools with Bill Moyers.”
Saint reached her 100th birthday in July 2024, joining George Burns, Luise Rainer and Olivia de Havilland as centenarian Oscar winners. She held the title of oldest living Academy Award winner. Asked about her age, she told People she did not feel it and credited staying active and happy. Colin Farrell has described working with her as a career highlight. Saint said she limited her workload while raising two young children, choosing parts with care.
She is survived by her children, Darrell and Laurette; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
