Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar‑ and Emmy‑winning actress best known for her powerful turn as Edie Doyle in Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront and as the steely agent Eve Kendall in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, died on Tuesday at the age of 102.
Family and career highlights
Her representative, Jeff Sanderson, confirmed that Saint passed away of natural causes while surrounded by family and loved ones. Saint leaves behind two children, Darrell and Laurette, four grandchildren—Eli, Tyler, Molly, and Stella—and two great‑grandchildren, Arlo and Finley.
Born on July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey, Saint began acting while studying at Bowling Green State University, graduating in 1946. She launched her career as a radio performer in New York City and trained at the famed Actors Studio.
Her early television work included appearances on “Actors Studio” and “The Prudential Family Playhouse.” In 1953 she earned praise for a televised version of Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful, starring silent‑film icon Lillian Gish, who later became a mentor to Saint.
Breakthrough and awards
Saint’s breakout film role came in 1954 when Kazan cast her as Edie Doyle, the grieving sister of a murdered Hoboken dockworker. Her performance earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1955, just two days before she gave birth to her first child. While pregnant, she accepted the Oscar with a smile, joking, “I may have the baby right here, but I would love to thank Elia Kazan, Sam Spiegel, Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Boris Kaufman, all the longshoremen. Thank you.”
That same year she received her first Emmy nomination for a television adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky’s “The Middle of the Night,” followed by another nomination the next year for a TV musical version of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town.”
Iconic film work
Throughout a career spanning more than seven decades, Saint appeared in 20 feature films and worked with legends such as Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, and Elizabeth Taylor. In Hitchcock’s 1959 classic North by Northwest, she portrayed Eve Kendall, a double‑agent who faces danger atop a replica of Mount Rushmore. Saint recalled climbing the set while pregnant with her second child, noting that she felt no fear because “Cary was older than I, and I thought: if he can do it, I can do it.”
Other notable films include “That Certain Feeling” with Bob Hope, a Golden Globe‑nominated turn in Fred Zinnemann’s “A Hatful of Rain,” and a role opposite Montgomery Clift in “Raintree County.” In the 1970s she shifted focus to made‑for‑television movies and miniseries, appearing in titles such as “The First Woman President” and “Fatal Vision.”
Later years and legacy
Saint continued acting into her 90s, appearing in the 2006 film “Superman Returns” as Clark Kent’s adoptive mother and in the 2014 fantasy romance “Winter’s Tale” alongside Colin Farrell and Jessica Brown Findlay. In a 2014 interview she expressed admiration for veteran British performers, noting that Hollywood often overlooks seasoned actors.
Her longevity and dedication made her one of the last surviving luminaries of Hollywood’s Golden Age, revered by generations of cinephiles for the understated complexity she brought to every role.
Joe Kottke contributed.
Original reporting: NBC10 Boston — read the source article.
