Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar and Emmy-winning actor who honed her talent for character and stunning beauty in some of the most beloved and iconic Hollywood films of the mid-20th century, died Tuesday of natural causes. She was 102 years old.
Whether serving as the loyal, grief-stricken girlfriend of Marlon Brando’s beleaguered boxer Terry Malloy in Elia Kazan’s classic on the coast Or subverting whatever Hitchcock expected of his “icy blonde” femme fatales by exposing her government-agent character. North by Northwest (With Cary Grant) With subtle moments of intelligence and rebellion, Saint was never simply attractive to the male superstars with whom she shared the screen. Was she smart enough to fade into a scene? Too tempting? It was all that and more.
Born on July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey, Saint later studied acting at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and after graduating in 1946, she soon found work as an NBC page and, by the late 40s, began appearing in New York City, sometimes live, sometimes not, then on general TV shows. By 1950 she had a recurring role as the brave (and attractive) Lieutenant Wilma Deering in the 1950s sci-fi kiddie series. buck rogersAnd three years later Horton Foote was on the Broadway stage in the play great trip (Co-stars were Lillian Gish and Jo Van Fleet). For her performance as Thelma, a kindly young stranger who shares a bus trip with an elderly woman returning to her old home in Bountiful, Saint won a 1954 Outer Critics Circle Special Award.
The following year brought two Emmy nominations for Best Actress in a Single Performance. The first was the performance of the saint in TV. middle of the nightBy T Paddy Chayefsky. In the drama she played the young mistress of a middle-aged man portrayed by EG Marshall. His second Emmy-nominated performance that year was Manufacturer Showcase Thornton Wilder’s presentation Our city. Along with such artists as Paul Newman and Frank Sinatra, Saint played Emily, one of two teenagers who fall in love with each other and marry (Newman was the lover).
After a brief period in which he performed in omnibus-style TV series in the early ’50s, Saint landed what would be his initial signature role: as on the coastEddie Doyle, The Saint, portrayed the moral center of the dark story, the light that draws Brando’s bumbling boxer into a world of corruption and murder. Giving his character some significance beyond saintliness was a background story in which Eddie’s brother had recently suffered a violent death on the same docks where Brando’s Terry Malloy was always struggling to profit. The combination of Brando and Saint was one of the most effective romantic pairings to hit the big screen of that era.
Brando and Saint both won Academy Awards for the film, and Saint was the oldest living Academy Award winner until his death.
More TV appearances followed coast till 1957 torrential rain The beginning of a remarkable five-year, five-picture series that would be capped off by the film, many consider it to be Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece, and few would argue that it was not at least in the master’s top three. 1959s North by Northwest Starring Saint and a never-better-looking Cary Grant, both set the standard for mid-century chic, she in either a dark pencil skirt suit or, conversely, a full-skirted black dress adorned with deep red roses. As far as Grant goes, few leading men looked so handsome in a gray flannel suit uniform in a ’50s ad.
Breaking with Hitchcock’s tradition of casting “icy blondes” in victim roles, St. Eve was no fool, a government agent who could go toe-to-toe with Grant after mistaking him for a spy. Not only does Saint have the privilege of taking part in one of Hitchcock’s greatest action-adventure set pieces—he and Grant climb Mount Rushmore to escape the bad guys—but he has one of the best lines the director ever included in his films: shortly after meeting Grant’s character on the train, Saint said, “It’s going to be a long night, and I don’t particularly like the book I’ve started.”
If other films in that five-year period couldn’t keep up North by Northwest, Yet they were solid entries: the 1957 addiction drama torrential rain and Elizabeth Taylor-Montgomery Clift costume drama Raintree County; Otto Preminger’s big-budget prestige historical epic exodus about the founding of Israel which reunited Saint with Newman; and, in 1962, John Frankenheimer’s all fell downA film adaptation by playwright William Inge of the James Leo Herlihy novel. With a cast that included Saint, Warren Beatty, Angela Lansbury, Brandon De Wilde and Karl Malden, all fell down It was another big prestige entry but this time failed to win over audiences or critics (although the performances, particularly Saint’s, were praised).
after all fell downSaint would remain busy for decades with many successes, even if her career would never match the quality of her extraordinary performances in the mid-’50s. After marrying director Jeffrey Haydon in 1951, she began to reduce her output in order to support their two children. all fell down His next few years would be focused on TV jobs and the occasional minor film such as the 1964 spy thriller 36 hours.
But then came a flurry of big-screen activity, starting with a role as her old friend Elizabeth Taylor sandpiper In 1965, Norman Jewison’s comedy comedy The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming (also ’66), and John Frankenheimer’s hit 1966 race car drama Grand PrizeIn which Saint co-starred with James Garner.
There were sporadic film entries from the 1970s, but the majority of Saint’s work during that era (and into the 2000s) was for television. there were general guest appearances love boat And moonlightingBut also memorable work in TV movies and miniseries. Saint starred with Jennifer Jason Leigh in 1981 the best little girl in the worldA TV movie that was one of the earliest films to deal with anorexia nervosa. Although much of its information about the disease would later be deemed flawed, the death of singer Karen Carpenter two years before eating disorders became common knowledge laid the groundwork for the film to tackle the subject.
Five years later, Saint returned to the big screen for the first time in more than a decade, playing the mother of Tom Hanks’ character in Garry Marshall’s film. nothing in common. In 1990 she won an Emmy Award for her role as a rich, narcissistic woman in the 1990 NBC miniseries. people like us, Based on a novel by Dominic Dunne. At the end of the decade she appeared on Frasier as the mother of radio producer Rose Doyle, played by regular Peri Gilpin.
Overall, Saint received three other Emmy nominations for his work, including his role in the 1978 Hallmark Hall of Fame entry. Taxi!!!and the 1977 ABC western miniseries how the West Was Won.
Credits from the last decade of his long career include 2005 Because of Winn-Dixie, of 2006 Superman Returns, of 2014 winter story And, in 2019, his last film, Marriott in Ecstasy.
In 2018, at the age of 93, Saint, who wore memorable costumes in her classic films, appeared at the 90th Academy Awards ceremony to present the Oscar for Best Costume Design (ghost thread won). Greeted with an enthusiastic response from the audience, she said, “It means a lot to me, having lost my husband last year after 65 years. We used to come to this Academy every year, and I miss him, and it was replenished. It was so loud that I knew they heard it.”
“And,” she continued, “I just realized something. I’m older than the academy. Plus four months, maybe five months. I’m very proud of it. Just keep going.”