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Eva Marie Saint, Oscar-winning ‘On the Waterfront’ and ‘North by Northwest’ star, dead at 102
Confirmed
In Short: Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar-winning actress known for her roles in 'On the Waterfront' and 'North by Northwest,' died Tuesday at the age of 102.
Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar-winning actress known for her roles in 'On the Waterfront' and 'North by Northwest,' died Tuesday at the age of 102. Her representative, Jeff Sanderson, confirmed her death was due to natural causes, with Saint surrounded by family and loved ones.
Born in 1924 in Newark, New Jersey, Saint began her career in theater and television before breaking into film with 'On the Waterfront.' She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Edie Doyle, the sister of a murdered dockworker, opposite Marlon Brando.
Saint's performance in 'On the Waterfront' was a defining moment in her career, earning her critical acclaim and an Oscar. She recalled the audition with Brando, saying, 'He did something to flip my skirt, and I was so embarrassed I cried a little bit afterward.'
In 1959, Saint starred opposite Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's 'North by Northwest,' playing Eve Kendall, a mysterious government agent. The film is known for its iconic scene where the characters climb Mount Rushmore to escape their pursuers.
Saint's career spanned over seven decades, during which she appeared in 20 feature films and won an Emmy for the 1990 miniseries 'People Like Us.' She worked with renowned directors and actors, including Elia Kazan, Otto Preminger, and Gregory Peck.
Saint was married to Jeffrey Hayden, a television director and producer, for 65 years until his death in 2016. She prioritized her family over her career, often limiting her film appearances to one per year.
But it would never sell because people don't want to hear about normal.'
Saint's legacy includes her roles in 'A Hatful of Rain,' 'Raintree County,' and 'The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming,' among others. She continued to act well into her 90s, appearing in 'Superman Returns' in 2006.
Saint's death marks the end of an era in Hollywood, leaving behind a legacy of performances that defined the Golden Age of cinema.
Saint's approach to balancing her career and personal life set an example for many in the industry, showing that success could be achieved without sacrificing family and personal values.
Saint's death closes a remarkable chapter in Hollywood history, leaving behind a legacy of performances alongside some of the biggest stars of the 20th century.
Background
Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar-winning actress known for her roles in 'On the Waterfront' and 'North by Northwest,' died Tuesday at 102.
On the Waterfront is a 1954 American crime drama film, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando, and features Karl Malden, Lee J.
North by Northwest is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures".
What's confirmed
- Saint was married to her husband Jeffrey Hayden for 65 years before he died in 2016.
- Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning star best known for playing a New Jersey dockworker’s grieving sister in the Elia Kazan drama “On the Waterfront” and an elegant government agent in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller “North by Northwest,” died Tuesday.
- Saint was pregnant when she accepted the award, giving birth to her son Darrell two days later.
- “And he said, ‘Well, I guess you won’t be a superstar.’ And I said, ‘Well, I guess not.'” “And what happened to that agent?” asked the interviewer.
What's still developing
- Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning actor who graced some of the most beloved and revered Hollywood films of the mid-20th century with an incisive Actors Studio-honed talent for character and a stunning beauty, has died.
- For her performance as Thelma, the kind young stranger who shares a bus trip with the elderly woman returning to her long-ago home in Bountiful, Saint won the 1954 Outer Critics Circle Special Award.
- The first was Saint’s performance in TV’s Middle of the Nigh t by Paddy Chayefsky.
- With a cast that included Paul Newman and Frank Sinatra, Saint played Emily, one of two teenagers who fall in love with one another and get married (Newman was the beau).
- The same year she won the Outer Critics Cirlce Award for her Broadway performance, she appeared in what would be her early signature role: As On The Waterfront ‘s Edie Doyle, Saint portrayed the dark tale’s moral center, the light that attracts Brando’s flailing has-been boxer in a dockside world of corruption and murder.
- Born in 1924, Saint grew up in upstate New York before moving to Ohio to attend Bowling Green University.
- “You know how to stay young. Go with the flow,” Saint told Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in 2014.
- Frank Sinatra called out her name, and the visibly pregnant Saint took the stage to deliver a brief acceptance speech.
- “I may have the baby right here,” she said with a laugh.
- In the years to come, Saint tried her hand at various genres, from the historical epic (Preminger’s “Exodus”) and the domestic melodrama (Minnelli’s “The Sandpiper”) to a memorable Cold War comedy (“The Russians Are Coming. The Russians Are Coming!”).
- She was a prolific television performer, collecting five Emmy nominations and winning one for the 1990 miniseries “People Like Us.” Saint collaborated with some of the most fabled performers and filmmakers of the classical era.
- The entertainment industry changed dramatically during Saint’s life, but she persevered through each new chapter with a smile and a sense of humor, even appearing as Clark Kent’s adoptive mother in “Superman Returns,” released in 2006.