Eva Marie Saint, ‘North by Northwest’ Star, Dies at 102

Eva Marie Saint, the elegant, pale-haired actor who won an Academy Award for her very first film, “On the Waterfront,” and later starred with Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” has died at 102.

Saint died Tuesday at her Los Angeles home, family representative Jeff Sanderson confirmed. Her acting career continued well into her 90s.

Few Hollywood debuts were as dramatic as Saint’s. In “On the Waterfront,” she played Edie Doyle, the love interest of Marlon Brando’s troubled dockworker, Terry Malloy. Her first Academy Awards ceremony was equally unforgettable: pregnant with her first child, she accepted the Oscar from Frank Sinatra and joked, “I think I may have the baby right here.” Her son, Darrell, arrived two days later.

The 1954 film instantly established Saint as a major star, but she quickly demonstrated that she would make career choices on her own terms. Rather than sign a long-term studio contract or rush into another major production, she stepped away from acting to spend time with her newborn son. Her daughter, Laurette, was born in 1958.

A curated career

Saint made only seven films during her first 10 years in Hollywood, passing on projects including “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit” with Gregory Peck, “Summer and Smoke” with Laurence Harvey and “The Rainmaker” with Burt Lancaster. Her husband, television and theater director Jeffrey Hayden, ultimately encouraged her to accept Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.” In the 1959 thriller, Saint played a spy who seduces Grant’s character before genuinely falling in love with him.

Recalling Hayden’s advice in a 2014 Vanity Fair interview, Saint said he urged her to find a quiet place, reread the script and think carefully while he looked after their children. “He was so right,” she said, adding, “And that’s what husbands are for.”

Her selective approach did little to diminish Hollywood’s interest. Studios continued to offer Saint prominent roles, including appearances in “Exodus” opposite Paul Newman, “Raintree County” with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift, and “All Fall Down,” alongside Warren Beatty.

During the 1970s, Saint increasingly worked in television. She found a new generation of fans in the 1980s as Cybill Shepherd’s mother on the popular sitcom “Moonlighting” and as Tom Hanks’ mother in the comedy “Nothing in Common.” Her television work earned her an Emmy for the 1990 miniseries “People Like Us.” She also appeared in later films including “Because of Winn-Dixie,” “Superman Returns” and “Winter’s Tale,” based on Mark Helprin’s novel. In 2021, she lent her voice to “The Bus Ride,” a short audio play featuring Marisa Tomei and released through “The Pack Podcast.”

Saint and Hayden were married for 55 years, remaining together until his death in 2016.

That was her real name

When Saint first became known, audiences often assumed her distinctive name was a stage invention. It was not. She was born Eva Marie Saint on July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey. Her family later moved to Delmar, a small community near Albany, New York, where her father managed a Goodrich Rubber Co. operation. Saint originally hoped to follow her mother into teaching third grade, but while studying at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, she auditioned for a play and unexpectedly won the lead role.

After college, she returned to live with her parents in Flushing, Long Island, while pursuing acting opportunities in Manhattan. A year of unsuccessful searching ended when she landed two lines as a telephone operator in a radio drama. More work soon followed, including roles on soap operas and nighttime dramas. She spent two years playing Claudia on “One Man’s Family.” As network television expanded in the early 1950s, Saint’s striking presence and emotional skill made her a favorite among casting directors and producers.

A major breakthrough came when Saint auditioned for Elia Kazan and was admitted to the Actors Studio, the influential New York workshop associated with a generation of method actors. She later said acting teacher Lee Strasberg helped her move beyond her natural shyness.

In a 2009 interview with The Santa Barbara Independent, Saint recalled that Strasberg assigned her an emotional scene in which she had to cry before her fellow actors. She said she prepared anxiously, performed the scene and eventually found herself crying as her classmates cried along with her. The experience, she said, was transformative.

Saint was initially turned down for the only female role in the stage production of “Mister Roberts.” She was instead hired as an understudy for Jocelyn Brando, Marlon Brando’s sister. During six difficult months, Saint never had the opportunity to take over the role. She eventually reached Broadway in “A Trip to Bountiful,” a production she had previously performed on television.

Kazan later asked Saint to audition for “On the Waterfront” by improvising a scene with Brando. Her task was to prevent a young man from entering her apartment. As Saint remembered in a 2001 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Brando entered, switched on music and began dancing with her, even flicking her skirt. Kazan saw the chemistry between them, and Saint won the role that launched her film career.

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Thomas, a former Associated Press Hollywood correspondent who died in 2014, was the primary writer of this obituary.