One of the last movie stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood died earlier this month. Eva Marie Saint was an Academy Award-winning actress whose selective career included acclaimed performances in film, television, and on the stage across eight decades. She died at the impressive age of 102 on Oct. 6, 2026.
To classic film fans, Saint is best remembered as Marlon Brandon’s sensitive sweetheart in “On the Waterfront” (1954) and the glamorous spy who spars with Cary Grant in “North by Northwest” (1959). Devotees of modern cinema are more likely to recognize her from her much more recent performance as Superman’s adoptive mother in “Superman Returns” (2006).
This blonde beauty won her only Academy Award, the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, for her feature film debut, “On the Waterfront.” She was immediately recognized as a rising star who combined serious acting ability with feminine glamour. This winning combination would make her one of the most sought-after actresses for the rest of the decade.
Eva Marie Saint was born on Independence Day 1924 to Quaker parents in New Jersey. Many people thought that her unusual name was a stage name, but like everything else about the lady, it was unique yet genuine. She studied acting at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she was involved with campus theater.
After graduating, the young actress moved to New York City and strove to make her name in show business. She began working at the Actors Studio; the famously rigorous workshop directed by Lee Strasberg taught the Stanislavsky Method of acting to stars like Marilyn Monroe, Kim Hunter, and Saint’s future co-star Marlon Brando. There she met director Elia Kazan, one the studio’s founders, who cast her in “On the Waterfront.”
In the second half of the 1940s, Saint made several appearances on television, first appearing as an NBC page, while also working on the radio. She eventually worked her way up to playing dramatic roles in serious TV productions by the 1950s, earning her the nickname “the Helen Hayes of television.” She made her featured Broadway debut in 1953 in Horton Foote’s “The Trip to Bountiful” opposite stage legend Lillian Gish.
Selective Movie Star
After her Oscar-winning feature film debut, the offers started pouring in, but Saint was very selective about which roles she chose and how often she made a film. She made only four more films in the rest of the decade—“That Certain Feeling” (1956), “A Hatful of Rain” (1957), “Raintree Country” (1957), and “North by Northwest” (1959).
After focusing on films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she turned her focus back to television in the 1970s, sometimes going years without making a movie. Her contributions to excellence in TV acting have been honored several times, including with five Primetime Emmy nominations spanning from 1955 to 1990.
She also is one of the few actresses to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for movies and one for television.
She contrasted her own relationship with performing to that of Bob Hope, whom she described as “a workaholic, which I’m not.” While she said that “he’s only happy when he’s performing,” she gladly explained, “I’ve other interests in my life.”
Happy Hollywood Marriage
One of the most impressive records Saint held was one of the longest and happiest show business marriages. She was married to director Jeffrey Hayden for 65 years, from 1951 until his death at age 90 in 2016.
They met in New York City when she was an aspiring actress. Hayden was an associate producer on television in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1956, the couple moved to Los Angeles, where they spent the rest of their lives.
The couple had two children together. Eva was expecting when she accepted her Oscar, beginning her speech by saying, “I think I may have the baby right here.” She wasn’t far off, as she delivered son Darryl two days later.
Saint and Hayden had a wonderful relationship which coincided with their careers, rather than conflicting with them. In her director husband, Saint found her greatest ally, since he would advise her on which roles to accept. He cared for the children when she was making a film. She recalled that he advised her to take “North by Northwest,” which turned out to be her most remembered movie. “He was so right” she said. “That’s what husbands are for.”
Directors, actors, and reporters who met her revered Eva Marie Saint as a classy lady with integrity, principles, and a great love for her family.
What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to features@epochtimes.nyc.
