Hollywood legend Eva Marie Saint, who appeared in “On the Waterfront” and won an Oscar, passed away at the age of 102. She was one of the last surviving superstars of Hollywood’s golden age.
Eva Marie Saint had outstanding performances alongside giants like Cary Grant and Marlon Brando. Her publicist, Jeff Sanderson, stated in a written statement that she passed away at her Los Angeles home on Tuesday (October 6) surrounded by family and friends, with the cause of death being natural.
In 1954, she delivered a remarkable performance as Edie Doyle in “On the Waterfront,” directed by Elia Kazan and starring legendary actor Marlon Brando, winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She was about to give birth at the time and joked while accepting the award, saying, “I might as well have the baby right here!”
However, her most memorable role came five years later in Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic thriller “North by Northwest,” where she portrayed Eve Kendall, a cool double agent tasked with getting close to and seducing Cary Grant’s character.
In a 2014 interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Saint recalled the direction Hitchcock gave her on the set of “North by Northwest.” “He never discussed acting techniques but instead started with the external look to shape the character,” she explained. “Every detail, from my hairstyle, makeup, shoes, jewelry, handbag, gloves – nothing was small. Through creating this external image, he helped me find that ‘spy’ feeling.”
She also mentioned that the director never discussed emotional expression with her but asked her to lower her voice and to “always look into Cary Grant’s eyes during their scenes – which was not difficult for me.”
Born on July 4th in New Jersey, Saint began her acting career during college before moving to New York and getting opportunities in radio dramas and television programs.
Saint studied at the renowned Actors Studio under Elia Kazan and famous acting coach Lee Strasberg. They focused on researching the technique later known as “Method acting”; other notable students of the studio include Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman, and Geraldine Page.
“Imagine your body as an instrument,” Saint recalled Strasberg telling her in a 2001 interview. “So, you must care for your body. You have to be disciplined and able to interpret the director’s desired effect.”
Saint appeared in several films in the 1960s, including “Exodus” with Paul Newman, “The Sandpiper,” and the Cold War comedy “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”
She was also active in television, portraying Edith Wilson in the 1974 TV movie “The First Woman President” and appearing multiple times as Cybill Shepherd’s character’s mother in the popular 1980s series “Moonlighting.”
Saint received multiple Emmy nominations and won the award for her mini-series adaptation of Dominick Dunne’s novel “People Like Us.” Even in her late eighties and nineties, she continued to act in films such as “Because of Winn-Dixie” and “Superman Returns.”
In 1951, Saint married producer and director Jeffrey Hayden, whom she met on the New York subway. Their marriage lasted 65 years until Hayden passed away in 2016. They had two children.
Throughout her acting career, Saint resisted the pressure to continue starring in movies and preferred to spend time with her family. “I had an agent who wanted me to do more films. I said, ‘I can’t. I can only do one a year at most, or maybe not even one. I have small children,'” Saint recalled in 2014. “He said, ‘Well, it looks like you won’t become a big star.’ I replied, ‘Well, it seems that way.'”