Eva Marie Saint, one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s golden age and an Academy Award winner for On the Waterfront, has died aged 102.
Saint was the oldest living Oscar winner before her death and was best known for her roles alongside Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront and Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest.
Her performance in On the Waterfront earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1955, cementing her place among the leading performers of the era.
Born in 1924, Saint began her career in television before making her big-screen debut in On the Waterfront in 1954. She first appeared on television in 1947 in A Christmas Carol and went on to have an ongoing role in the drama Martin Kane, Private Eye.
Her early television career coincided with the rise of American television, when live dramas brought serious acting into homes across the country. Commercial sponsorship was also common, with actors sometimes required to promote products as part of their roles.
Saint’s career eventually spanned six decades across film and television.
She later appeared in North by Northwest, another enduring classic, before introducing herself to a new generation as Martha Kent, Superman’s adoptive mother, in the 2006 film Superman Returns.
Saint married producer and director Jeffrey Hayden in 1951. They remained married for 65 years until his death in 2016 and had two children, Darrell and Laurette.
Darrell was born just two days after Saint won her Oscar. During her acceptance speech, she joked, “I may have the baby right here”.
Saint’s last major public appearance came at the 90th Academy Awards in 2018, when she presented the award for Best Costume Design.
She was photographed at an Academy Nicholl Fellowships event the following year before largely stepping away from the spotlight.
She is survived by her two children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
