North by Northwest Star Dies at 102

Eva Marie Saint, the Hollywood legend who won an Academy Award for her first movie, On the Waterfront, and starred opposite Cary Grant in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller North by Northwest, has died. She was 102. Saint, whose acting work lasted well into her 90s, died at her home in Los Angeles on Tuesday, confirmed family representative Jeff Sanderson. She was one of the last survivors of Hollywood's mid-century Golden Age, the Guardian reports.

• Saint had one of the most spectacular debuts in Hollywood history, as the love interest of Marlon Brando's tormented Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, and her first trip to the Academy Awards was memorable too, the AP reports. Pregnant with her first child, Saint accepted her Oscar from Frank Sinatra and smilingly murmured a unique winner's speech: "I think I may have the baby right here." (Her son, Darrell, was born two days later.)

The award for the 1954 classic made her an instant star, but she soon astonished Hollywood with a firm independence that would mark her career. She refused offers of studio contracts and declined chances to follow up on her great success, explaining that she was taking time off to become acquainted with her new son. (A daughter, Laurette, was born in 1958.)

• In her first decade in Hollywood, Saint appeared in a mere seven films. She declined such top-level productions as The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit with Gregory Peck, Summer and Smoke with Laurence Harvey, and The Rainmaker with Burt Lancaster. She credited her husband, TV and stage director Jeffrey Hayden, with persuading her to star in Hitchcock's North by Northwest, the classic 1959 thriller in which Saint plays a spy who seduces Grant, but ends up falling for him.
• Instead of being put off by her selectivity, studios continued offering her starring roles in such films as Exodus (with Paul Newman), Raintree County (Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift), and All Fall Down, with Warren Beatty.

• She turned more to television in the 1970s and enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1980s as the mother of Cybill Shepherd in the hit sitcom Moonlighting and as Tom Hanks' mother in the film comedy Nothing in Common. She won an Emmy for the 1990 miniseries People Like Us, and had roles in such 21st century movies as Because of Winn-Dixie, Superman Returns, and Winter's Tale. In 2021, she played Marisa Tomei's aunt in the brief audio play The Bus Ride, part of The Pack Podcast.
• When Saint emerged in the public consciousness, many believed her theatrical-sounding name must have been invented. She was born with it on July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey. Eva's goal was to become a third-grade teacher like her mother, but at Bowling Green State University in Ohio she tried out for a play and won the leading role. After graduation, she lived with her parents in Flushing, Long Island, and began hunting for acting jobs in Manhattan. After a fruitless year, she landed a two-line role as a telephone operator on a radio drama and soon was working steadily on soap operas and nighttime dramas, appearing for two years as Claudia on One Man's Family.
• A critical turn in Saint's career came when she auditioned before Elia Kazan and was accepted into the Actors Studio, which shaped a generation of method-actor stars. She credited acting coach Lee Strasberg with helping her overcome her shyness.
• Saint was married to Hayden for 65 years, until his death in 2016. She is survived by their two children, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
• In 2018, at age 93, Saint presented the Oscar for best costume design, Deadline reports. She told the audience she was moved by their enthusiastic response and said, "I just realized something. I'm older than the Academy. Plus four months, maybe five. I'm very proud of that. Just keep moving."