Kate & Allie Star 'Never Met a Stranger'

Susan Saint James, who brought her charm to TV hits McMillan & Wife and Kate & Allie, has died at 80. A representative told People the actress passed away on Monday following a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Her family remembered her as someone who poured her "time and energy" into others and "never met a stranger." Born Susan Jane Miller in Los Angeles in 1946 and raised in Illinois, Saint James built a busy career in television and film, including her role as Sally McMillan opposite Rock Hudson in McMillan & Wife, per the AP, as well as her star turn as one of two divorced best friends living together with their kids in Kate & Allie.

Saint James largely stepped back from acting in the late 1980s to focus on family life with NBC executive Dick Ebersol, whom she married in 1981. "My kids are at that age now where they need to be the stars of our family," she said in an interview in the early '90s. A longtime Special Olympics advocate, Saint James became a resource for grieving parents after the 2004 plane crash that killed her 14-year-old son, Teddy. The night before her 80th birthday in August, Saint James celebrated by going to see the Doobie Brothers, with whom she once toured, with all her kids and grandkids. She's survived by Ebersol, four children, seven grandchildren, her sister, and her service dog, Lola.