Eva Marie Saint, Who Went From Broadway to an Oscar for On the Waterfront, Dies at 102
The acclaimed actress made her Broadway debut in The Trip to Bountiful and became one of Hollywood’s most enduring stars
(Photo: Martha Swope/New York Public Library)
What to Know
- Eva Marie Saint, Oscar-winning star of On the Waterfront, died at 102
- Her landmark film credits also included North by Northwest
- Saint made her Broadway debut in The Trip to Bountiful and later starred in The Lincoln Mask
Eva Marie Saint, the Academy Award-winning actress whose career spanned stage and screen, has died. Saint died of natural causes on Tuesday, October 6 at her home in Los Angeles, a family representative confirmed. She was 102.
Saint made her Broadway debut in 1953 in Horton Foote’s play The Trip to Bountiful, which came to the stage following a live broadcast on NBC’s Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse. She portrayed Thelma, a young traveler who befriends Mrs. Carrie Watts (Lillian Gish). The performance earned her a Theatre World Award and led director Elia Kazan to cast her in Budd Schulberg's film On the Waterfront. Saint returned to Broadway in 1972 as Mary Todd opposite Fred Gwynne's Abraham Lincoln in The Lincoln Mask.
Initially cast in the 1948 Broadway production of Mister Roberts as Lieutenant Ann Girard alongside Henry Fonda, she was replaced by Jocelyn Brando after being deemed "too innocent" looking by director Joshua Logan.
In On the Waterfront, Saint played Edie Doyle opposite Marlon Brando. Her film debut, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1955. Four years later, she appeared opposite Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest.
Born on July 4, 1924, Saint studied speech at Bowling Green State University before moving to New York, where she built her career in live television. She played Cybill Shepherd’s mother on Moonlighting and won an Emmy for the 1990 miniseries People Like Us. Saint's additional film credits included A Hatful of Rain, Raintree County, Exodus, The Russians Are Coming, Loving, Because of Winn-Dixie and Superman Returns, in which she played Martha Kent.
Saint's husband, television director Jeffrey Hayden, died in 2016. She is survived by their children, Darrell and Laurette, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.