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Eva Marie Saint, who won an Oscar for her performance in On the Waterfront and starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, has died. She was 102.
Before her death, the New Jersey-born actor was considered one of the last surviving stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age.
In a statement to The Independent, her publicist announced that Saint died “of natural causes surrounded by family and loved ones” at her home in Los Angeles.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, on July 4, 1924, Saint attended Bethlehem Central High School in Delmar, New York, before going on to study acting at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
She started her career in television, working as an NBC page before making various appearances in game shows and advertising segments.
Her film career began in 1954, when she was cast opposite Marlon Brando in Elia Kazan’s crime drama On the Waterfront. Her performance as Edie Doyle won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Before she died, Saint was the earliest surviving and oldest living Oscar winner.
Saint was heavily pregnant when she won, and began her acceptance speech by joking: “I may have the baby right here!” Her son was born two days later.
She was nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for her work in 1957’s A Hatful of Rain, but will arguably be best remembered for her performance in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest in 1959. She played Eve Kendall, the love interest of Cary Grant, in the landmark spy thriller.
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Her film career continued into the 1960s, with memorable roles opposite Paul Newman in 1960’s Exodus and with Warren Beatty and Angela Lansbury in 1962’s All Fall Down.
In later years, she returned to television, playing the mother of Cybill Shepherd’s character in Moonlighting and the mother of Peri Gilpin’s Roz Doyle in Frasier, among other roles.
In 2006, she played Superman’s mother Martha in Superman Returns, alongside Brandon Routh and archival footage of her On the Waterfront co-star Brando.
She made her final film appearance in 2014’s Winter’s Tale, a romantic fantasy movie starring Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe and Will Smith. She voiced a character in the animated series The Legend of Korra from 2012 to 2014.
Saint’s longtime husband, television director Jeffrey Hayden, died in 2016. They had married in 1951.
Her survivors include her two children: Darrell and Laurette; four grandchildren: Eli, Tyler, Molly, and Stella and two great-grandchildren: Arlo and Finley.