{"id":2271,"date":"2026-10-07T15:03:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T10:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2271"},"modified":"2026-10-07T15:03:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T10:03:49","slug":"eva-marie-saint-north-by-northwest-movie-star-dies-at-102","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2271","title":{"rendered":"Eva Marie Saint, ‘North by Northwest’ movie star, dies at 102"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Eva Marie Saint, the graceful blonde who delivered two of the most notable film performances of the 1950s in \u201cOn the Waterfront\u201d with Marlon \u200bBrando and \u201cNorth by Northwest\u201d opposite Cary Grant, has died at the age of 102.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saint died of natural causes at her home \u200cin Los Angeles, a statement from her spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Saint won an Oscar in her film debut for her portrayal of the virtuous Edie Doyle in director Elia Kazan\u2019s gritty 1954 drama \u201cOn the Waterfront,\u201d then changed direction as the spy Eve Kendall in director Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s 1959 thriller \u201cNorth by Northwest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The New Jersey native worked with a procession of big-name directors and stars \u200bafter honing her craft at the Actors Studio, Lee Strasberg\u2019s famed \u201cmethod acting\u201d school in New York.<\/p>\n

Otto Preminger hired her for \u201cExodus\u201d (1960) with Paul Newman, \u200bwhile John Frankenheimer directed her in both \u201cAll Fall Down\u201d (1962) with Warren Beatty and \u201cGrand Prix\u201d (1966) with James Garner.<\/p>\n

Vincente Minnelli directed \u2060Saint in \u201cThe Sandpiper\u201d (1965) with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, while Norman Jewison cast her in the Cold War satire \u201cThe Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming\u201d (1966), \u200ban Oscar best picture nominee.<\/p>\n

Saint said her mentor was the great silent film actress Lillian Gish, who appeared with her in a 1953 production of the \u200bplay \u201cThe Trip to Bountiful\u201d that brought her to Kazan\u2019s attention. He picked Saint for \u201cOn the Waterfront\u201d over Elizabeth Montgomery.<\/p>\n

The uncompromising film depicts the struggles of dockworkers on New York\u2019s rough waterfront. Brando played former boxer Terry Malloy, who runs afoul of a corrupt union but defies the odds to become a hero with the help of Saint\u2019s innocent but strong-willed \u200bCatholic girl Edie, who sees more good in him than he sees in himself.<\/p>\n

Saint was 30 at the time but was playing a schoolgirl.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the \u200bWaterfront\u201d won eight Academy Awards, including best picture, with Kazan named best director, Brando best actor and Saint best supporting actress.<\/p>\n

Saint was pregnant when she accepted her Oscar in \u200cMarch 1955. \u2060She gingerly walked to the stage, kissed the golden statuette and excitedly told the audience, \u201cI may have the baby right here!\u201d Two days after the ceremony, she gave birth to her first child, Darrell Hayden.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2018An empty stomach\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cNorth by Northwest\u201d was a suspenseful espionage thriller, with Saint portraying a seductive spy in a tale of mistaken identity involving Grant\u2019s advertising man Roger Thornhill.<\/p>\n

Famous sequences include a crop-dusting plane pursuing Grant and a frantic chase involving Grant and Saint climbing the \u200bcolossal US presidential faces carved into \u200bMount Rushmore.<\/p>\n

Hitchcock guided Grant and Saint \u2060through witty, suggestive dialogue that skirted the edge of what studios would allow at the time.<\/p>\n

One of Saint\u2019s lines – provocatively telling Grant \u201cI never make love on an empty stomach\u201d – was changed to the more benign \u201cI never discuss love \u200bon an empty stomach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNorth by Northwest\u201d – like \u201cOn the Waterfront\u201d often considered one of the greatest films ever made – received \u200bthree Oscar nominations \u2060but won none.<\/p>\n

Saint was born on July 4, 1924, in New Jersey. Her early career was spent in live television productions in the formative years of the medium.<\/p>\n

She married veteran TV director Jeffrey Hayden in 1951 – a marriage that lasted until his death in 2016 – and they had two children. She starred in about \u206020 movies but \u200bturned down many roles to devote time to her family.<\/p>\n

Later in her career, Saint often \u200breturned to TV work. She won an Emmy Award in 1990 for her performance in the drama \u201cPeople Like Us.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also took movie roles into her 80s including \u201cBecause of Winn-Dixie\u201d (2005), \u201cWinter\u2019s Tale\u201d (2014) and \u201cSuperman \u200bReturns\u201d (2006), a film in which Brando appeared posthumously using 1970s archive footage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eva Marie Saint, the graceful blonde who delivered two of the most notable film performances of the 1950s in \u201cOn the Waterfront\u201d with Marlon \u200bBrando and \u201cNorth by Northwest\u201d opposite Cary Grant, has died at the age of 102. Saint died of natural causes at her home \u200cin Los Angeles, a statement from her spokesperson said. Saint won an Oscar in her film debut for her portrayal of the virtuous Edie Doyle in director Elia Kazan\u2019s gritty 1954 drama \u201cOn the Waterfront,\u201d then changed direction as the spy Eve Kendall…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}