Eva Marie Saint, Oscar-winning actress of On the Waterfront, studio portrait

Eva Marie Saint Dies at 102, Oscar-Winning Actress

October 6, 2026

Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar-winning actress whose luminous performances in “On the Waterfront” and “North by Northwest” made her one of the defining stars of Hollywood’s golden age, has died at the age of 102. She died of natural causes on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at her home in Los Angeles, surrounded by family and loved ones, her publicist Jeff Sanderson confirmed in a statement.

Saint’s death marks the end of an era. She was one of the last surviving stars of classic Hollywood, and after the death of Olivia de Havilland in 2020, she held the distinction of being the oldest living Oscar-winning actor. Her career spanned seven decades across film, television, and the stage.

How did Eva Marie Saint become a Hollywood star?

Born on July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey, Saint did not arrive in Hollywood through the usual channels. She studied acting at Ohio’s Bowling Green State University, worked as an NBC page, and spent nearly a decade in live television and radio in New York — beginning with the 1946 game show “Campus Hoopla” — before making her Broadway debut in 1953’s “The Trip to Bountiful.”

That stage performance caught the eye of director Elia Kazan, who cast her in his gritty 1954 drama “On the Waterfront” over Elizabeth Montgomery. It was her film debut — and she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for it. The film itself won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director for Kazan, and Best Actor for Marlon Brando, her co-star.

In one of the most famous acceptance moments in Oscar history, a heavily pregnant Saint joked as she claimed her statuette: “I may have the baby right here!” She gave birth to her son Darrell just days later.

What were Eva Marie Saint’s most famous roles?

Saint’s most indelible role came five years after her Oscar win, when Alfred Hitchcock cast her as the cool double agent Eve Kendall opposite Cary Grant in “North by Northwest” (1959), one of the director’s signature thrillers. In a 2014 interview, she recalled that Hitchcock never discussed emotion with her — he simply told her to lower her voice and “always, in my scenes with Cary Grant, look directly into his eyes, which was not difficult.”

Her other landmark film roles included:

Edie Doyle in “On the Waterfront” (1954) — her Oscar-winning debut opposite Marlon Brando
Eve Kendall in “North by Northwest” (1959) — opposite Cary Grant
Kitty Fremont in Otto Preminger’s “Exodus” (1960) — with Paul Newman
Echo O’Brien in “All Fall Down” (1962) — with Warren Beatty
Laura Reynolds in “The Sandpiper” (1965) — with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
Rozalie in “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming” (1966)
Louise Frederickson in “Grand Prix” (1966) — with James Garner

She also earned a BAFTA nomination for 1957’s “A Hatful of Rain” and remained active in television, winning an Emmy Award in 1990 for “People Like Us” and portraying Cybill Shepherd’s mother Virginia Hayes on the hit ’80s series “Moonlighting.”

What made Eva Marie Saint different from other stars of her era?

As her star was rising in the late 1950s, Saint made the surprising decision to step back from the Hollywood spotlight to focus on raising her family, limiting herself to roughly a film a year. She was married to director Jeffrey Hayden from October 28, 1951, until his death in 2016 — a 65-year marriage, one of the longest in Hollywood history. She is survived by their two children, Darrell and Laurette, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Her craft was shaped by the legendary Actors Studio, where she studied Method acting with Lee Strasberg alongside Brando, Montgomery Clift, and Paul Newman. She counted silent-film icon Lillian Gish as a mentor — Gish had appeared with her in the stage production of “The Trip to Bountiful” that launched her film career.

In 1960, she received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — one for motion pictures and one for television.

What is Eva Marie Saint’s legacy in Hollywood?

Saint represented the last living link to a vanished era of American cinema — the postwar decade when Brando, Kazan, Hitchcock, and Grant were reinventing what screen acting could be. She held her own opposite the biggest leading men of her generation, then chose a quieter path on her own terms, working steadily for seven decades while staying largely out of the tabloid spotlight.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How old was Eva Marie Saint when she died?

Eva Marie Saint was 102 years old. She was born on July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey, and died on October 6, 2026.

What did Eva Marie Saint win an Oscar for?

Saint won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Edie Doyle in Elia Kazan’s 1954 film “On the Waterfront” — remarkably, it was her film debut. She accepted the award just days before giving birth to her first child.

What caused Eva Marie Saint’s death?

Her family announced that she died of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles on October 6, 2026, surrounded by family and loved ones.

What was Eva Marie Saint’s most famous movie?

She is best remembered for two iconic roles: Edie Doyle opposite Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront” (1954) and Eve Kendall opposite Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” (1959).