Eva Marie Saint was born on July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey. She grew up in Delmar, New York attended Bethlehem Central High School there. In high school she played field hockey and she was a cheerleader. She attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she majored in elementary education. She tried out for the school play Personal Appearance, and was cast as the lead. Afterwards, she changed her major to drama. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree, she moved to New York City to pursue a career as an actress.
Her first work as a professional actress was for The Borden Show, for which she was paid to applaud off camera. She also appeared as a cheerleader in a commercial for Keds and had bit part consisting of two lines as a telephone operator on the radio soap opera Rosemary. During this period, she studied acting at Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio. On television, she appeared on such shows as Kraft Television Theatre; The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre; Lights Out; Suspense; Actors Studio; The Clock; Buck Rogers; The Prudential Family Playhouse, and One Man's Family. She also appeared on radio.
In 1953, she appeared in the Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse in "The Trip to Bountiful." It would be adapted as a Broadway play, in which she also appeared. This lead Ms.Saint to being cast as Edie Doyle on On the Waterfront (1954). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In the Fifties, she also appeared in the movies That Certain Feeling (1956), A Hatful of Rain (1957), Raintree County (1957), and Exodus (1960). She appeared in what could be her most famous role, that of Eve Kendall, in North by Northwest in 1959. On television, she appeared on City Hospital, Man Against Crime, Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, ABC Album, The Web, Robert Montgomery Presents, Eye Witness, Studio One, The Revlon Mirror Theatre, Bonino, Kraft Television Theatre, Omnibus, General Electric Theatre, and Producer's Showcase. She was a regular on Martin Kane, Private Eye.
In the Sixties, Eva Marie Saint appeared in the movies All Fall Down (1962), 36 Hours (1964), The Sandpiper (1965), The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming (1966), Grand Prix (1966), The Stalking Moon (1968), and Loving (1970). She appeared on television in Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre and the TV movie Carol for Another Christmas.
In the Seventies, she concentrated on television appearances rather than movies. She appeared several TV movies and on the TV series How the West Was Won. She appeared on Broadway in The Lincoln Mask. She appeared in the movie Cancel My Reservation (1982). In the Eighties, Eva Marie Saint appeared as Maddie Hayes's mother on the TV show Moonlighting. She guest starred on the TV show The Love Boat and was a narrator on an episode of American Masters. She appeared in the mini-series Fatal Vision and A Year in the Life, as well as several TV movies. She appeared in the movie Nothing in Common (1986).
In the Nineties, Eva Marie Saint appeared n television in the mini-series Titanic. She appeared in several TV movies, including an adaptation of Willa Cahter's My Antonia. She guest starred on the sitcom Frasier. She appeared in the movie I Dream of Africa (2000). In 2003, she appeared in the TV movie Open House. She was a voice on the TV series The Legend of Korra from 2012 to 2014. In the Naughts, she appeared in the movies Because of Winn-Dixie (2005), Don't Come Knocking (2005), and Superman Returns (2006). In the Teens, she appeared in the movies Winter's Tale (2014) and Mariette in Ecstasy (2019).
Eva Marie Saint was a remarkable actress with an incredible range. This can be seen in her two best-known roles. Edie Doyle in On the Waterfront was virginal and yet at the same time bold, indignant, and resilient. Eve Kendall in North by Northwest was nearly her opposite. She ws cool and confident, and could be both seductive and duplicitous. In between those two parts, Eva Marie Saint played a wide variety of roles. She played Elspeth Whittaker, the wife of Walt (Carl Reiner). While Walt was constantly stressed out, Elspeth was calm, composed, and level-headed. As Maddie's mother Virginia on Moonlighting, she was both intelligent and resourceful, yet the same time vulnerable. Eva Marie Saint gave a number of great performances during her career, and in a variety of roles.
By all accounts, Eva Marie Saint was also a remarkable person. One never heard a bad word about her. She was married to Jeffrey Hayden for 85 years and devoted to her family. She was known for both her kindness and her generosity, Eva Marie Saint was known for her elegance and dignity, and she was the very definition of a lady.
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