Eva Marie Saint, ‘North By Northwest’ star and 'On the Waterfront' Oscar winner, dies aged 102

Eva Marie Saint, who passed away at the age of 102, led a lengthy and illustrious career that spanned from her initial stage performances in 1942 to her final film appearance in 2019. Despite being one of the last stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, it was television's Golden Age that marked the beginning of her professional journey.

Television and subsequent formats, such as podcasting, contributed to her enduring career. Noted for her exceptional acting skills, Saint was a film star, working with renowned directors like Elia Kazan, Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, and John Frankenheimer. Her film acting earned her accolades and nominations, including an Oscar in 1955 for her role in On the Waterfront and an Emmy in 1990 for the miniseries People Like Us.

She also won the Drama Critics Award in 1953 for The Trip to Bountiful and received a Behind the Voice Actors Voice Acting Award in 2012 for her role in the animated series The Legend of Korra. Saint's versatility was evident in her ability to adapt to various roles, mediums, and formats across eight decades. Born in 1924, before the advent of television and the introduction of sound films, she made her television debut in 1947 in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

Her television career, especially in the Golden Age of American television, provided her with employment, national exposure for serious drama, and infamously, the obligation to advertise products on screen. Her long-standing role in the TV drama Martin Kane Private Eye (1949–54) kept her busy until her on-screen debut in 1954's On the Waterfront.

Although her fame is often associated with two different films - the intense black and white drama On the Waterfront and the color adventure North by Northwest - her career was far more diverse. She moved from the intense black and white drama of On the Waterfront to the vibrant color adventure of North by Northwest. Her portrayal of a femme fatale in North by Northwest added a glamourous twist to her image, contrasting with her portrayal of a drab character in On the Waterfront.

Despite the varying success of her later films like Exodus (1960) and All Fall Down (1962), her career was sustained by her television work, even transitioning to podcasting.