Biography for
Eva Marie Saint More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

4 July 1924, Newark, New Jersey, USA

Nickname

The Helen Hayes of Television

Height

5' 4" (1.63 m)

Mini Biography

She played two of the most famous female leads in movie history. Born in New Jersey in 1924, Eva Marie Saint graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1946 and spent the first seven years of her acting career working in the Golden Age of television. She made the leap to the big screen in 1954 with an Oscar-winning performance as Edie Doyle in Elia Kazan's masterpiece On the Waterfront (1954). She certainly brought "real acting" to a time when melodrama still ran rampant in the industry. Who can forget her memorable argument scene with Marlon Brando when she says, "I didn't say I don't love you, I said I want you to get out"? Five years later, she starred as Eve Kendell, the sultry spy in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959) opposite Cary Grant. The change in her screen persona, coupled with her adroit performance as a seductive woman of mystery who keeps Grant (and the audience) off-balance, was widely heralded. A suspense classic, "North by Northwest" is now considered one of the greatest films ever made. Eva Marie also received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for A Hatful of Rain (1957) and won an Emmy Award for the miniseries People Like Us (1990) (TV). As of late, she has been seen in the family film Because of Winn-Dixie (2005) and the action adventure Superman Returns (2006), where she played Martha Kent. Eva Marie Saint is still going strong with her work and takes the fact that she's part of film history in her stride.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Brian Michael Tracy <bmtbond007@hotmail.com>

Spouse

Jeffrey Hayden

(28 October 1951 - present) 2 children

Trivia

Has campaigned to ban the usage of cell phones by motorists.

Has three grandchildren.

Lives in Santa Monica, California.

Mother of Darrell Hayden (born April 1, 1955) and Laurette Hayden (born July 19, 1958).

Son Darrell was born two days after she won the Oscar for On the Waterfront (1954).

Although the part of Edie Doyle properly is a lead, producer Sam Spiegel listed her as a Supporting Actress in the hopes of getting her a nomination. The ploy worked and she won the Oscar.

Got the part of Edie Doyle in On the Waterfront (1954) over Elizabeth Montgomery. Director Elia Kazan, in his autobiography "A Life," says that the choice of an actress to play the part was narrowed down to Montgomery and Saint, but there were also some qualms about Saint playing a teenager, since she was 30 years old at the time. Although Montgomery was fine in her screen test, there was an air of finishing school about her. Kazan thought this genteel quality would not be becoming for Edie, who was raised on the waterfront in Hoboken, New Jersey. He gave the part to Saint, and she went on to win cinematic immortality, and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, in the part.

In 1987, the Eva Marie Saint Theater was dedicated on the campus of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. She graduated from the university in 1946.

Member of the Delta Gamma sorority.

She studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.

She and her performance in On the Waterfront (1954) are mentioned in the song "Rattlesnakes" by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions.

She was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6624 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 6730 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Gave birth to her son Darrell just 2 days after winning her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for On the Waterfront (1954).

Personal Quotes

[on Alfred Hitchcock] Hitchcock said, "I don't want you going back to sink-to-sink movies. You do movies where you wash the dishes looking drab in an apron. The audience wants to see their leading ladies dressed up". He saw me as others didn't.

[on the current crop of movie stars] America is now obsessed by stars in an unhealthy way. They don't actually deserve this kind of attention. They're only actors--not scientists who are triumphing over cancer or doing some other wonderful thing.

There were six of us Hitchcock blondes, and it's like we were all married to the man at one time or another. And we all have a different take on him. Each actress was at a different stage of her life; we were different ages, some married, some not. My experience with Hitch was one of utter respect, warmth, friendliness and humor, and 'North by Northwest' was a glorious time in my life.