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. After acting exclusively on stage and television for many years, Eva Marie Saint made her film debut at age 30 in Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954). She certainly brought "real acting" in 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." For this performance she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Eva Marie gave a strong impression in "Waterfront," but today she is best known for her portrayal of Eve Kendell, the sultry spy in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959), where she starred opposite Cary Grant. The change in Saint's screen persona, coupled with her adroit performance as a seductive woman of mystery who keeps Cary Grant (and the audience) off-balance, was widely heralded. The movie is now considered a suspense classic.

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). More recently, she was seen in the family film Because of Winn-Dixie (2005), and the action adventure Superman Returns (2006).

Despite appearing in less than 20 features in her very lengthy career, she has earned the title "living legend" as well as having impressive longevity in show business. Eva Marie Saint is still going strong with her work. She 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 3 grandchildren.

Lives in Santa Monica, California.

Mother of Laurette Hayden

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 Eva Marie Saint 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 Elizabeth Montgomery and Saint, but there were also some qualms about Saint playing a teen at age 30. 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, NJ. 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. Saint is a 1946 graduate of BGSU.

Member of Delta Gamma sorority.

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

She and her performance in On the Waterfront are mentioned in the song 'Rattlesnakes' by the band Lloyd Cole & The Commotions.

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 today's 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."