Eva Marie Saint, the elegant blond starlet of classic films like Elia Kazan's "On the Waterfront" and Alfred Hitchcock's "North by Northwest," died on Tuesday, Oct. 6. She was 102.
She died of , "surrounded by family and loved ones," her representative Jeff Sanderson confirmed to USA TODAY in a statement.
As a young ingenue, Saint held her own opposite legendary heartthrobs, including Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Paul Newman and Warren Beatty. But as her star was on the rise, Saint made the surprising decision to step back from the spotlight to focus on raising her family, limiting herself to a film a year.
Saint was one of the last figures of a bygone Hollywood era, with a career spanning seven decades that paired her with many of Hollywood's
biggest names. After Olivia de Havilland's death in July 2020, Saint held the title of the oldest living Oscar-winning actor.
Her many credits include the films “Because of Winn-Dixie” (2005) and “Superman Returns” (2006), as well as roles in TV's “How the West Was Won,” and “People Like Us.”
The actress, who won both an Oscar and an Emmy, didn't always strive for stardom. Born to Quaker parents in Newark, New Jersey, on July 4, 1924, Saint originally had her sights set on becoming a teacher.
That plan changed when she won the leading role in a play while studying at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Upon graduating, Saint moved from the Midwest to Manhattan, where she was determined to make a name for herself.
“I had such a desire to make it and make it on my own and make my own money,” she told the Ventura County Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, in a 2018 interview. “It was a time when you could get on a sheet of paper all the different people who were casting, all the agents and so forth. I just walked the streets. I’d get up early, I’d be out by 9 and I’d rat-tat-tat on the doors because I had all the addresses, and I would go see people, I would make appointments.”
That strategy paid off, and Saint worked steadily in TV in the late 1940s and early '50s. In 1954, she catapulted into Hollywood icon status starring opposite Brando in "On the Waterfront." It was her first film role.
She further cemented her glamorous onscreen image with her turn as the sly and seductive Eve Kendall in Hitchcock's 1959 thriller "North by Northwest." Saint described to Vanity Fair in 2014 how the director fixated on her appearance to transform her into a femme fatale.
“We never talked about emotion," she said. "He told me not to use my hands, I have a habit of doing that, and to lower my voice. And always, in my scenes with Cary Grant, look directly into his eyes, which was not difficult."
But as her star grew larger, Saint stayed true to herself – even if it meant going against Hitchcock's wishes. In 2010, the actress recalled the acclaimed director's career advice for her in an interview with the Santa Barbara Independent: Ditch the plain roles and take on more glamorous parts.
" 'Women want to get out of the house and see a movie with a heroine that looks the way they’d like to look. They don’t have the clothes, the hairdo, the jewelry; they fantasize and have a wonderful time,' " Saint said. "I told him I couldn’t promise anything, because I take parts that I like, not by how I’ll look."
This is a developing story.
Contributing: Brian Truitt
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Eva Marie Saint, Oscar-winning star of 'On the Waterfront,' dies at 102
