Eva Marie Saint, one of the last remaining faces of Hollywood’s golden era through the1950s and the 1960s, has passed away. A statement from the ‘North of Northwest’ actor’s spokesperson disclosed that she died of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles , California.
The 1954 drama film On the Waterfront was Eva Marie Saint’s debut feature for which she won an Oscar. The New Jersey native remained active in Hollywood , with her last high-profile feature film being Akiva Goldsman’s film, Winter’s Tale, which released in 2014.
It is unclear if the 102-year-old was suffering from any specific illnesses. The 1955 Oscar win for On the Waterfront sealed her reputation as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after stars. Her next big theatrical release was Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 thriller North by Northwest. Eva Marie Saint was married to television director and producer Jeffrey Hayden from 1951 until his death in 2016.
She played virtuous Edie Doyle opposite Marlon Brando in the film, but the two never starred in a film together after that. She portrayed the role of spy Eva Kendall in the film. They had two children, son Darrell and daughter Laurette. On The Waterfront stood out as a classic of the method-influenced acting in Hollywood. Director Eliza Kazan portrayed Edie Doyle as someone deeply influenced by her psychological world.
A graduate of Actors Studio, Lee Strasberg’s “method acting” school in New York City , her portrayal of Edie Doyle became a standard for how female leads were portrayed in Hollywood. In January 2014, at an interaction with delegates at the TMC Classic Film Festival, she revealed that Alfred Hitchcock was “not interested” in how she portrayed the psychological features of her character. The statement itself was not published, as multiple media outlets confirmed that the Oscar-winning actress passed away on Tuesday.
