Eva Marie Saint

Overview

Mini Bio
Actress and producer Eva Marie Saint was born on July 4, 1924 on Newark, New Jersey. She is known for starring in Elia Kazan’s Sur les quais (1954), for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and Alfred Hitchcock’s La mort aux trousses (1959). Her film career also includes roles in L’arbre de vie (1957), Exodus (1960), Les Russes arrivent, les Russes arrivent (1966), Grand Prix (1966), Rien en commun (1986), Winn-Dixie mon meilleur ami (2005), Superman Returns (2006) and Un amour d’hiver (2014).

Saint made her feature film debut in Sur les quais (1954), starring Marlon Brando and directed by Elia Kazan – a performance for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film was a major success and launched her movie career. She starred in the pioneering drug-addiction drama Une poignée de neige (1957) with Don Murray and Anthony Franciosa. She also starred in lavish the Civil War epic L’arbre de vie (1957) with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift.

Director Alfred Hitchcock surprised many by choosing Saint over dozens of other candidates for the femme fatale role in what was to become a suspense classic La mort aux trousses (1959) with Cary Grant and James Mason. Written by Ernest Lehman, the film updated and expanded upon the director’s early “wrong man” spy adventures of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, including Les 39 marches (1935), Jeune et innocent (1937), and Cinquième colonne (1942). La mort aux trousses (1959) became a box-office success and an influence on spy films for decades.