Susan Saint James Dies at 80: Eight Emmy Nominations, One Win and a Career She Walked Away From

Susan Saint James, the Emmy-winning actress who anchored two of television’s most recognizable pairings, has died at 80. Her family said she died Monday of pancreatic cancer. Tributes since have focused on a rare Hollywood story: a performer who reached the top of network TV more than once, then chose to leave it.

From Contract Player to Prime-Time Emmy Winner

Born Susan Jane Miller in Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 1946, Saint James grew up partly in Rockford, Illinois, after her father took a job leading a model-kit manufacturer. She spent about three years modeling in France before returning to California at 20 to try acting. The move paid off fast. As a Universal contract player, she landed a part in a 1966 TV movie and then a regular role on NBC’s The Name of the Game.

On that stylish 90-minute series she played Peggy Maxwell, an editorial assistant who kept getting kidnapped. She won an Emmy in 1969 for the first season, then earned nominations in 1970 and 1971. Few actors collect a statuette so early in a TV career.

The Rock Hudson Years and a Contract Fight

Within months of that series ending, Saint James was back in another rotating NBC format. McMillan & Wife paired her with Rock Hudson as a San Francisco police commissioner and his crime-solving spouse, Sally. It aired alongside Columbo and McCloud as part of the NBC Mystery Movie lineup. The role brought her Emmy nominations in 1972, 1973 and 1975. She left after five seasons in 1976 amid a contract dispute, while Hudson stayed for a sixth.

She also worked in film, running from the law with Peter Fonda in Outlaw Blues, playing Dracula’s target in Love at First Bite, and appearing in How to Beat the High Cost of Living and Carbon Copy.

Kate & Allie and the Decision to Step Back

In 1984, Saint James reunited with her High Cost of Living co-star Jane Curtin for the CBS sitcom Kate & Allie. They played divorced childhood friends raising three kids together in a Greenwich Village brownstone. The show ran six seasons, ending in 1989, and drew three Emmy nominations for outstanding comedy series. Saint James personally earned nominations in 1984 and 1985. By the Hollywood Reporter’s count, that makes her an eight-time nominee.

After the show ended, she largely stopped acting. She told People magazine in 2002 that she was tired of being “one of those people juggling knives and melons and then [saying], ‘Toss me in a razor blade.’” Her departure came while she was still in demand, which is why some obituaries describe her as quitting at her peak.

Family, Loss and Service

Saint James married television executive Dick Ebersol, the former Saturday Night Live executive producer and NBC Sports head, in November 1981. He is her third husband and survives her. In 2004, the couple lost their youngest child, 14-year-old Teddy, in a plane crash. Reports describe them as continuing on together after that tragedy.

Away from the screen, Saint James pursued entrepreneurial ventures and devoted considerable time to charity. She served as a board member and longtime volunteer for the Special Olympics.

Her family’s statement emphasized that side of her life. It described her as “generous with her time and energy, which she valued more than money, and instinctively drawn to whoever needed lifting up.” It added: “She taught her children to pause, be kind and look out for other people.”

For viewers, Saint James will be remembered as the warm, quick-witted presence of 1970s mystery nights and 1980s sitcom Thursdays. By choosing family and service over another series, she left the screen on her own terms.

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