Eva Marie Saint Net Worth

Eva Marie Saint had an estimated net worth of $20 million at the time of her death in 2026. The American actress and producer built her wealth through a career that lasted more than seven decades across film, television, radio and Broadway.

Saint became one of the most respected actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age after making her feature-film debut in 1954’s On the Waterfront. Her performance as Edie Doyle opposite Marlon Brando earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Five years later, Saint delivered another career-defining performance as Eve Kendall opposite Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. The role established her as one of the most sophisticated leading women of her generation.

Her long career included films such as A Hatful of Rain, Raintree County, Exodus, The Sandpiper, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, Grand Prix and Loving. She later reached new audiences through television and films including Moonlighting, Because of Winn-Dixie, Superman Returns and the animated series The Legend of Korra.

Saint also won a Primetime Emmy for People Like Us and received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She died in 2026 at the age of 102 and was the oldest living Academy Award winner at the time of her death.

Eva Marie Saint Net Worth	$20 Million
Date of Birth	July 4, 1924
Place of Birth	Newark, New Jersey

Early Life

Eva Marie Saint was born on July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey. Her parents were Quakers, and the family later moved to the Albany, New York, area.

Saint graduated from Bethlehem Central High School in 1942 and enrolled at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She initially planned to become a teacher but developed a stronger interest in acting while attending college.

She performed in university theater productions and took part in the Theta Alpha Phi theater honorary fraternity. She graduated in 1946 with a bachelor’s degree.

Bowling Green later recognized Saint as one of its most accomplished alumni. She received the university’s Distinguished Alumna Award in 1980, an honorary doctorate of performing arts in 1982 and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

The university also named the Eva Marie Saint Theatre in the Wolfe Center for the Arts in her honor.

Early Television, Radio and Broadway Career

Saint began working in entertainment when American television was still developing.

Her first entertainment paycheck was reportedly only $10 for working as an off-camera applauder on The Borden Show. She also worked in radio, appearing in programs including Rosemary and Young Doctor Malone.

She worked as an NBC page and appeared on the early television program Campus Hoopla. Her television credits later included live productions such as Kraft Theatre, The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre, Lights Out, Suspense, Actor’s Studio and The Clock.

Between 1950 and 1952, Saint played Claudia Barbour Roberts on the television adaptation of One Man’s Family.

She also became associated with the Actors Studio, where she studied alongside actors who were helping establish a more naturalistic approach to American acting.

Her major stage breakthrough came with Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful. Saint first appeared in the television production opposite Lillian Gish before joining the 1953 Broadway version.

Her performance earned her a Theatre World Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award. It also brought her to the attention of director Elia Kazan.

On the Waterfront and Her Academy Award

Elia Kazan cast Saint as Edie Doyle in On the Waterfront, giving her the leading film opportunity that changed her career.

Released in 1954, the film starred Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy, a former boxer and dockworker caught between corrupt union officials and his conscience.

Saint played Edie, whose brother is murdered after agreeing to testify against the union.

On the Waterfront became one of the most acclaimed American films of its era. It received 12 Academy Award nominations and won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director for Kazan, Best Actor for Brando and Best Supporting Actress for Saint.

Saint’s Oscar win was particularly memorable because she accepted the award while nine months pregnant. She gave birth to her first child, Darrell, two days later.

Despite the success of her first film, Saint resisted becoming tied to a conventional studio contract. She returned to theater and continued selecting projects individually.

That approach gave her greater control over her career and allowed her to divide her time between films, television, theater and family.

North by Northwest

Saint reached another career milestone in 1959 when Alfred Hitchcock cast her as Eve Kendall in North by Northwest.

The film paired her with Cary Grant, who played advertising executive Roger Thornhill. Thornhill is mistaken for a government agent and becomes caught in an international espionage plot.

Saint’s character initially appears to be Thornhill’s romantic interest and potential ally before her true role becomes more complicated.

The part was a major departure from the vulnerable characters Saint had previously played. Hitchcock presented her as elegant, intelligent, confident and mysterious.

North by Northwest became one of Hitchcock’s most celebrated films. Its famous sequences, including the crop-duster attack and the climax at Mount Rushmore, became lasting images of American cinema.

Eve Kendall remained one of the most recognizable roles of Saint’s career.

1960s Film Career

Saint entered the 1960s with a major role opposite Paul Newman in Otto Preminger’s Exodus.

She later appeared in All Fall Down in 1962, directed by John Frankenheimer and featuring Warren Beatty, Angela Lansbury and Karl Malden.

Her other films during the decade included 36 Hours, The Sandpiper, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, Grand Prix and The Stalking Moon.

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming became one of the major comedy successes of 1966 and received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

Saint also starred opposite James Garner in Grand Prix, a Formula One racing drama released that same year.

As her children grew older, Saint deliberately avoided maintaining the demanding film schedule expected of many leading actresses. She continued working but increasingly divided her time between her family, television, theater and selected film projects.

Television and Stage Career

Television remained an important part of Saint’s career for decades.

During the 1970s and 1980s, she appeared in productions including The Macahans, How the West Was Won, Taxi!!!, A Christmas to Remember, When Hell Was in Session, The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb, The Best Little Girl in the World, Malibu, Jane Doe, Fatal Vision and A Year in the Life.

She received Primetime Emmy nominations for How the West Was Won and Taxi!!!

Saint also continued working on stage. In 1972, she appeared on Broadway as Mary Todd Lincoln in The Lincoln Mask. Later in the decade, she starred opposite Henry Fonda in First Monday in October.

In the mid-1980s, she returned to feature films with Nothing in Common, starring Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason.

From 1986 to 1988, Saint had a recurring role on the ABC series Moonlighting. She played Virginia Hayes, the mother of Cybill Shepherd’s character, Maddie Hayes.

Emmy Win

After receiving several Emmy nominations throughout her career, Saint won a Primetime Emmy in 1990.

She received the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Special award for People Like Us.

The victory was significant because her television recognition had begun during the era of live television drama in the 1950s. Her career therefore covered several generations of American television.

Saint continued appearing on television throughout the 1990s. Her credits included Palomino, Kiss of a Killer, My Antonia, Time to Say Goodbye? and the 1996 miniseries Titanic.

She also made a guest appearance on Frasier in 1999.

Later Acting Career

Saint continued working well into her 80s and 90s.

She appeared in I Dreamed of Africa in 2000 before taking roles in Because of Winn-Dixie and Wim Wenders’ Don’t Come Knocking in 2005.

In 2006, she played Martha Kent, the adoptive mother of Superman, in Superman Returns.

Her final theatrical feature was the 2014 romantic fantasy Winter’s Tale, starring Colin Farrell.

Saint also introduced her work to a new generation through animation. From 2012 to 2014, she provided the voice of the elderly Katara in Nickelodeon’s The Legend of Korra.

During her later years, she frequently appeared at events celebrating classic Hollywood. She participated in retrospectives and discussions about On the Waterfront and North by Northwest and remained connected to the history of American cinema.

Personal Life

Eva Marie Saint married television director and producer Jeffrey Hayden on October 28, 1951.

The couple had two children. Their son, Darrell, was born in April 1955, just two days after Saint won her Academy Award for On the Waterfront. Their daughter, Laurette, was born in July 1958.

Saint and Hayden remained married for 65 years. Hayden died on December 24, 2016, at the age of 90.

Saint often credited her ability to maintain a long Hollywood career while raising a family to her willingness to turn down projects and avoid allowing the entertainment industry to dictate her schedule.

Awards and Honors

Saint won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for On the Waterfront in 1955.

Her performance also earned her a BAFTA nomination for Most Promising Newcomer and a New York Film Critics Circle nomination.

For A Hatful of Rain, she received the Best Actress prize at the Venice Film Festival and earned nominations from the Golden Globes, BAFTA Awards, Laurel Awards and New York Film Critics Circle.

She received five Primetime Emmy nominations during her career and eventually won the award in 1990 for People Like Us.

Saint also received lifetime achievement honors from the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and Savannah Film Festival. She was honored with the King Vidor Memorial Award by the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.

In 2007, she received a Golden Boot for her work in Westerns.

Saint received two separate stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. One honored her work in motion pictures, while the other recognized her television career.

Real Estate

Real estate was another part of Saint’s financial history.

Eva Marie Saint and Jeffrey Hayden owned a longtime property in Los Angeles’ Mandeville Canyon neighborhood.

The four-bedroom, six-bathroom home covered approximately 4,120 square feet and sat on nearly two acres. The property featured hardwood floors, fireplaces, gardens and outdoor entertainment areas.

It also included a large separate apartment with its own kitchen and projection room.

After owning the property for 37 years, Saint listed it for $5.395 million in 2014.

The home sold in July 2014 for $5.15 million.