<\/p>\n
FILE – Susan Saint James attends the SNL50: The Anniversary Special in New York on Feb. 16, 2025. (Photo by Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP, File)<\/p>\n
Evan Agostini\/AP Photo\/Evan Agostini<\/p>\n
FILE – Susan Saint James attends the SNL50: The Anniversary Special in New York on Feb. 16, 2025. (Photo by Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP, File)<\/p>\n
Evan Agostini\/AP Photo\/Evan Agostini<\/p>\n
FILE – Susan Saint James, left, and Dick Ebersol attend the premiere for “Suffragette” in New York on Oct. 12, 2015. (Photo by Evan Agostini\/Invision\/AP, File)<\/p>\n
Evan Agostini\/AP Photo\/Evan Agostini<\/p>\n
FILE – Actress Susan Saint James poses during a ceremony honoring her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on June 11, 2008, in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Nick Ut\/AP Photo\/Nick Ut<\/p>\n
FILE – NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol and his wife, actress Susan Saint James, appear at the International Rescue Committee Freedom Award Dinner in New York on Nov. 9, 2011.<\/p>\n
Eric Reichbaum\/AP Photo\/Eric Reichbaum<\/p>\n
FILE – Dick Ebersol, center, chairman NBC Universal Sports and Olympics, poses with his wife, Susan Saint James, left, and their son, Charlie Ebersol, before Dick Ebersol was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame during in New York on Oct. 24, 2005.<\/p>\n
Henny Ray Abrams\/AP Photo\/Henny Ray Abrams<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Susan Saint James, who co-starred with Rock Hudson in the 1970s TV crime series \u201cMcMillan & Wife\u201d and later co-starred with Jane Curtin in the sitcom \u201cKate & Allie\u201d in the 1980s, has died. She was 80.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
People magazine, citing a representative for the actor, said Saint James died Monday. She had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cShe never met a stranger,” her family said in a statement to People. “Every person she met became the most important person in the room at that moment, from a fellow board member to the clerk at the shoe store, who usually walked away knowing her entire life story.”<\/p>\n
Born Susan Jane Miller on Aug. 14, 1946, in Los Angeles, she was raised in the northern Illinois city of Rockford, where her father had transferred for work. She began modeling as a teenager in Paris.<\/p>\n
At 20, she moved back to Los Angeles and landed a seven-year contract with Universal Studios. She made her television debut in the 1966 movie \u201cFame is the Name of the Game\u201d with Tony Franciosa.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
She got another break when it became a series called \u201cThe Name of the Game\u201d in 1968, with rotating lead characters played by Franciosa, Gene Barry and Robert Stack. Saint James provided the show continuity in her role as Peggy Maxwell, a research assistant who worked for all three men. She won an Emmy Award for the part in 1969.<\/p>\n
Before \u201cThe Name of the Game,\u201d Saint James had a recurring role in the crime-caper series \u201cIt Takes a Thief\u201d starring Robert Wagner. Her other early TV credits included \u201cIronside,” \u201cMcCloud\u201d and \u201cAlias Smith and Jones.\u201d In 1980, she guest-starred in an episode of \u201cM*A*S*H.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saint James, known for her unique, throaty voice, had a supporting role in the 1968 movie \u201cWhere Angels Go, Trouble Follows\u201d starring Rosalind Russell and Stella Stevens.<\/p>\n
Breakout role in \u2018McMillan & Wife\u2019<\/p>\n
She earned her biggest fame as Sally McMillan, the plucky wife of Hudson\u2019s San Francisco police commissioner Stewart McMillan, in the hit series \u201cMcMillan & Wife\u201d from 1971-76. She received three Emmy nominations for the role.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Saint James left the NBC show before its sixth and final season because of a contract dispute, with her character killed off in a plane crash. Saint James then turned to feature films.<\/p>\n
She played opposite Peter Fonda in \u201cOutlaw Blues\u201d in 1977. She co-starred with George Hamilton in the 1979 vampire spoof \u201cLove at First Bite\u201d and joined Jessica Lange and Curtin in the 1980 comedy heist \u201cHow to Beat the High Cost of Living.\u201d She co-starred in the 1981 romantic comedy \u201cCarbon Copy,\u201d in which Denzel Washington made his movie debut.<\/p>\n
After middling success on the big screen, Saint James reunited with Curtin in the CBS sitcom \u201cKate & Allie,\u201d which ran from 1984-89 and earned Saint James two Emmy nominations as the free-spirited Kate to Curtin\u2019s straight-laced Allie.<\/p>\n
While guest-hosting \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d in 1981, Saint James met Dick Ebersol, the show\u2019s then-executive producer and the future chairman of NBC Sports. They married barely six weeks after meeting and had three sons, Charlie, Willie and Teddy.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Teddy died at age 14 in a 2004 private plane crash that also killed the pilot and flight attendant; Ebersol and Charlie survived with serious injuries.<\/p>\n
The family had spent Thanksgiving in Los Angeles and were due to make multiple stops on the return trip. The flight landed first in Colorado, where Saint James got off to go to the family\u2019s second home. It crashed upon taking off again for Indiana in snowy weather.<\/p>\n
Her family’s statement mentions the loss: \u201cHer defining act: weeks after losing her youngest son, Teddy, in the Nov. 28, 2004 plane crash, she delivered his eulogy as a note to each of her other children and her husband, giving them words to heal. Even in the deepest grief of her life, she put everyone else first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saint James filed for divorce from Ebersol in 2002, but they reconciled later that year. \u201cWe had a second chance,\u201d she told People magazine in 2002. \u201cI\u2019m amazingly happier, so that\u2019s a good sign.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
In his 2022 memoir \u201cFrom Saturday Night to Sunday Night,\u201d Ebersol called Saint James \u201cthe greatest partner I\u2019ve ever had by far.\u201d<\/p>\n
After \u2018Kate & Allie\u2019<\/p>\n
She retired when \u201cKate & Allie\u201d ended, choosing to focus on raising her younger children in Litchfield, Connecticut, while Ebersol took the executive job at NBC Sports.<\/p>\n
Saint James made occasional guest appearances after that, including as the mother of her real-life look-alike niece Christa Miller on \u201cThe Drew Carey Show,\u201d as well as \u201cLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit\u201d and \u201cSuits.\u201d In 1999, she starred in a production of \u201cThe Miracle Worker\u201d in Torrington, Connecticut.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
In 1998, Saint James, her sister, Mercedes Dewey, and a friend founded Seedling and Pip, a baby gift basket business with a focus on books based in Litchfield, Connecticut.<\/p>\n
She was a longtime supporter of Special Olympics, volunteering and serving on its board of directors.<\/p>\n
Besides her husband, she is survived by daughter Sunshine and son Harmony from her second marriage to makeup artist Tom Lucas, with whom she remained friends; sons Charlie and Willie with Ebersol; and Miller, whose first TV role was on \u201cKate & Allie.\u201d Saint James\u2019 first marriage to Richard Neubert ended in divorce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FILE – Susan Saint James attends the SNL50: The Anniversary Special in New York on Feb. 16, 2025.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[161551,21893,161553,161552,161558,161555,1014,161559,161554,9922,161544,23681,59373,161548,86083,87674,59371,91639,91638,103773,61262,161546,161549,161557,32614,161550,161545,82,84,83,9970,161556,161542,161560,161541,161547,161543],"class_list":["post-478389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-christa-miller","tag-connecticut","tag-denzel-washington","tag-dick-ebersol","tag-gene-barry","tag-george-hamilton","tag-illinois","tag-jane-curtin","tag-jessica-lange","tag-los-angeles","tag-mercedes-dewey","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","tag-peter-fonda","tag-product-30031-ap-california-state-news-no-weather","tag-product-30047-ap-illinois-state-news-no-weather","tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","tag-product-31388-premium-entertainment","tag-product-33328-ap-premium-entertainment-other","tag-product-33329-ap-premium-entertainment-tv","tag-product-46986-ap-online-top-stories","tag-richard-neubert","tag-robert-stack","tag-robert-wagner","tag-rockford","tag-rosalind-russell","tag-sally-mcmillan","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-san-francisco","tag-stella-stevens","tag-stewart-mcmillan","tag-susan-saint-james","tag-susan-saint-james-dies","tag-tom-lucas","tag-tony-franciosa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}