Susan Saint James, the Emmy-winning actress who starred in the beloved television classics Kate & Allie and McMillan & Wife, has died at age 80.
Saint James died Monday after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, according to a representative for the actress.
The news brought an immediate outpouring of tributes for a woman whose warmth reached far beyond the television screen.
Among those honoring her was Jane Curtin, her longtime Kate & Allie co-star and friend.
Page Six reported that Curtin remembered Saint James as a genuinely decent person who made their years on Kate & Allie joyful. Curtin also highlighted her friend’s tireless support for causes she believed in, especially the Special Olympics, before closing her tribute with three simple words: “I’ll miss her.”
The tribute carried special weight for viewers who watched the two women build one of television’s most memorable friendships.
Curtin said their work together brought laughter, community and a sense of family to the stage at New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater, where the sitcom was produced. Her remembrance made clear that the warmth audiences saw between Kate and Allie was rooted in a genuine bond between the women who played them.
Rather than focusing only on Saint James’ celebrity, Curtin pointed to the kind of person her friend was away from the cameras: someone who showed up, served others and made the people around her feel welcome.
Kate & Allie debuted on CBS in 1984 and centered on two divorced mothers who moved into the same New York City home and raised their children together.
Saint James played the independent and free-spirited Kate McArdle, while Curtin played her more traditional childhood friend, Allie Lowell.
The setup was simple, but the chemistry between the two stars made the series feel honest, funny and deeply human.
The show ran for six seasons, ending in 1989, and became a defining television portrait of friendship, family and women building a life on their own terms.
For Saint James, however, the role was only one chapter in a remarkable career.
Variety confirmed that Saint James died Monday at 80 after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. The report traced her rise from her Emmy-winning work on The Name of the Game to her years opposite Rock Hudson on McMillan & Wife, and later to the role of Kate McArdle that introduced her to another generation of viewers.
Her family remembered a woman who gave her time and energy freely and instinctively looked for people who needed encouragement.
They said Saint James had a rare gift for making every person she met feel important.
The family’s statement also emphasized the lessons she passed to her children: pause, be kind and watch for someone who may need help. That private example matched the public service Saint James carried into decades of advocacy.
Variety’s report placed the loss in the full sweep of her career, from a young performer breaking through in network drama to a television star whose most enduring roles paired independence with humor and compassion.
Born Susan Jane Miller in Los Angeles on August 14, 1946, Saint James was raised in Rockford, Illinois.
Her first major breakthrough came with The Name of the Game, an ambitious NBC drama built around the world of magazine publishing.
Saint James played research assistant Peggy Maxwell and won an Emmy for the role in 1969.
She soon became one of television’s most familiar faces.
In 1971, she joined Rock Hudson on McMillan & Wife, playing Sally McMillan, the spirited wife of a San Francisco police commissioner.
The series blended crime, comedy and marital chemistry, and Saint James’ performance earned her multiple Emmy nominations.
The Associated Press reported that Saint James’ representative confirmed her death and that her family remembered her as someone who “never met a stranger.” The AP traced her journey from a Los Angeles birth and an Illinois childhood to an Emmy-winning breakthrough on The Name of the Game, her six-season partnership with Rock Hudson on McMillan & Wife, and the return to series television that produced Kate & Allie.
The report also noted that Saint James stepped away from full-time acting after the sitcom ended so she could focus on raising her family. That choice did not end her public life: she continued appearing on television, supporting charitable causes and maintaining a close relationship with the Special Olympics community that had become central to her life.
That decision reflected the priorities Saint James carried throughout her life.
She remained a recognizable public figure, but she devoted much of her time to family, philanthropy and advocacy.
Her work with the Special Olympics became one of the most important parts of her legacy.
Saint James served on the organization’s board and spent decades supporting its athletes and mission.
The AP’s account also followed her unusual path into show business. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Illinois, Saint James began acting in the 1960s, quickly built a television career and became a fixture in American homes across three different decades.
She earned recognition early, but her later choice to put family ahead of a constant Hollywood schedule showed that professional momentum was never the only measure of success that mattered to her.
The Los Angeles Times highlighted that advocacy alongside her television career. The paper reported that Saint James saw her work with the Special Olympics as central to both her success and happiness, and that the organization remembered her as an extraordinary champion for its athletes.
Saint James had supported the movement since its early years and later served in leadership roles that kept her closely connected to the athletes and families at its heart. Her decades of service made the cause one of the central purposes of her public life.
The Times also recalled that her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2008 included recognition of the people and organizations that had helped shape her. Even at an event honoring her own career, Saint James directed attention toward the community that had given her so much.
Her life also carried profound personal tragedy.
In 2004, her 14-year-old son Teddy was killed in a plane crash that also seriously injured her husband, television executive Dick Ebersol, and their son Charlie.
Saint James responded to the unimaginable loss by trying to help her surviving family heal.
Her relatives said that even in the deepest grief of her life, she continued putting other people first.
Saint James is survived by her husband, Dick Ebersol; her children Sunshine Lucas, Harmony Lucas, Charlie Ebersol and Willie Ebersol; seven grandchildren; her sister; and her service dog, Lola.
Her television work will continue to introduce new audiences to her unmistakable energy.
But the tributes arriving after her death point to something even larger than a celebrated acting career.
Colleagues, family members and the organizations she supported remember a woman who made people feel seen.
Jane Curtin’s farewell captured the loss in the most personal way.
After years of playing best friends on television, the friendship had become real.
Rest in peace, Susan Saint James.
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[ H/T WLT Report ]
