Susan Saint James, the Emmy-winning actress known for her roles on The Name of the Game, McMillan & Wife, and Kate & Allie, passed away on Monday at the age of 80. A representative confirmed to People magazine that she died after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
In a statement shared with People, her family described her as someone who was “generous with her time and energy, which she valued more than money, and instinctively drawn to whoever needed lifting up. She taught her children to pause, be kind and look out for other people.”
The family added, “She never met a stranger. 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. Her defining act: weeks after losing her youngest son, Teddy, in the November 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. Days after the crash she sat with Tim Russert to thank the people who had reached out and to tell them the family was okay. She brought that same fire and positivity to everything that followed, and never lost it.”
She is survived by her husband, Dick Ebersol; her children Sunshine Lucas, Harmony Lucas, Charlie Ebersol, and Willie Ebersol; seven grandchildren; her sister, Mary Mercedes Dewey; and her service dog, Lola.
Born Susan Jane Miller on August 14, 1946, Miller spent some time in France before moving to Hollywood and changing her name at the age of 20.
She signed with Universal and appeared in early roles, including the 1966 TV movie Fame Is the Name of the Game. This led to her regular role as research assistant Peggy Maxwell on the NBC series The Name of the Game (1968–1971).
She received three Emmy nominations for the part and won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1969.
From 1971 to 1976, she starred as Sally McMillan opposite Rock Hudson in the NBC series McMillan & Wife, earning additional Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination. After leaving the series over a contract dispute, she appeared in films including Outlaw Blues (1977), Love at First Bite (1979), and How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980).
She returned to series television in 1984 as Kate McArdle alongside Jane Curtin on the CBS sitcom Kate & Allie, which ran until 1989 and brought her two more Emmy nominations. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008 and made occasional later appearances, including on The Drew Carey Show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Suits.
After Kate & Allie ended, Saint James largely stepped away from acting to focus on family life in Connecticut. She married Dick Ebersol in 1981 after meeting him while hosting Saturday Night Live.
Outside her acting career, Saint James was a longtime advocate for the Special Olympics, beginning her involvement in the early 1970s, serving on its international and Connecticut boards, and organizing fundraising events.
In 2004, the couple’s 14-year-old son Teddy died in a plane crash in Colorado that her husband and son Charlie survived. In the years that followed, she continued her charitable work and supported other parents who had lost children. She also co-founded a baby gift business and engaged in other local activities in Connecticut.
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