Susan Saint James, the Emmy-winning actor who became a familiar face on Kate & Allie and McMillan & Wife, died on Monday at 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. A representative confirmed her death to People on Tuesday, making the news newly public just as viewers who grew up with her work were learning that one of television’s steadier presences was gone.
She had long been known for an image that mixed warmth, ease and a certain sparkle, the kind of screen presence that made her feel instantly recognizable. That is part of what gives her death extra weight: the public figure so many remembered as generous and upbeat is now being remembered alongside a private illness that ended her life.
Saint James was born Susan Jane Miller and changed her last name before heading to Hollywood at 20. Universal signed her to a weekly contract, and early film work in Where Angels Go and Trouble Follows led to a role on The Name of the Game in 1968, where she earned three Emmy nominations and won once. In 1971, she signed on to McMillan & Wife, collecting three more Emmy nominations and staying with the show for five seasons until her character was killed off.
Her career stretched beyond those signature roles. She was married to scriptwriter Richard Neubert from 1967 to 1968, then married makeup artist Tom Lucas in 1971; they had two children, Sunshine and Harmony, and Lucas also served as her manager until their divorce in 1977. Saint James later starred in Outlaw Blues and How to Beat the High Cost of Living, then met Dick Ebersol in 1981 while hosting Saturday Night Live. They went on a date after rehearsal, and he is among the family members who survive her, along with four children, seven grandchildren, her sister Mary Mercedes Dewey and her service dog Lola.
What remains unanswered is how long she had been fighting pancreatic cancer before Monday. What is clear is that the death closes a long run that began when Susan Saint James arrived in Hollywood as Susan Jane Miller and ended with a career that still reaches across generations.
