Actress Eva Marie Saint, Who Grew Up In Albany, Passes Away At 102

Albany is no stranger to fame. Several of those in the spotlight have come from the Capital Region, whether it's Jimmy Fallon attending Saint Rose or Mike Tyson attending some of his earliest fights here.

Eva Marie Saint, one of the greatest actresses of all time, while not born here, spent most of her youth in the Capital Region, and has sadly passed at 102.

Saint's Upbringing

Despite being born in (allegedly) Newark, New Jersey in 1924, Saint's family quickly relocated to the Capital Region. Her parents were Quakers, and sent Eva Marie to study at the Bethlehem Central School District in Delmar, New York.

Since it's just a hop, skip, and a jump outside of Albany, Saint spent most of her childhood in the area before her graduation from Bethlehem Central High School in 1942. Much of her personality and acting tendencies came from this extended time in Albany and the surrounding regions.

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Saint's Rise to Fame

In the late 1940s, Saint attended the Actors Studio in NYC, and performed on Broadway and live television. Her first film came when she was almost 30, after a screen test with Marlon Brando. That tested so well that she was cast as a lead alongside him in 1954's On the Waterfront. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the role.

BIPS, Getty Images

Five years later, she acted alongside Carey Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest. After her marriage in 1951, she focused more on her family, but still performed in television, earning a Emmy for her role in the 1990 miniseries People Like Us.