Inside Eva Marie Saint's birthday celebrations as Hollywood icon turns 100

Publish date: 2024-05-18

Eva Marie Saint is turning 100 years old - on none other than the Fourth of July! It feels typical that the Hollywood icon will celebrate the major milestone on a national holiday, but the actress hopes to keep it a family affair.

The Oscar winner will celebrate her 100th birthday with four generations of her family, gathering from across the country for the occasion.

"I'm looking forward to spending my 100th birthday in Los Angeles with my dear, dear family. Four generations of family members will be gathering together from Los Angeles, Chicago, Santa Barbara and San Francisco," she told People. 

Eva may be 100, but she insists that she certainly doesn't feel it. She explained that in her day-to-day life, she continues to "take walks out in the fresh air, like watching baseball — especially the Los Angeles Dodgers, and enjoy time with my family and friends. A good life."

Eva got her claim to fame by acting across Marlon Brando in the iconic film , which won her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in her film debut. Brando also won Best Actor, the film won Best Picture, and Elia Kazan was awarded Best Director. With eight wins out of 12 Oscar nominations, and a critical and commercial success, it's now considered one of the greatest films ever made.

But it wasn't the end of acting for the centenarian, who starred opposite Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's . Known for her scintillating chemistry with Cary Grant, she said of their big kiss scene: "I was hoping I wouldn’t step on his feet."

Having also acted across from Paul Newman in , and featured in films alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Eva remains one of the final bastions of a Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. 

After a brief stint on television, she returned to film in 1986, starring opposite Tom Hanks in . She would formally stop acting aged 90 after appearing in with Colin Farrell in 2014.

Eva married the late director, writer and producer Jeffrey Hayden in 1951, and they stayed together until Hayden's death aged 90 in 2016. The director played a role in making Knight Rider and Magnum P.I. Together, they shared two children, Darrell and Laurette, as well as three grandchildren. 

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She said that her husband was key in the moment that she won her Oscar, because at the time she was heavily pregnant - two days away from giving birth to their son. Jeffrey helped her get up to accept the award, and she famously said: "I'm so excited I might have the baby right here."

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