Susan Saint James

Susan Saint James
Saint James in 1966
Born	1946 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	Connecticut College
Occupations	Actress activist
Years active	1966–2011
Known for	Kate & Allie McMillan & Wife The Name of the Game Love at First Bite
Spouses	Richard Neubert ​ ​ (m. 1967; div. 1968)​ Tom Lucas ​ ​ (m. 1971; div. 1977)​ Dick Ebersol ​ (m. 1981)​
Children	5, including Charlie Ebersol
Relatives	Christa Miller (niece)

Susan Saint James (born 1946) is an American former actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, especially the detective series McMillan & Wife (1971–1976) and the sitcom Kate & Allie (1984–1989).

Early life

Saint James was born to a Connecticut family, the daughter of Constance (Geiger) Miller, a teacher, and Charles Daniel Miller, who worked for Mitchell Camera and later became the president of the Testor Corporation. Saint James was raised in Rockford, Illinois, where she began modeling as a teenager. In her younger school years she attended the Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, Illinois. She later attended Connecticut College.

Career

Saint James's first screen role was in the TV movie Fame Is the Name of the Game (1966) with Tony Franciosa, launching her career when it became a series two years later. Among her other early television appearances were two episodes of the first season of Ironside ("Girl in the Night", December 1967 and two months later, playing a different role in the episode "Something for Nothing"). She also had a supporting role in Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968), the sequel to The Trouble with Angels.

From 1968 to 1971, as a result of her first role in Fame Is the Name of the Game, Saint James had a regular part in the series The Name of the Game, winning an Emmy Award for her role as research assistant Peggy Maxwell in 1969 and establishing her as a popular young actress. The series format, set at a large media company, featured rotating lead characters played by Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack—generally only one of their characters seen each week. Saint James provided a measure of series continuity by appearing as a research assistant at various times to all three. She appeared in approximately half the episodes, usually in a supporting role, although her Peggy Maxwell was the primary character in the second-season episode "The King of Denmark," alongside Franciosa's "Jeff Dillon". As well, in the first-season story "Pineapple Rose" (a Gene Barry segment), Saint James was prominently featured when her character was kidnapped in a case of mistaken identity.

Saint James as Peggy Maxwell in the television series The Name of the Game, 1969.

In 1967, Saint James had a small part in the pilot episode of the Robert Wagner crime-caper series It Takes a Thief. This led to a recurring role playing a new character, Charlene "Chuck" Brown, Alexander Mundy's fellow thief and "casual" love interest. She was featured in four episodes of the series from 1968 to 1970. She went on to appear in the pilot episode of the western series Alias Smith and Jones (1971).

Then came her first starring role as Rock Hudson's younger supportive wife, Sally McMillan, in the popular, lighthearted crime series, McMillan & Wife (1971–1976), for which she received four Emmy Award nominations.

Saint James left the show due to a contract dispute but went on to further her career as an actress in feature films, such as co-starring with Peter Fonda in the film Outlaw Blues (1977). She achieved significant success in the vampire comedy Love at First Bite (1979) and followed up with a role in the comedy How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980), co-starring Jessica Lange and Jane Curtin. Between films, she made a guest appearance in the March 3, 1980, episode of M*A*S*H (episode 192: "War Co-Respondent"). After other film ventures failed to establish her, she returned to television, starring in the comedy series Kate & Allie opposite Jane Curtin from 1984 until 1989. She received three more Emmy Award nominations for this role.

Saint James was a celebrity guest commentator for the World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania 2 event in 1986 along with Vince McMahon.

Susan Saint James's Hollywood Walk of Fame Star.

In her mid-40s, Saint James retired after Kate & Allie ended. In addition to motherhood (her second-youngest son was born during the fourth season of Kate & Allie), she has been an active volunteer with the Special Olympics (an organization she began actively supporting in 1972). She has served on the Special Olympics board and was Civitan International's celebrity chairperson for their Special Olympics involvement. She also is a board member of the Telluride Foundation.

In 1998, Saint James, her sister Mercedes Dewey and friend Barrie Johnson founded "Seedling and Pip", a baby gift basket business. Saint James occasionally has emerged from retirement to appear in television series guest roles, such as the mother of (her real-life niece) Christa Miller in the first season of The Drew Carey Show, and ten years later, as a defense attorney on the February 28, 2006, episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She also starred in a Warner Theatre (Torrington, Connecticut) 1999 production of The Miracle Worker. On June 11, 2008, Saint James was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Personal life

Saint James in 1970.

In the late 1970s, during an interview, she stated: "About eight and a half years ago, my husband and I decided to stop eating meat and then about six months later we stopped eating fish. … I had two beautiful births as a vegetarian; they were great labors—no bleeding, no complications, no problems. The diet worked perfectly for me."

While guest-hosting Saturday Night Live in 1981, Saint James met the SNL executive producer Dick Ebersol. They married within the year and had three sons: Charles, William, and Edward (Teddy). In March 2002, Saint James filed for divorce from Ebersol, but the couple reconciled later that summer.

On November 28, 2004, a private plane carrying Dick, Charles, and Teddy crashed during an attempted takeoff from Montrose Regional Airport in Colorado. Dick and son Charles survived, but son Teddy, age 14, died, as did pilot Luis Alberto Polanco Espaillet and flight attendant Warren T. Richardson III.

Saint James is the aunt of actress Christa Miller.

She holds honorary degrees from six Connecticut institutions: the University of Connecticut, the University of Bridgeport, Southern Connecticut State University, Albertus Magnus College, the University of New Haven, and Goodwin College. She was a featured speaker at The Women's Conference in 2007, at a session called "Beyond Courage: Overcoming the Unimaginable."

Filmography

Susan Saint James in a Civitan International public service announcement in 1986.

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1968	P.J.	Linette Orbison
1968	Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows	Rosabelle
1968	What's So Bad About Feeling Good?	Aida
1968	Jigsaw	Ida
1970	The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County	Mrs. Martha Kid
1977	Outlaw Blues	Tina Waters
1979	Love at First Bite	Cindy Sondheim	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actress
1980	How to Beat the High Cost of Living	Jane
1981	Carbon Copy	Vivian Whitney
1982	Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder	Katherine Cross

Television films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1966	Fame Is the Name of the Game	Peggy Chan
1967	Ready and Willing	Julia Preston
1972	Magic Carpet	Timothea Lamb
1976	Scott Free	Holly
1978	Night Cries	Jeannie Haskins
1978	Desperate Women	Esther Winters
1979	The Girls in the Office	Rita Massaro
1979	Sex and the Single Parent	Sally
1979	S.O.S. Titanic	Leigh Goodwin
1982	The Kid from Nowhere	Samantha 'Sam' Kandal
1983	I Take These Men	Carol Sherwood
1983	After George	Susan Roberts

Television series

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1967	Ironside	Elaine Moreau	Episode: "Girl in the Night"
1968	Ironside	Verna Cusack	Episode: "Something for Nothing"
1968	It Takes a Thief	Stewardess Anne Edwards	Episode: "A Thief Is a Thief"
1968–70	It Takes a Thief	Charlene "Charlie" Brown	4 episodes
1968–71	The Name of the Game	Peggy Maxwell	36 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1970–71)
1970	McCloud	Officer Keach	Episode: "Walk in the Dark"
1971	Alias Smith and Jones	Miss Porter	Episode: "Alias Smith and Jones"
1971–76	McMillan & Wife	Sally McMillan	34 episodes Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama (1972–74) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (1972–73) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
1980	M*A*S*H	Aggie O'Shea	Episode: "War Co-Respondent"
1984–89	Kate & Allie	Katherine "Kate" McArdle	122 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (1983–84)
1989	Tattingers	Susan	Episode: "Broken Windows"
1996	The Drew Carey Show	Lynn O'Brien	Episode: "Drew and Kate and Kate's Mom"
2006	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Monica Bradshaw	Episode: "Gone"
2011	Suits	Joy McAfferty	Episode: "Bail Out"

External links

• Susan Saint James at IMDb 
• Susan Saint James at AllMovie
• Susan Saint James at Rotten Tomatoes