Some performers become famous because they command attention. Others earn a place in our memories because they make us feel as though we’ve known them for years. Susan Saint James possessed that second, rather wonderful gift. She could enter a scene, deliver a line with the slightest suggestion of mischief, and make the entire room feel more inviting. Her characters were intelligent, independent, occasionally exasperating, and always recognizably human.
Susan Saint James, the Emmy Award-winning actress whose performances in The Name of the Game, McMillan & Wife, and Kate & Allie made her one of American television’s most familiar faces, died Monday, October 26, 2026, at the age of 80. Her family confirmed that she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Her passing marks the loss of an actress whose career followed television through some of its most interesting changes, from the stylish crime dramas of the late 1960s and 1970s to the character-driven domestic comedies of the 1980s. Across those decades, Saint James demonstrated a remarkable ability to make ordinary conversations entertaining, to find humor in difficult circumstances, and to portray women who were perfectly capable of making their own decisions.
She made it look effortless, which is often the surest indication that it was anything but.
A Young Actress Finds Her Place on Television
Born Susan Jane Miller in Los Angeles on August 14, 1946, Saint James grew up in Rockford, Illinois. She began modeling as a teenager, including a period in Paris, before returning to California and securing a contract with Universal Studios.
Her early career coincided with an extraordinary period for American television. The medium was becoming more ambitious, with increasingly elaborate dramas, recognizable stars, and production values that could rival those of contemporary motion pictures.
In 1966, she appeared in the television movie Fame Is the Name of the Game, which eventually inspired the NBC series The Name of the Game. When the program debuted in 1968, Saint James played Peggy Maxwell, a resourceful research assistant who worked alongside the show’s rotating leading men: Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack.
The format was unusual, but Peggy helped give the series a sense of continuity. Saint James brought intelligence and personality to a role that might easily have been treated as little more than administrative support. Instead, she made Peggy an engaging presence in her own right.
Her performance earned her a Primetime Emmy Award in 1969, an extraordinary achievement for an actress still in her early twenties.
She also appeared in such television favorites as It Takes a Thief, Ironside, and Alias Smith and Jones. Yet her most recognizable roles were still ahead of her.
McMillan & Wife: More Than the Commissioner’s Better Half
In 1971, Saint James joined Rock Hudson for McMillan & Wife, one of the original rotating programs in NBC’s Mystery Movie lineup.
Hudson played Stewart McMillan, San Francisco’s police commissioner, while Saint James portrayed his wife, Sally. The couple became involved in murder investigations and mysteries that blended crime-solving with the pleasures of a romantic comedy.
The premise could have produced a perfectly serviceable detective series in which the distinguished leading man solved crimes while his wife looked concerned and occasionally offered him a cup of coffee.
Fortunately, Susan Saint James had rather more interesting ideas about Sally McMillan.
Sally was curious, outspoken, spirited, and entirely willing to challenge her husband’s assumptions. Her involvement in the investigations frequently complicated matters, but it also gave the series much of its personality. Saint James and Hudson developed an easy, affectionate chemistry that made their fictional marriage entertaining even when the mystery itself was less than extraordinary.
What I find particularly appealing about their partnership is that Sally never needed to diminish Stewart for the audience to appreciate her. Their disagreements were part of the entertainment, and their affection gave those disagreements meaning.
Saint James earned multiple Emmy nominations for her performance. When she departed the series following a contract dispute, the producers continued without her, retitling it McMillan. The loss of Sally, however, removed much of the relationship that had made the original concept distinctive.
A mystery can always introduce another suspect, another murder, or another clever solution. Replacing the chemistry between two performers is considerably more difficult.
From Romantic Comedy to a Certain Charming Vampire
Saint James also enjoyed a varied film career, appearing alongside Peter Fonda in Outlaw Blues (1977), George Hamilton in Love at First Bite (1979), and Jessica Lange and Jane Curtin in How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980).
I have a particular affection for Love at First Bite, a wonderfully silly romantic comedy that transports Count Dracula into modern New York City. George Hamilton plays the famous vampire with precisely the right amount of aristocratic vanity, while Saint James portrays Cindy Sondheim, the woman who captures his attention.
The film works because its performers understand the joke without treating the material as beneath them. Saint James brings an appealing combination of sophistication and comic energy to the proceedings, providing an excellent counterpart to Hamilton’s gloriously self-important Dracula.
It is the sort of comedy that requires a light touch. Push too hard, and the entire affair becomes exhausting. Play everything too seriously, and the humor evaporates. Saint James understood the balance.
Her other film appearances included Carbon Copy (1981), notable as Denzel Washington’s feature-film debut, while television audiences also saw her in a guest appearance on MASH*.
Although the cinema offered her interesting opportunities, television remained the medium in which her particular talents flourished most naturally.
And in 1984, she found another role that would introduce her to an entirely new generation.
Kate & Allie: Friendship, Family, and a Changing America
When Kate & Allie premiered on CBS in 1984, the American sitcom was increasingly willing to explore families that did not fit the traditional television mold.
Susan Saint James played Kate McArdle, a divorced mother who shared a Greenwich Village home with her longtime friend Allie Lowell, portrayed by Jane Curtin. Allie was also divorced, and together the two women raised their children while navigating work, relationships, household responsibilities, and the inevitable complications of everyday life.
The premise was refreshingly straightforward. Two women had experienced significant changes in their lives, and rather than surrender to those circumstances, they built a new household around friendship and mutual support.
Saint James’s Kate was outgoing, spontaneous, and independent. Curtin’s Allie was more cautious, conventional, and concerned with keeping life orderly. Their contrasting personalities provided a dependable source of comedy, but the affection between them prevented their differences from becoming tiresome.
It would have been easy to turn either woman into a caricature. Kate might have become the irresponsible free spirit, while Allie could have been reduced to the perpetually disapproving traditionalist. Instead, the actresses allowed their characters to possess strengths, weaknesses, and moments of genuine vulnerability.
The result was a sitcom that could be funny without being cruel and thoughtful without becoming a lecture.
That distinction matters to me.
I have always believed that entertainment is at its best when it trusts its audience to recognize the humanity in its characters. Kate & Allie did not need to insist that friendship was important. It simply showed us two women who cared about one another, sometimes disagreed, and continued building a life together.
The series ran for six seasons, concluding in 1989, and earned Saint James further Emmy nominations. It also reunited her with Jane Curtin, with whom she had previously appeared in How to Beat the High Cost of Living.
For many viewers, Kate McArdle remains the definitive Susan Saint James character: warm, funny, resilient, and unmistakably herself.
An Unexpected Afternoon at WrestleMania 2
Now, dear readers, I must briefly venture into a territory normally overseen by our esteemed colleague Stinger.
Yes, Susan Saint James was part of WrestleMania 2.
On April 7, 1986, the World Wrestling Federation staged its second WrestleMania across three separate arenas: Nassau Coliseum in New York, the Rosemont Horizon near Chicago, and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
The event was an ambitious spectacle, combining professional wrestling with celebrity appearances, boxing, and even a battle royal featuring NFL players.
Saint James joined Vince McMahon as a guest commentator for the New York portion of the broadcast.
Among the matches presented from Nassau Coliseum were Randy Savage defending the Intercontinental Championship against George “The Animal” Steele and Roddy Piper facing Mr. T in a boxing match.
For an actress associated with sophisticated television comedies and mysteries, the spectacle of professional wrestling might seem an unlikely destination. Yet celebrity involvement was central to the WWF’s growing mainstream ambitions during the 1980s, and Saint James was among the recognizable personalities invited to participate.
She was not alone in bringing Hollywood to WrestleMania that evening. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, appeared on commentary for the Los Angeles portion of the event, while Ozzy Osbourne accompanied the British Bulldogs for their tag team championship match in Chicago.
I suspect Stinger could devote several thousand words to the evening’s peculiarities, particularly the decision to stage WrestleMania in three different cities simultaneously. I shall exercise a little more restraint.
Still, I find Saint James’s appearance rather charming. It captures something about the entertainment landscape of the 1980s, when television stars, musicians, athletes, and professional wrestlers increasingly crossed paths in the same spectacular productions.
For those of us who enjoy the history of popular entertainment, such appearances are delightful reminders that the boundaries between its different worlds have always been more flexible than we sometimes imagine.
A Life Beyond the Screen
Following the conclusion of Kate & Allie, Saint James gradually stepped away from regular acting to devote more time to her family and charitable interests.
She married television executive Dick Ebersol in 1981, and together they raised a family. Their lives were marked by terrible tragedy in November 2004, when a private plane crashed during takeoff in Colorado, killing their fourteen-year-old son, Teddy. Ebersol and another son survived.
Saint James’s family has spoken of the compassion and strength she demonstrated in the aftermath of that loss, including the care she extended to her surviving children and husband while enduring her own grief.
Her charitable commitments were longstanding. She supported the Special Olympics for decades and served on its board, while also contributing to the Telluride Foundation and other philanthropic efforts.
In 2008, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, recognizing a career that had already given audiences several enduring television characters.
I think there is something admirable about an actress who achieved considerable success and then chose to spend much of her later life away from the constant demands of celebrity. Public recognition can be gratifying, but it need not become the measure of an entire existence.
Saint James had earned her place in television history. She was free to decide what mattered next.
Remembering Susan Saint James
Revisiting the careers of performers from earlier generations often reminds me how much television has changed, and how much of its appeal remains exactly the same.
The technology improves. The programs become more elaborate. Audiences discover new ways to watch, discuss, and revisit their favorites. Yet the fundamental pleasure of spending time with an engaging character remains wonderfully constant.
Susan Saint James understood that pleasure.
As Peggy Maxwell, she brought wit and intelligence to a sophisticated television drama. As Sally McMillan, she transformed the wife of a police commissioner into an indispensable part of a mystery series. As Kate McArdle, she helped portray a household built not around conventional expectations but around friendship, affection, and the determination to make an unconventional arrangement work.
Those characters were different women living in different circumstances, but each benefited from Saint James’s natural warmth and understated comic instincts.
And somewhere among those memories, there is also the unexpected image of Susan Saint James sitting beside Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 2, watching Randy Savage and George Steele battle over the Intercontinental Championship.
I confess that I rather love that detail. A career in entertainment ought to contain a few surprises.
Her passing will undoubtedly inspire many viewers to revisit McMillan & Wife and Kate & Allie, perhaps introducing those programs to people who were not yet born when they first aired. That is one of the loveliest things about television history: a performance does not lose its ability to entertain simply because the years have passed.
Susan Saint James gave audiences laughter, companionship, and characters they could welcome into their homes week after week.
For an actress, I can think of few legacies more meaningful.
Farewell, Susan Saint James. Thank you for the wonderful company.
Susan Saint James — August 14, 1946 – October 26, 2026.
