Susan Saint James, Emmy-winning actor of 'McMillan & Wife' and 'Kate &
Allie,' dies at 80
[October 28, 2026]
By BETH HARRIS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Susan Saint James, who co-starred with Rock Hudson in
the 1970s TV crime series “McMillan & Wife” and later co-starred with
Jane Curtin in the sitcom “Kate & Allie” in the 1980s, has died. She was
80.
People magazine, citing a representative for the actor, said Saint James
died Monday. She had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“She never met a stranger," her family said in a statement to People.
"Every person she met became the most important person in the room at
that moment, from a fellow board member to the clerk at the shoe store,
who usually walked away knowing her entire life story."
Born Susan Jane Miller on Aug. 14, 1946, in Los Angeles, she was raised
in the northern Illinois city of Rockford, where her father had
transferred for work. She began modeling as a teenager in Paris.
At 20, she moved back to Los Angeles and landed a seven-year contract
with Universal Studios. She made her television debut in the 1966 movie
“Fame is the Name of the Game” with Tony Franciosa.
She got another break when it became a series called “The Name of the
Game” in 1968, with rotating lead characters played by Franciosa, Gene
Barry and Robert Stack. Saint James provided the show continuity in her
role as Peggy Maxwell, a research assistant who worked for all three
men. She won an Emmy Award for the part in 1969.
Before “The Name of the Game,” Saint James had a recurring role in the
crime-caper series “It Takes a Thief” starring Robert Wagner. Her other
early TV credits included “Ironside," “McCloud” and “Alias Smith and
Jones.” In 1980, she guest-starred in an episode of “M(asterisk)A(asterisk)S(asterisk)H.”
Saint James, known for her unique, throaty voice, had a supporting role
in the 1968 movie “Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows” starring Rosalind
Russell and Stella Stevens.
Breakout role in ‘McMillan & Wife’
She earned her biggest fame as Sally McMillan, the plucky wife of
Hudson’s San Francisco police commissioner Stewart McMillan, in the hit
series “McMillan & Wife” from 1971-76. She received three Emmy
nominations for the role.
Saint James left the NBC show before its sixth and final season because
of a contract dispute, with her character killed off in a plane crash.
Saint James then turned to feature films.
She played opposite Peter Fonda in “Outlaw Blues” in 1977. She
co-starred with George Hamilton in the 1979 vampire spoof “Love at First
Bite” and joined Jessica Lange and Curtin in the 1980 comedy heist “How
to Beat the High Cost of Living.” She co-starred in the 1981 romantic
comedy “Carbon Copy,” in which Denzel Washington made his movie debut.
After middling success on the big screen, Saint James reunited with
Curtin in the CBS sitcom “Kate & Allie,” which ran from 1984-89 and
earned Saint James two Emmy nominations as the free-spirited Kate to
Curtin’s straight-laced Allie.
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Susan Saint James attends the SNL50: The Anniversary Special in New
York on Feb. 16, 2025. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
 While guest-hosting “Saturday Night
Live” in 1981, Saint James met Dick Ebersol, the show’s
then-executive producer and the future chairman of NBC Sports. They
married barely six weeks after meeting and had three sons, Charlie,
Willie and Teddy.
Teddy died at age 14 in a 2004 private plane crash that also killed
the pilot and flight attendant; Ebersol and Charlie survived with
serious injuries.
The family had spent Thanksgiving in Los Angeles and were due to
make multiple stops on the return trip. The flight landed first in
Colorado, where Saint James got off to go to the family’s second
home. It crashed upon taking off again for Indiana in snowy weather.
Her family's statement mentions the loss: “Her defining act: weeks
after losing her youngest son, Teddy, in the Nov. 28, 2004 plane
crash, she delivered his eulogy as a note to each of her other
children and her husband, giving them words to heal. Even in the
deepest grief of her life, she put everyone else first.”
Saint James filed for divorce from Ebersol in 2002, but they
reconciled later that year. “We had a second chance,” she told
People magazine in 2002. “I’m amazingly happier, so that’s a good
sign.”
In his 2022 memoir “From Saturday Night to Sunday Night,” Ebersol
called Saint James “the greatest partner I’ve ever had by far.”
After ‘Kate & Allie’
She retired when “Kate & Allie” ended, choosing to focus on raising
her younger children in Litchfield, Connecticut, while Ebersol took
the executive job at NBC Sports.
Saint James made occasional guest appearances after that, including
as the mother of her real-life look-alike niece Christa Miller on
“The Drew Carey Show,” as well as “Law & Order: Special Victims
Unit” and “Suits.” In 1999, she starred in a production of “The
Miracle Worker” in Torrington, Connecticut.
In 1998, Saint James, her sister, Mercedes Dewey, and a friend
founded Seedling and Pip, a baby gift basket business with a focus
on books based in Litchfield, Connecticut.
She was a longtime supporter of Special Olympics, volunteering and
serving on its board of directors.
Besides her husband, she is survived by daughter Sunshine and son
Harmony from her second marriage to makeup artist Tom Lucas, with
whom she remained friends; sons Charlie and Willie with Ebersol; and
Miller, whose first TV role was on “Kate & Allie.” Saint James’
first marriage to Richard Neubert ended in divorce.
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