The Little Boy and the Movie Star

By Richard Eric Weigle

A national newspaper once published an article quoting men explaining how they first knew that they were gay. One gentleman stated that when he was a young boy in Catholic school, a nun asked him to name a saint and he said, “EVA MARIE!” I sure can’t think of a better answer.

In the 1950s many beautiful and talented blonde actresses emerged in American film and television. There was sexy Marilyn Monroe, girl next door Doris Day, slightly remote Kim Novak, overly dramatic Lana Turner and the classy and iconic Grace Kelly who seemed almost too perfect to be real. They were all wonderful in their own way, but there was only one actress with whom I could truly identify and who came across as a real person. That actress was Eva Marie Saint who, along with Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront, helped usher in a new type of realism and truth to American acting.

In 1959, I went with my older brother to see Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece North By Northwest. And there she was, stunning in gorgeous technicolor seducing Cary Grant in a train dining car with the most sophisticated dialog I had ever heard. The sexual innuendos and double entendres were far beyond my 14-year-old brain’s ability to comprehend. All I knew was that I was mesmerized and that I loved Eva Marie Saint. I can’t explain it, but I developed the urge to collect every photo, article and review I could find about her and her illustrious career.

For my 15th birthday I went to see her in Exodus, a large epic about the birth of Israel. I was in heaven watching my golden goddess on the big screen for 3-1/2 hours. I also remember seeing Paul Newman emerge from the ocean in his bathing suit. That scene alone may have awakened my attraction for the leading lady’s co-stars. I don’t know what it is about gay men, we may be sexually attracted to men, but we never lose our appreciation for beautiful women.

After the box office success of North By Northwest and Exodus, Eva Marie had her pick of prestigious roles, but felt she could not go from one film to another. So at the height of her career, when she started turning down offers in order to spend more time with her family, her agent said, “Eva Marie, you will never be a super star if you keep turning down all these roles” and she said, “I guess I don’t want to be a super star” and she fired him on the spot.

She was always able to balance her professional and personal life while making many great films in the 1960s. In the 1970s, she was not happy with the films she was being offered and returned to the theater and television for more meaningful roles dealing with the human condition. So, in 1972, much to my great surprise and joy, I learned that she was returning to Broadway as Mary Todd Lincoln in The Lincoln Mask. That’s where I was able to meet her back stage and show her all the memorabilia I had collected. It’s a wonderful thing when you finally meet someone you respect and they turn out to be even more wonderful than you could ever have imagined. From that meeting, a friendship slowly developed. During that time she was doing a lot of plays mostly directed by her husband, Jeffrey Hayden, and I saw many of them including Summer and Smoke at the Kennedy Center which was one of the most thrilling nights in the theater that I have ever had.

In 1974 I moved to Grove Street in Greenwich Village, which in the 1950s played a very important role in Saint’s life. The Village is where she met, married and lived with her husband at 26 West 9th Street, won her Academy Award and had her first child. She loved the Village and Grove St. and visited us often there.

In 1988 I became her “Official Archivist” and went on to produce four documentaries in which she appeared. So the little boy from Scotch Plains, N.J., went from fan to acquaintance to friend, archivist and then to film producer. What an amazing journey!

Over these last 50 years I learned so much from her and her husband about living in the present and not dwelling on the past. One time I said to her, “Eva Marie, you have had the best life.” And she quipped, “Have, Richard, have.”

When I think of all that she accomplished after turning 80 ─ four feature films, numerous documentaries, voice over work, stage performances, guest hosting at TCM, radio plays and podcasts ─ I am amazed. She also had a 65-year marriage, two children, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren, an Oscar and an Emmy, two stars on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk Of Fame, and a 75-year career.

Eva Marie Saint passed away on October 6 at the age of 102. She was the oldest living Academy Award and Emmy Award winner and the oldest living Hitchcock Blonde. Many people wrote to me expressing their sympathy because they knew how important a role she played in my life. I told them that I had been preparing for this moment for many months, and when it finally came, I had tears in my eyes but mostly tears of joy for someone who had the best life of anyone I have ever met. She lived a life of integrity, creativity, adventure and love, all with class and charm. The number of obituaries and posts on social media have been overwhelming in their outpouring of love, compliments and respect. Ben Mankiewicz and Robert Osborne of TCM called her the nicest woman in Hollywood, and actor Colin Farrell said that working with Eva Marie Saint in the film Winter’s Tale was the highlight of his career.

I am so happy and grateful that I had the privilege of knowing her and working with her for so many years. She was, indeed, a bright light on this planet and a role model for anyone who was lucky enough to meet her.