At 102, Eva Marie Saint dies; voice of elderly Katara in The Legend of Korra
You might know her as elderly Katara in The Legend of Korra — Oscar winner Eva Marie Saint has died.
Eva Marie Saint died October 6, 2026 , at her home in Los Angeles, her representative confirmed. She was 102 and passed of natural causes, surrounded by family and loved ones.
Before the movies, Saint worked in radio and live television, then stepped onto the big screen in 1954 as Edie Doyle opposite Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, directed by Elia Kazan. The performance announced a major new talent and set the tone for a career that would crisscross film, TV, stage, and—years later—voice acting.
Her first movie role, 1954’s On the Waterfront, won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
She followed with one of her most indelible turns: Eve Kendall in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959), playing off Cary Grant in that crop-duster-and-Mount-Rushmore thriller that never leaves rotation. Decades later, a new generation met her as the elder Katara in Nickelodeon’s The Legend of Korra, a graceful bridge to the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
From Hitchcock to Korra
- On the Waterfront — Edie Doyle (1954)
- North by Northwest — Eve Kendall (1959)
- The Legend of Korra — Elder Katara (voice; Nickelodeon)
- People Like Us — 1990 miniseries (Primetime Emmy win)
- Moonlighting — television
- Frasier — television
- Because of Winn-Dixie — film
- Superman Returns — film
- Winter’s Tale — film
Saint’s work earned multiple Emmy nominations over the years, and she won a Primetime Emmy for the 1990 miniseries People Like Us.