Susan Saint James Biography

Susan Saint James (born August 14, 1946) is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Early life

Born Susan Jane Miller in Los Angeles, California, to a Connecticut family, 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 the Connecticut College for Women.

Career

She moved to California at age 20, when she began her acting career. Her first screen role was in the TV-movie Fame Is the Name of the Game (1966) with Tony Franciosa, launching her career when the film 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 very first role in Fame Is the Name of the Game, she 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. She provided series continuity by appearing as a key supporting character in most episodes regardless of whether the lead that week was either of the three regular leads Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, Robert Stack, or special guest leads Peter Falk, Robert Culp, Darren McGavin, or Robert Wagner, all of whom helmed episodes in the revolving "wheel" format (she appeared in all the Tony Franciosa episodes, and once featured as co-lead with him in the second season episode; 'The King of Denmark' where she had the larger featured onscreen role), while the first season story; 'Pineapple Rose' (under Gene Barry's segment) prominently featured her when her character is kidnapped in a case of mistaken identity.

In 1967 she 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 "friend with benefits". She was featured in four episodes of the series from 1968 to 1970. She then 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, light-hearted crime drama, McMillan & Wife (1971-1976), for which she received four Emmy Award nominations.

She left the show to further her career as an actress in feature films such as co-starring with Peter Fonda in the film Outlaw Blues. She achieved a significant success in the vampire comedy Love at First Bite (1979). 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, appearing 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 also was a celebrity and commentator for World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s WrestleMania 2 event in 1986 along with Vince McMahon.

In her mid-40s Saint James proclaimed herself retired after Kate & Allie ended. In addition to motherhood (her second-youngest son was born during the fourth season of Kate & Allie), she's been an active volunteer with the Special Olympics (an organization she began actively supporting in 1972); she has in the past also served on their board and served as Civitan International's celebrity chairperson for their Special Olympics involvement. In 1998, Saint James, her sister Mercedes Dewey and friend Barrie Johnson founded "Seedling and Pip", a baby gift basket business. She also is a board member of the Telluride Foundation

Saint James occasionally has emerged from retirement to appear in television series guest roles, such as the mother of (her real-life lookalike 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 married aspiring writer-director Richard Neubert at age 21, but the marriage lasted only a year. She was married a second time in 1971, to Thomas Lucas, a makeup artist. They had a daughter, Sunshine Lucas (born 1972), and a son, Harmony Lucas (born 1974); the marriage lasted six years. While guest-hosting Saturday Night Live in 1981, Saint James met her third husband, then-SNL executive producer Dick Ebersol; they married within the year. The marriage has produced three sons, Charles, William, and Edward (Teddy). In March 2002 Saint James filed for divorce from Ebersol, but the couple reconciled later that summer. Ebersol was chairman of NBC Sports until May 2011.

On November 28, 2004, a private plane carrying Ebersol and two of their sons crashed during an attempted takeoff from Montrose Regional Airport in Colorado. Ebersol and son Charles survived, but son Teddy, age 14, died, as did the pilot and flight attendant, Warren T. Richardson III. Teddy Ebersol's Red Sox Fields at Lederman Park is named in memory of Saint James's son, and an episode of the television series Scrubs was dedicated to him.

She is an aunt of actress Christa Miller. Saint James holds honorary degrees from five Connecticut institutions "? The University of Connecticut, the University of Bridgeport, Southern Connecticut State University, Albertus Magnus College, and the University of New Haven. She was a featured speaker at The Women's Conference in 2007, at a session called "Beyond Courage: Overcoming the Unimaginable."

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1966	Fame Is the Name of the Game	Peggy Maxwell	TV movie
1968	P.J.	Linette Orbison
	Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows	Rosabelle
	What's So Bad About Feeling Good?	Aida
	Jigsaw	Ida
1970	Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County	Mrs. Martha Kidd	Uncredited
1972	Magic Carpet	Timothea Lamb	TV movie
1976	Scott Free	Holly	TV movie
1977	Outlaw Blues	Tina Waters
1978	Night Cries	Jeannie Haskins	TV movie
	Desperate Women	Esther Winters	TV movie
1979	The Girls in the Office	Rita Massaro
	Love at First Bite	Cindy Sondheim
	Sex and the Single Parent	Sally	TV movie
	S.O.S. Titanic	Leigh Goodwin	TV movie
1980	How to Beat the High Co$t of Living	Jane
1981	Carbon Copy	Vivian Whitney
1982	The Kid from Nowhere	Samantha 'Sam' Kandal	TV movie
	Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder	Katherine Cross
1983	I Take These Men	Carol Sherwood	TV movie

Television

Series starring roles

Year	Show	Role	Seasons	Notes
1967	Ready and Willing	Julia Preston	-	Unsold TV series pilot
1968-71	The Name of the Game	Peggy Maxwell	1-3	23 episodes
1971-76	McMillan & Wife	Sally Hull McMillan	1-6	33 episodes
1984-89	Kate & Allie	Katherine 'Kate' McArdle	1-6	122 episodes

Guest appearances

Year	Show	Role	Season	Episode	Notes
1967	Ironside	Elaine Moreau	1	14: "Girl in the Night"
1968		Verna Cusack	1	22: "Something for Nothing"
	It Takes a Thief	Stewardess Anne Edwards	1	1: A Thief Is a Thief
		Charlene 'Charlie' Brown	1	2: It Takes One to Know One
			1	7: When Thieves Fall In
1969			3	8: Payoff in the Piazza
1970			3	21: The Suzie Simone Caper
	McCloud	Police Officer Keach	1	5: Walk in the Dark
1971	Alias Smith and Jones	Miss Porter	1	1: Alias Smith and Jones
1980	M*A*S*H	Aggie O'Shea	8	23: War Co-Respondent
1996	The Drew Carey Show	Lynn O'Brien	1	20: Drew and Kate and Kate's Mom
2006	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Monica Bradshaw	7	16: Gone
2011	Suits	Joy McAfferty	1	4: Dirty Little Secrets
			1	5: Bail Out