Hollywood Mourns the Death of Emmy-Winning Star of ‘Kate & Allie’ and ‘McMillan & Wife,’ Susan Saint James

Some television stars become part of the furniture of American living rooms, appearing week after week until they feel like family. Susan Saint James was one of them, a performer whose warmth and comic timing made her a fixture across two very different eras of prime time.

From glossy 1970s crime capers to a groundbreaking 1980s sitcom about two single mothers, she built a career on playing smart, independent women who felt real. She later stepped back from Hollywood to focus on her family, leaving behind a body of work that audiences have revisited for decades.

Now the entertainment world is mourning her. Susan Saint James has died at 80 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, according to a representative who confirmed her death to People on Monday, October 26.

Born Susan Jane Miller in Los Angeles on August 14, 1946, she grew up in Rockford, Illinois, before pursuing modeling and acting. She became a television fixture in the late 1960s on NBC’s ‘The Name of the Game’, an anthology drama in which she played research assistant Peggy Maxwell.

That breakout performance earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. It set the stage for the role that would make her a household name.

In 1971, she signed on to ‘McMillan & Wife’, playing Sally McMillan, the wife of a San Francisco police commissioner played by Rock Hudson. The series became an immediate hit as part of NBC’s Mystery Movie rotation.

She stayed with the show for five seasons, earning three consecutive Golden Globe nominations for the role, along with more Emmy nominations. The show carried on for another year without her, but her chemistry with Hudson remained the heart of the series.

In 1984, Saint James returned to series television in ‘Kate & Allie’, starring alongside Jane Curtin. The CBS sitcom followed two divorced best friends who decide to raise their children together in a Manhattan apartment.

It ran for six seasons, earning Saint James two more Emmy nominations before ending in 1989. The show was praised at the time for letting mothers on television be full, well-rounded people, and Saint James’s free-spirited Kate played perfectly against Curtin’s more conservative Allie.

After ‘Kate & Allie’ wrapped, she largely retired from Hollywood. She still made occasional appearances, including on ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ and ‘Suits’.

Her contributions were recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She also met her husband, NBC executive Dick Ebersol, in 1981 while guest-hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’, where he was executive producer.

In a statement shared with People, her loved ones described her as generous with her time and energy, which she valued more than money. They said she was instinctively drawn to anyone who needed lifting up, and that she taught her children to pause, be kind and look out for other people.

Her family has also endured heartbreak, including the loss of her youngest son, Teddy, in a 2004 plane crash that her husband and another son survived. She remained devoted to her children through it all.

She celebrated turning 80 in August by seeing the Doobie Brothers, with whom she toured in the 1970s and 1980s, the night before her birthday, surrounded by all of her children and grandchildren.

For many viewers, Saint James will always be Sally McMillan or Kate McArdle, two characters who showed that television women could be witty, loyal and fully in charge of their own lives. Both shows remain beloved, and reruns have introduced her to new generations.

Her career also stands as a reminder that a performer can leave a mark without staying in the spotlight forever. Saint James chose family over fame and still left an unforgettable stamp on the medium.

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