Susan Saint James 1946 – 2026

Biography

Susan Saint James was a fixture of American television for decades, an Emmy winner who moved from crime drama to sitcom stardom without ever losing her audience. Born Susan Jane Miller in Los Angeles on August 14, 1946, she broke through as Peggy Maxwell on The Name of the Game (1968–1971), winning the 1969 Emmy for supporting actress. She became a household name as Sally McMillan, the quick-witted wife of Rock Hudson’s San Francisco police commissioner on McMillan & Wife (1971–1976), then reinvented herself as Kate McArdle on Kate & Allie (1984–1989), the divorced mother sharing a home — and a life — with Jane Curtin’s Allie. After Kate & Allie she largely stepped away from acting to raise her five children with husband Dick Ebersol, whom she married in 1981, and to support the Special Olympics. She died October 26, 2026, in Los Angeles at 80, after pancreatic cancer. Burial details have not been announced.