Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent in 'Superman Returns' loading=
Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent in "Superman Returns".

Eva Marie Saint, the Oscar-winning actress who brought Martha Kent to life in the 2006 film Superman Returns, has died at the age of 102. Saint died Tuesday, October 6, 2026, of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, according to reports from her representative and major news outlets.

For Superman fans, Saint's performance as Martha Kent represented one of the most recognizable later chapters of a remarkable career. In Superman Returns, she portrayed the adoptive mother of Brandon Routh's Superman, giving the character a warm and grounded presence as Clark Kent returned to the family farm after years away from Earth. The film, directed by Bryan Singer, marked Saint's return to the Superman mythology decades after the original Christopher Reeve films.

Saint's career had begun more than five decades before Superman Returns. She made her feature-film debut in Elia Kazan's 1954 drama On the Waterfront opposite Marlon Brando and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Edie Doyle. She followed that breakthrough with Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest in 1959, playing the enigmatic Eve Kendall opposite Cary Grant, establishing herself as one of the defining performers of American cinema's golden era.

Her film work also included Exodus, All Fall Down, Grand Prix, The Stalking Moon, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming and Nothing in Common. Saint also built an extensive television career and received a Primetime Emmy Award for the 1990 miniseries People Like Us. Her work across film, television and theater ultimately spanned more than six decades.

Saint's connection to Superman Returns gave a celebrated Hollywood veteran a place in another generation's Superman story. Her Martha Kent was part of the film's emotional foundation, reflecting the enduring importance of the Kent family in Superman's life. Saint later continued to work in film, including a role in Winter's Tale, and remained a respected presence in Hollywood well into her later years.

Born July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey, Saint studied at Bowling Green State University and trained at the Actors Studio before establishing herself in live television and on Broadway. She married television director and producer Jeffrey Hayden in 1951, and the couple remained together until his death in 2016. Saint is survived by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

With her passing, Superman fans are remembering not only the actress behind Martha Kent, but also an extraordinary performer whose career connected several generations of American film and television. Eva Marie Saint leaves behind a body of work that includes some of the most enduring movies of the 1950s and 1960s, as well as a memorable contribution to the Superman legacy through Superman Returns.