Eva Marie Saint speaking to the media Sunday afternoon. (Photo: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune)

Eva Marie Saint has never strayed far from the stage.
From her first role as the leading lady in a Bowling Green State University play to her current role in
“A Winter’s Tale,” co-starring Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay (“Downton Abbey”), William Hurt,
Russell Crowe and Will Smith, the BGSU alumna has remained in the spotlight.
Saint and her husband, producer/director Jeffrey Hayden, returned to campus over the weekend for the
dedication of a new theater in her honor. The Eva Marie Saint Theatre, relocated from University Hall
where she began her career, was dedicated Saturday in its new location at the Wolfe Center for the Arts.

“It’s a beautiful theater,” Saint said. “We just got a great feeling from being in the theater.”
“This was very special because the Eva Marie Saint Theatre is now the center’s black box theater.”
Saint followed her sister to BGSU and started out as an education major.
She was set on becoming a teacher, following in her mother’s footsteps, until her Delta Gamma sorority
adviser urged her to try out for the play “Personal Appearance.”
She landed the leading lady role.
“There was something about being on stage and doing a play. I had an epiphany,” she said.

Actress Eva Marie Saint speaks at Bowling Green State University Saturday during a ceremony dedicating a new theater in her honor. (Photo: David C. Miller/Sentinel-Tribune)

After that, she took a summer job in New York City at NBC just to be around show business.
From there, with her father’s blessing and encouragement, she changed her major from education to drama.

Her first “gig” was as an off-camera applauder.
Saint jokes she spent more on her dress than she was paid for the job.
But she paid her dues which led to bigger and bigger roles.
She has appeared in more than 161 productions on stage, television and film. Saint earned an Academy
Award for “On the Waterfront” and a 1990 Emmy for her role in “People Like Us.” She has two stars on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Production begins soon for Saint’s newest role in “A Winter’s Tale,” based on Mark Helprin’s 1983 fantasy
novel. The movie is the directing debut for Akiva Goldsman, screenwriter for “A Beautiful Mind.”
Saint said she and her husband plan to continue in the industry.
“Neither of us has said, ‘This is it, let’s just play golf. We don’t even play golf,’” she laughed.
Saint spoke to media Sunday as she took part in the 100th anniversary celebration of the film careers of
Lillian and Dorothy Gish.
Saint called Lillian Gish “iconic.”
The two met while working on a television show together and “we have been friends for life,” Saint said.

Returning to the “Gish” on Sunday, Saint said she “can just feel her (Gish’s) vibes today.”
“I think this little theater is so special. It’s really a jewel,” she said.
Bowling Green Mayor Dick Edwards proclaimed Saturday Eva Marie Saint Day and Sunday Lillian Gish Day in
the city.