Young Susie chose the glamorous life

Press, 18 June 1986, Page 17

Young Susie chose the glamorous life

“Kate and Allie,” a comedy starring Susan Saint ; James and Jane Curtin as . two divorced, childhood friends who merge their households, begins a new series on One at 8.30 p.m. For Susan Saint James, “Kate And Allie” is the ' second successful series she has been associated with (the first being the detective drama, "McMillan and Wife,” in which = she starred with the late Rock Hudson). Born Susie Jane Miller ‘ in Los Angeles and brought up and educated in Rockford, Illinois, she credits her parents with having given her an all- . encompassing outlook on life. However, much taken . with her sister-in-law, a model, she decided that , the glamorous life was for her. Blessed with the oblij gatory tallish, angular , figure and high cheek bones of the successful • model, she found herself right up with the then ' current modelling stars, Jennifer O’Neill, Twiggy >■ and Penelope Tree. Then ’’ came the opportunity to * work for a year in

France.’That year turned into two years, modelling during the day whilst working nights at Paris’ famed Olympia Theatre — pulling the curtain. She plucked the Saint James out of thin air and let it be known that henceforth and forever more she was to be known as Susan Saint James, with the Saint carefully spelled out in full. She then set off for Hollywood, “a starstruck, autograph-seeking kid, determined to be a star.” She was fortunate enough to fall under the wing of Monique James, Universal Studio’s unique finder and developer of talent, and, along with other theif unknowns such as Michael Sarrazin, Katherine Ross, Susan Clark, Carrie Snodgrass, David Hartman and James Farentino, became one of the last young players in Hollywood history to sign the standard, fabled and vastly misunderstood seven-year contract. It meant that the player was tied to the studio for seven years, but that the studio had the

option, every six months, to let the player go. The player’s only option was to do as she was told. Saint James did what she was told and loved it “I hadn’t been there 20 minutes before they put me into the very first 90minute movie made especially for television, ‘Fame is the Name of the Game,’ which starred Gene Barry, Tony Franciosa and Robert Stack.” The show became a series and, in the role of Peggy Maxwell, she won an Emmy Award as Best Actress in its first year. She was also assigned to guest roles in just about every show on the Universal lot won three more Emmy nominations for “Fame,” four more for her work in the later “McMillan and Wife,” and starred in two motion pictures, “P.J.” with George Peppard and “What’s So Bad About Feeling Good?” with Mary Tyler Moore and George Peppard. > Since leaving Universal, Saint James has been in a position to pick and choose her roles and she has chosen quality over quantity. Her films have included “Outlaw Blues” with Peter Fonda, “Love at First Bite,” with George Hamilton, “How to Beat the High Cost of Living,” “Carbon Copy” with George Segal, and “Don’t Cry, It’s Only Thunder,” filmed on-location in the Philippines, opposite Dennis Christopher. Married in 1971 to Tom Lucas, a make-up artist, and divorced in 1976, Saint James now lives in a sprawling 10-room house high in the Hollywood Hills with her three children and her husband Dick Ebersol, the producer of “Saturday Night Live.” Since her marriage in 1981 she divides her time between both coasts.