NBC Sports Honors Susan Saint James on 'Sunday Night Football' as Friends Recall Her Strength

Susan Saint James was remembered on national television Sunday night. NBC Sports paid tribute to the Emmy-winning star of McMillan & Wife and Kate & Allie during “Football Night in America” and “Sunday Night Football,” a week after she died at 80.

Saint James was married to Dick Ebersol, the former longtime chairman of NBC Sports, as Sports Business Journal noted, which gave the tribute a personal note for the network.

The NBC Sports tribute

Sports Business Journal reported ahead of the broadcast that Bob Costas would narrate a tribute during “Football Night in America” and that Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth would remember her during the game. NBC Sports posted the Costas segment, “Remembering the life of Susan Saint James,” on Nov. 1.

How did Susan Saint James die?

She died Oct. 26 of pancreatic cancer, according to The Guardian and Sports Business Journal.

Friends recall how she carried the loss of her son

In interviews with People, close friends focused on how Saint James handled the worst moment of her life. Her youngest son, Teddy, was killed at 14 in a private plane crash in Colorado over Thanksgiving weekend in 2004. Ebersol and their older son Charlie, then 21, survived with serious injuries, People reported.

Costas, who grew close to her through his long friendship with Ebersol, told People that “the eulogy she delivered for him under that kind of duress was just magnificent,” adding, “You wouldn’t think that something that heartbreaking could also be so beautiful.”

Tom Werner, the TV producer and Boston Red Sox chairman, called her response “inspirational.” “She always thought about this terrible tragedy and turned it into a celebration of life,” he told People, recalling that at Fenway Park she would talk about how grateful she was for the time she had with Teddy.

Costas also described her warmth: “She was a big star in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, but she never big-timed anybody.”

Who was Susan Saint James?

Born Susan Jane Miller in Los Angeles in 1946, she won a Primetime Emmy in 1969 for The Name of the Game, The Guardian noted. She became a global star opposite Rock Hudson as Sally McMillan in McMillan & Wife (1971-76), and later played Kate McArdle opposite Jane Curtin in the CBS sitcom Kate & Allie (1984-89). Her film work included Outlaw Blues (1977) and Love at First Bite (1979). Later TV credits included Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Suits and Upload.

After Kate & Allie she largely stepped back from acting to raise her children and work with Special Olympics. She also co-owned the Litchfield, Connecticut, radio station WZBG from 1992 until 2024.

Who was Susan Saint James married to?

She married Ebersol in 1981. Her earlier marriages, to screenwriter Richard Neubert and makeup artist Tom Lucas, ended in divorce, per The Guardian. She is survived by Ebersol, sons Charlie and Willie, Sunshine and Harmony from her second marriage, a sister and seven grandchildren.

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Earlier coverage: Jane Curtin leads tributes to Susan Saint James: 'We lost a decent person today' (Oct 28)