Career
She moved to California at age 20, when she began her acting career. Her first screen role was in the TV-movie Fame Is the Name of the Game (1966) with Tony Franciosa, launching her career when the film became a series two years later. Among her other early television appearances were two episodes of the first season of Ironside ("Girl in the Night", December 1967 and two months later, playing a different role in the episode "Something for Nothing"). She also had a supporting role in Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968), the sequel to The Trouble with Angels.
From 1968 to 1971, as a result of her very first role in Fame Is the Name of the Game, she had a regular part in the series The Name of the Game, winning an Emmy Award for her role in 1969 and establishing her as a popular young actress. She provided series continuity by appearing in most episodes regardless of whether the lead that week was Franciosa, Gene Barry, Robert Stack, Peter Falk, Robert Culp, Darren McGavin, or Robert Wagner, all of whom helmed episodes in the revolving "wheel" format. At the same time she had a recurring role as Chuck (Charlene Brown), Alexander Mundy's fellow thief and "friend with benefits" in four episodes of the series It Takes a Thief. She also appeared in the pilot episode of Alias Smith and Jones (1971).
Then came starring roles as Rock Hudson's younger supportive wife, Sally McMillan, in a popular 1970s crime drama, McMillan & Wife from 1971 until 1976, and received four Emmy Award nominations.
She left the show to further her career as an actress in feature films such as co-starring with Peter Fonda in the film Outlaw Blues. She achieved a significant success in the vampire comedy Love at First Bite (1979). Between films, she made a guest appearance in the March 3, 1980 episode of M*A*S*H (Episode 192: War Co-Respondent). After other film ventures failed to establish her, she returned to television, appearing in the comedy series Kate & Allie opposite Jane Curtin from 1984 until 1989. She received three more Emmy Award nominations for this role.
Saint James also was a celebrity and commentator for World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s WrestleMania 2 event in 1986 along with Vince McMahon.
In her mid-40s Saint James proclaimed herself retired after Kate & Allie ended. In addition to motherhood (her youngest son was born during the fourth season of Kate & Allie), she's been an active volunteer with the Special Olympics (an organization she began actively supporting in 1972); she has in the past also served on their board and served as Civitan International's celebrity chairperson for their Special Olympics involvement. In 1998, Saint James, her sister Mercedes Dewey and friend Barrie Johnson founded "Seedling and Pip", a baby gift basket business. She also is a board member of the Telluride Foundation
Saint James occasionally has emerged from retirement to appear in television series guest roles, such as the mother of (her real-life lookalike niece) Christa Miller in the first season of The Drew Carey Show, and ten years later, as a defense attorney on the February 28, 2006, episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She also starred in a Warner Theatre (Torrington, Connecticut) 1999 production of The Miracle Worker. On June 11, 2008, Saint James was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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