With heavy hearts we announce the passing this wonderful actress who gave us so much Full story below

The loss is heartbreaking, but her family’s memories reach deeper than fame. Following reports of Susan Saint James’s death at 80, attention turns to the mother behind the beloved television star. After an unimaginable tragedy shattered her world, she offered comfort to those closest to her, leaving a legacy her loved ones now describe through one act of kindness.

Susan Saint James died October 26 at 80 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, her representative told People. An Emmy winner for The Name of the Game, she became a familiar presence in McMillan & Wife and Kate & Allie. Yet beyond television, she increasingly chose a quieter priority: raising her children. Married to Dick Ebersol since 1981, she built a family life that brought profound happiness—and devastating sorrow when their 14-year-old son, Teddy, died in a 2004 plane crash.

Her family remembers how, even then, she offered comfort to her husband and surviving children through Teddy’s eulogy. That generosity also shaped her longtime work with Special Olympics and her everyday encounters with strangers. In August, surrounded by loved ones, she celebrated an 80th birthday she treasured. She leaves Ebersol, four surviving children, seven grandchildren, and her sister—and a family whose tribute places kindness at the center of her story.

For her family, the memories described in their tribute place the public career beside a much more intimate story. Audiences knew a performer through the characters she brought to television. Her husband and children knew the person who shared their home, celebrated their milestones, and stood with them when life became painfully difficult. Those perspectives do not compete; together, they give a fuller sense of the life being remembered.

The death of Teddy was a profound part of that family history. The account recalls the comfort Saint James offered through his eulogy, describing a mother who found a way to support others while living with her own grief. It is that response, rather than fame alone, that her loved ones place at the center of their remembrance. Their words turn attention toward the care people give one another when there is no easy way to make suffering smaller.

Her work with Special Olympics belongs to the same portrait. The tribute connects that commitment with the kindness people encountered in ordinary interactions, suggesting a continuity between public service and private conduct. A person’s influence can be measured through visible achievements, but it can also remain in the way another person remembers being treated. For those who knew her, those everyday encounters form part of the legacy alongside the recognizable television roles.

The birthday gathering in August offered a different kind of memory: loved ones together, celebrating an occasion she treasured. Such moments can become especially meaningful within a family’s account of a final year. They hold the sound of conversation, the presence of familiar faces, and the simple fact of having shared time together. In remembering Saint James, her family returns to those human details as well as her professional accomplishments, preserving a portrait shaped by affection, resilience, and care.