Susan Saint James, Emmy-Winning Star of ‘McMillan & Wife’ and ‘Kate & Allie,’ Dies at 80
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What happened
Susan Saint James, the Emmy-winning television actress who starred opposite Rock Hudson in the 1970s series "McMillan & Wife" and opposite Jane Curtin in the 1980s sitcom "Kate & Allie," died at 80 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The Associated Press first reported the story on 2026-10-27 and was credited as the origin by Breitbart; the first on-record sources were People magazine, which cited a representative saying she died Monday, and the Saint James family. Born Susan Jane Miller on Aug. 14, 1946, in Los Angeles, she won an Emmy in 1969 for "The Name of the Game," received three Emmy nominations as Sally McMillan from 1971 to 1976, and two more as Kate on "Kate & Allie" from 1984 to 1989, after which she largely retired to raise her younger children in Litchfield, Connecticut. Her family told People she "never met a stranger," and that weeks after her 14-year-old son Teddy died in a Nov. 28, 2004 plane crash, she delivered his eulogy as a note to each of her other children and her husband, Dick Ebersol, whom she had met while guest-hosting Saturday Night Live in 1981. She is survived by Ebersol; children Sunshine and Harmony from her marriage to makeup artist Tom Lucas; sons Charlie and Willie with Ebersol; and niece Christa Miller; she was also a longtime Special Olympics volunteer and board member.
Sourcing check · Mostly on the record · 2 articles
1 of 2 articles cite a named source for the story. It started with unnamed sources; a named source appeared within the hour. Most articles credit AP rather than reporting it themselves.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 1 of 2
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Saint James family and People magazine
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 0 of 2
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: None cited.
- Credits another outlet 1 of 2
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: AP
- Unnamed sources 0 of 2
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Oct 27, 20:17 UTC by New York Times, with no named source. First named source within the hour, from Breitbart.
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage, in the New York Times, leaves out the cause of death and Saint James's breakout role, so a reader never learns she had pancreatic cancer or starred opposite Rock Hudson. It names only Kate & Allie and offers a short plot of the sitcom about divorced women in New York. Right-leaning coverage, from Breitbart, reports the diagnosis and treats McMillan & Wife as the part that made her famous.
Her headline billing tells the same story of what she was known for. Left-leaning coverage leads with Kate & Allie and does not mention the Hudson series at all. Right-leaning coverage opens with McMillan & Wife and later says she earned her "biggest fame" as Sally McMillan.
When was Saint James diagnosed, and did she speak publicly about the illness?
Bottom line
The New York Times never names pancreatic cancer or McMillan & Wife in its Saint James death note; both are in the AP obituary Breitbart ran.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- She had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
- She co-starred with Rock Hudson as Sally McMillan in McMillan & Wife
- She won an Emmy in 1969 for The Name of the Game
- She left McMillan & Wife after a contract dispute and her character was killed in a plane crash
- Her son Teddy died at 14 in a 2004 private plane crash
The Left View
The New York Times identified Saint James as an Emmy winner "best known for starring opposite Jane Curtin in ‘Kate & Allie,’" and described that series as "a 1980s sitcom about two divorced women raising three children in New York City," making the show and its divorced-motherhood premise the whole of its account of her career.
The Right View
Breitbart ran the full Associated Press obituary, treating her 1970s work with Hudson and her later sitcom with Curtin as co-equal landmarks, and giving substantial space to the family’s "never met a stranger" tribute, the eulogy after Teddy’s death, Special Olympics board service, and the list of survivors.
Our Take (balanced)
The Times’s strongest claim is that she was "best known" for Kate & Allie, a sitcom it defined by two divorced women raising children in New York—the identification that constitutes its entire framing. The AP account carried by Breitbart’s strongest claim is that her 1970s stardom, later sitcom, family loss, and Special Olympics work jointly define the record, as shown by the wire obituary’s range. The central unresolved tension is whether her death is best remembered through that one 1980s sitcom’s cultural premise or through a conventional full-life obituary that does not privilege it.
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