Eva Marie Saint, star of North by Northwest and On the Waterfront, dies aged 102

Landmark roles were in 50s classics directed by Elia Kazan and Alfred Hitchcock, before going on to play Superman’s adoptive mother in later life

• Eva Marie Saint – a life in pictures

• Her best films – ranked

Eva Marie Saint, one of the last survivors of Hollywood’s golden age of the 1940s and 50s, has died aged 102. Her screen work spanned six decades: Saint made her screen debut opposite Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s celebrated thriller North by Northwest, and in one of her last screen appearances played Superman’s adoptive mother Martha Kent in the 2006 superhero film Superman Returns.

A family spokesman said on Tuesday that Saint had died of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles.