Emmy-winning 'Kate & Allie' and 'McMillan & Wife' star Susan Saint James dies of pancreatic cancer at 80

Susan Saint James died on Monday aged 80 after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, survived by husband Dick Ebersol, four children and seven grandchildren. Her family described her defining act as delivering son Teddy's eulogy weeks after he was killed in a plane crash in 2004, aged 14, putting everyone else first in her deepest grief. Jane Curtin, her 'Kate & Allie' co-star for five years, called her 'a decent person who made Kate and Allie a joy.'

Saint James won a Primetime Emmy in 1969 for her role as Peggy Maxwell on NBC's 'The Name of the Game.'

Jamie Lee Curtis was among those paying tribute, recalling being compared to Saint James when she first arrived in Hollywood.

Her final screen role was in an episode of legal drama 'Suits' in 2011; she also held a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 2008.