Susan Saint James, an actress best known for the shows Kate & Allie and McMillan & Wife, has died. She was 80.
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The veteran actress died on Monday following a pancreatic cancer diagnosis, a rep confirmed to PEOPLE.
Saint James’ family remembers her as someone who was “generous with her time and energy, which she valued more than money, and instinctively drawn to whoever needed lifting up. She taught her children to pause, be kind and look out for other people.”
“Every person she met became the most important person in the room at that moment, from a fellow board member to the clerk at the shoe store, who usually walked away knowing her entire life story,” their statement continued.
The family also highlighted what they called her “defining act.” After her 14-year-old son Teddy died in a plane crash in 2004, she turned her eulogy for him into a note for each of her surviving children and her husband.
“Even in the deepest grief of her life, she put everyone else first,” the family said.
Saint James is survived by her husband, former NBC executive Dick Ebersol, and her four children: Sunshine Lucas and Harmony Lucas, who she shared with second husband, makeup artist Tom Lucas, and Charles Ebersol and Willie Ebersol, as well as her seven grandchildren, sister Mary Mercedes Dewey and service dog Lola.
After being born in Los Angeles in 1946, Saint James, born Susan Miller, grew up in Illinois.
She moved back to Los Angeles at the age of 20 to pursue acting. After a few small film roles, Saint James was cast on the show The Name of the Game. She was nominated for three Emmys, winning one.
In 1971, she was cast opposite Rock Hudson on McMillan & Wife. During her five seasons on the show, she was nominated for three more Emmys.
She began starring opposite Jane Curtin in the hit sitcom Kate & Allie in 1984. On the show, the women play divorced best friends who move in together to raise their kids.
“Kate and Allie didn’t plan this. It’s just the best solution they could think of, and their friendship sustains them,” Saint James told PEOPLE in 1984. The show ran until 1989, and Saint James picked up two more Emmy nominations.
After the show ended, Saint James took a step back from acting to raise her children. She made occasional appearances on The Drew Carey Show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Suits.