How many kids did Susan Saint James have? Family and more explored after the ‘Kate & Allie’ star’s death at 80

The Love at First Bite actress Susan Saint James, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, passed away at 80 on October 26, 2026. The unfortunate news of her death was confirmed by one of her representatives, according to People. Born in LA, Susan was brought up in Rockford, Illinois, and at the age of seven, after watching a film by Rhonda Fleming, she decided to be an actress and be in the movie business.

According to People, Susan Saint James, who was married thrice, shared two children, Sunshine and Harmony, with her second husband, Thomas Lucas, and three children, Charlie, Willie, and Teddy, with her third husband, Dick Ebersol.

Unfortunately, Susan lost Teddy when he was just 14, in a plane crash in November 2004 in Colorado. Following her son's unexpected death, Susan took it upon herself to help and provide guidance to other people who lost their kids.

Widely known for her work on the NBC TV show McMillan & Wife, Susan Saint James' first husband was Richard Neubert, a scriptwriter, whom she married in 1967. While Susan was widely known for her successful TV shows such as Kate & Allie, she has also worked in several films.

According to People, following Susan Saint James' death, her family released a statement in which they discussed the kind of person she was and how she treated everyone with love and respect. The statement read:

Saint James was 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."

The statement continued:

"She never met a stranger. 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. Her defining act: weeks after losing her youngest son, Teddy, in the November 28, 2004 plane crash, she delivered his eulogy as a note to each of her other children and her husband, giving them words to heal. Even in the deepest grief of her life, she put everyone else first. Days after the crash she sat with Tim Russert to thank the people who had reached out and to tell them the family was okay."

The statement further added:

"She brought that same fire and positivity to everything that followed, and never lost it. She is survived by her husband, Dick Ebersol, her four children–Sunshine Lucas, Harmony Lucas, Charlie Ebersol and Willie Ebersol–her seven grandchildren; her sister, Mary Mercedes Dewey, as well as her beloved service dog, Lola."

Susan Saint James opened up about her retirement

The Outlaw Blues star, Susan Saint James, who decided to stay away from the limelight and media attention in the late 80s, during a conversation with the Baltimore Sun back in 1993, opened up about her retirement and how she wanted her children to be the center of attention instead of her. She said:

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"The biggest part of my retirement from films and television is because my kids are at that age now where they need to be the stars of our family. They don’t need a mother who, when she walks in a room, they get shoved out of the way. I’ve had a much more pleasant life since that star has faded."

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