“I certainly don’t feel 100 years old,” Eva Marie Saint tells PEOPLE as she marks her milestone centennial 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day

Eva Marie Saint on Nov. 7, 2019. Photo:

NICK AGRO/AFP via Getty

Independence Day marks an extra special date this year for Eva Marie Saint.

The legendary actress is celebrating her 100th 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day on Thursday, July 4. The Academy Award winner tells PEOPLE she plans to celebrate with four generations of family members.

“I’m looking forward to spending my 100th 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day in Los Angeles with my dear, dear family. Four generations of family members will be gathering together from Los Angeles, Chicago, Santa Barbara and San Francisco,” Saint, whose Oscar win came in 1955 for her role in On the Waterfront alongside Marlon Brando, says.

“I certainly don’t feel 100 years old,” the actress adds of her daily life. “I continue to take walks out in the fresh air, like watching baseball — especially the Los Angeles Dodgers, and enjoy time with my family and friends. A good life.”

Born on the Fourth of July! All the Stars Celebrating Birthdays on This DayJeffrey Hayden and Eva Marie Saint on March 13, 2011.

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Saint began acting for the screen in 1947. Her first onscreen credit came for a television movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol, in which she costarred with John Carradine and David Carradine. Over more than 60 years as an actor, Saint appeared in memorable movies like A Hatful of Rain (1957) North by Northwest (1959), Loving (1970), Because of Winn-Dixie (2005) and Superman Returns (2006).

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She also maintained a successful career on television, winning an Emmy Award in 1990 for her role in the TV movie People Like Us and receiving four additional Emmy nominations over the course of her career. As a result of her success in both film and television, Saint has two separate stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles to denote her work in both areas.

Saint was married to the late director, writer and producer Jeffrey Hayden, whom she met in New York City, from 1951 until Hayden’s death at 90 in 2016. The couple shared two 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren, Darrell and Laurette, as well as three grand𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren. In 2010, she told The Santa Barbara Independent she remembered Hayden having to help her up when she won her Oscar in 1955, just two days before she gave 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 to their son.

Celebrities Over 90 Years Old, Then and NowJeffrey Hayden and Eva Marie Saint on Oct. 1, 1958.

Darlene Hammond/Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty

“If you ever see footage of me — when they announce my name — you can see me pause and wait a moment,” she said at the time. “Jeff had his thumb on my thigh; I couldn’t get up. So I slowly walked up and said something like, ‘I’m so excited I might have the 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 right here.’ ”

In 2018, Saint memorably appeared onstage at the 90th Academy Awards, where she presented the award for Best Costume Design to the movie Phantom Thread.