In 1955, Saint was nominated for her first Emmy for "Best Actress In A Single Performance" on "The Philco Television Playhouse," for playing the young mistress of middle-aged E. G. Marshall in "Middle of the Night" by Paddy Chayefsky. She won another Emmy nomination for the 1955 television musical version of "Our Town," adapted from the Thornton Wilder play of the same name. Co-stars were Paul Newman and Frank Sinatra. Her success and acclaim in TV productions were of such a high level that "One slightly hyperbolic primordial TV critic dubbed her 'the Helen Hayes of television.'"