She never faced the cameras, but the faces she found defined an era of American cinema: Andrea Eastman, the casting director who helped assemble the legendary cast of The Godfather and later repped some of Hollywood’s biggest stars as a top ICM agent, has died at 86.
From model to movie star
Eastman’s eye for untested talent was clear from her first big assignment. In 1969 she pulled model Ali MacGraw out of obscurity and cast her as Brenda Patimkin in Goodbye, Columbus, launching MacGraw into stardom and, the next year, into the hit Love Story.
Building ‘The Godfather’
Her proudest work came in 1972. Working alongside producer Fred Roos and director Francis Ford Coppola, Eastman was an instrumental voice in shaping the iconic Godfather lineup. She later said she was “most proud of being one on the team that cast The Godfather.” The experience was even dramatized in the Paramount+ series The Offer, which fictionalized her role in the film’s making.
Three decades as an agent
In 1983 Eastman joined ICM, where her clients included Burt Reynolds, Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman, along with Jamie Lee Curtis, Billy Crystal, Katie Couric and Jaclyn Smith. She rose to senior vice president before retiring in 2010.
A quiet Hollywood force
Eastman is survived by her former husband Paul N. Lazarus III, stepson Robert Lazarus and his wife Annie. Her death was confirmed by Deadline. She joins a season of Hollywood losses: we remembered Tim Curry at 80 and Dolly Parton at 80 earlier this month.
