Andrea Eastman died in her sleep Wednesday August 26 at her home in Santa Barbara. She was 86.
One of Hollywood's first female superagents, she left fingerprints on some of the most consequential films in American cinema history.
She joined Paramount's casting office in 1968 and worked on Goodbye, Columbus, pushing for Ali MacGraw in a role the studio had not envisioned for her. Then came Love Story, which gave Tommy Lee Jones his first film role. Then came The Godfather.
When Paramount executives resisted casting an unknown named Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, the studio's preference was Ryan O'Neal, hot off Love Story, Eastman worked alongside Francis Ford Coppola and producer Fred Roos to hold the line.
Pacino got the part. She also pushed for James Caan as Sonny Corleone. "I am most proud of being one on the team that cast The Godfather," she said. The film won Best Picture.
She left casting for agenting, rising to senior vice president at International Creative Management, one of the most powerful women in the industry at a time when that was genuinely exceptional.
She managed Sylvester Stallone during the Rocky years, represented Barbra Streisand, Billy Crystal, Richard Gere, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Reeve and Tony Danza. She talked Rob Reiner into casting Crystal in When Harry Met Sally.
In her later years she settled in Montana, founded an animal sanctuary for rescued horses and dogs and partnered with Robert Redford to pass California legislation banning horse slaughter.