Radiant California blonde model and brief 60s pop culture item Andrea Dromm had a mere two-movie run in the 1960s before she deliberately phased out her film career out. Born on February 8, 1941, to a well-to-do family (her father was an engineer), she was raised for a time on Long Island (Manhasset) before the family moved to Pennsylvania and settled. Little Andrea was already in the modeling business by age six but discontinued it in high school in order to pursue a steadier education.
Following graduation, Andrea attended the University of Connecticut and majored in drama, appearing in numerous school plays while there (“The Crucible,” “The Diary of Anne Frank”). She quit during her senior year, however, and moved to San Francisco, working for a Saks store for a time. She then returned East to college to finish her degree.
Her move back to New York also encouraged a return to modeling and Andrea rebuilt her career as a popular New York runway model. She eventually signed up with the Eileen Ford Agency and became an “overnight” star after winning the role of the flight attendant in a long-running commercial for National Airlines in 1963.
Hollywood took notice of this easy, breezy, beautiful commercial model and enticed her to move West to forge an acting career. It was a reluctant move for her. Her first acting job would be in the second “Star Trek” pilot episode, which introduced William Shatner to the show. Although she was promised a continued run in the sci-fi series, she instead accepted her first film role.
The classic comedy/satire The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966) was a terrific introductory showcase for her in which she played a fetching-looking teenage babysitter who falls for a handsome young Russian sailor and protector (John Phillip Law). Both were surrounded by huge comedy talent in the film, including Alan Arkin, Carl Reiner, Paul Ford and Jonathan Winters. Following this she revealed even more of her curvy assets as a pretty, bikini-draped undercover agent trying to solve a murder alongside equally pretty Troy Donahue in Come Spy with Me (1967). This movie bombed on arrival.
The Hollywood scene was not for Andrea, however, and, after a mere three acting jobs, willingly returned to New York and modeling again. Still benefiting from her ultimate surfer West Coast image and exposure on-camera Hollywood exposure, Clairol hired her and gave her huge “Summer Blonde” campaign.
Once her modeling days were over, the never-married Andrea deliberately avoided the spotlight and has been little seen since. Reports have indicated that she was living with her mother off of real estate investments and spending time between homes in The Hamptons and Palm Beach.
