Andrea Eastman dies at 86 after shaping ‘The Godfather’ and Hollywood careers
Andrea Eastman, the casting director who helped secure Al Pacino for ‘The Godfather,’ has died at 86.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
Andrea Eastman dies at 86, closing the story of a casting director who helped shape the lineup of The Godfather before spending decades as a leading Hollywood talent agent. Variety reported that Eastman died Wednesday at her home in Santa Barbara, while Deadline said it confirmed her death.
Eastman’s early casting work put her in the middle of several defining studio films. Her later agency career included a senior vice president post at International Creative Management, or ICM, according to Variety and Deadline.
What was Andrea Eastman’s role in casting ‘The Godfather’?
Variety reported that Paramount executives opposed casting Al Pacino, then relatively unknown, as Michael Corleone. Eastman worked with director Francis Ford Coppola to help secure Pacino for the part and negotiated to bring James Caan aboard as Sonny Corleone.
Deadline reported that Eastman later said she was proud to have been part of the team that cast the 1972 film, and described that period as the happiest time of her life. The outlet also reported that she said she was responsible for Caan receiving the role of Sonny.
Variety said Eastman’s contributions to The Godfather are recognized in the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures archives.
From casting desk to talent agency
Before The Godfather, Eastman cast Ali MacGraw in Goodbye, Columbus, Deadline reported. Variety said she also oversaw casting on Love Story and Goodbye Columbus, and credited her with discovering Tommy Lee Jones, who made his film debut in Love Story, according to Deadline.
Following The Godfather, Eastman moved into representation. Variety reported that she worked at International Famous Agency and Creative Management Associates before rising to senior vice president at ICM. Deadline said she joined ICM in 1983 and retired in 2010.
Her clients and career relationships included Sylvester Stallone, Billy Crystal, Barbra Streisand and Jamie Lee Curtis, according to Variety and Deadline. Deadline also listed Dustin Hoffman, Katie Couric, Burt Reynolds and Jaclyn Smith among the performers and media figures she represented at ICM.
Later work with animals
In later life, Eastman settled in Montana and founded a sanctuary for horses and dogs that had been mistreated, abandoned or abused, Variety reported. She also worked with Robert Redford on a grassroots campaign behind California’s Proposition 6, which Variety said made the state the first in the United States to fully outlaw horse slaughter for human consumption.
Variety reported that she commissioned the 2022 children’s book Trooper at the Beverly Hills Hotel, inspired by her recovery from open-heart surgery alongside her golden retriever, Trooper.
Eastman is survived by her former husband, Paul N. Lazarus III; her stepson, Robert Lazarus; and Robert Lazarus’ wife, Annie, Variety and Deadline reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.