Andrea Eastman, Casting Director Who Fought for Pacino in 'The Godfather,' Dies at 86
Andrea Eastman, the casting director who helped secure Al Pacino for The Godfather when Paramount's own executives wanted no part of an unknown lead, died on Wednesday at her home in Santa Barbara. She was 86. Variety
Eastman was one of Hollywood's pioneering female agents, working at Creative Management Associates and the International Famous Agency — the talent firms that represented, and in many cases built, the biggest names in the business. Her client roster over the years included Sylvester Stallone, Richard Gere, Barbra Streisand, Billy Crystal, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Reeve, Katherine Heigl and Tony Danza, according to Variety.
Her most consequential work, though, happened in the casting room. When Paramount executives opposed giving the role of Michael Corleone to the then-largely-unknown Pacino, Eastman worked alongside director Francis Ford Coppola to secure him for the part. She also negotiated to bring James Caan into the film as the hot-headed Sonny Corleone. Her contributions to The Godfather are recognised in the archives of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
Before The Godfather, Eastman oversaw casting on Love Story, the 1970 romantic drama starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal. It was Eastman who discovered a young Tommy Lee Jones, then a newcomer, and brought him into the project. She also handled casting for Goodbye, Columbus, the 1969 adaptation of Philip Roth's novella.
Her career as one of the industry's first prominent women agents was later depicted in The Offer, the 2022 Paramount+ miniseries about the making of The Godfather.
In her later years, Eastman left Los Angeles for Montana and turned her attention entirely to animal welfare. She established a sanctuary for mistreated, abandoned and abused horses and dogs. Partnering with Robert Redford, she became a driving force in a grassroots campaign to pass California's Proposition 6, which made California the first U.S. state to completely outlaw the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Her animal advocacy was later profiled in Jill Rappaport's book People We Know, Horses They Love.
In 2022, Eastman commissioned the children's book Trooper at the Beverly Hills Hotel, inspired by her real-life recovery from open-heart surgery at the hotel, where her Golden Retriever, Trooper, stayed by her side.
Eastman is survived by her former husband, Paul N. Lazarus III, her stepson Robert Lazarus, and his wife Annie.
A life spent discovering people — and rescuing animals — that spanned the height of New Hollywood and the open ranges of Montana.
