Biography

Radiant California blonde model and brief 1960s pop culture item Andrea Dromm had a mere two-movie run in the 1960s before she deliberately phased out her film career. 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.
- IMDb mini biography by: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

As of 2008, she was retired from both acting and modeling and living primarily in Long Island (NY) with her mother.

Notable as the willowy flight attendant for National Airlines in the early 1960s, Andrea delivered the famous catchphrase, "Is this any way to run an airline? You bet it is!".

She was the Clairol "Summer Blonde" girl in TV and print ads in the mid-'60s.

Since Star Trek (1966) was only a pilot they could keep you under option for six months and change your character or, even worse, drop you from the series. You had no guarantees that they would sign you for the series. I thought that doing the movie (The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)) would be more exciting and a great thing to do. That was a choice I had to make and you can't look back.

I was offered a role in The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966). They told me you either had to do the film or the (Star Trek (1966)) series. I chose the film, but had I known that "Star Trek" would become such a phenomenon, I probably would have opted for the series.

I enjoyed [modeling] for a while. Conover signed me and I had to go into the city a lot. I was dragged all over the place and had to take buses and trains. I was pulled out of school frequently. I stopped modeling as a child because I decided I would rather stay in school. It was interfering too much with my studies.

During the '60s, when a model became an actress, they didn't want you to model any more. I had reservations about going to California because I still wanted to be in New York part of the time and model. It was a difficult decision.