Edward Andrews

Edward Bryan Andrews Jr. was born on October 9, 1914, in Griffin, Georgia, the son of an Episcopal priest. He was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Ohio, and Wheeling, West Virginia. At twelve years old, Andrews won a walk-on role in a stock theater production featuring James Gleason, an early indication of his future career. He later attended the University of Virginia.

Andrews made his stage debut at twenty-one in 1935, moving to Broadway that same year. His Broadway career spanned from 1935 to 1958 and included productions such as Mrs. Gibbons' Boys, I Am a Camera, Pardon Our French, the play They Knew What They Wanted, and the comedy The Gazebo. During this period he also starred in the military drama So Proudly We Hail in the lead role opposite Richard Cromwell. His Broadway work was interrupted by service in the United States Army during World War II, during which he served as captain and commanding officer of Battery C within the 751st Field Artillery Battalion. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal in September 1945.

Andrews made his film debut in 1936 in Rushin' Art, followed by a brief uncredited appearance in Adam's Rib in 1949. His film career began in earnest in the mid-1950s, when he appeared in The Phenix City Story (1955) as the corrupt political figure Rhett Tanner. A string of film roles followed in 1956 and 1957, including The Harder They Fall, These Wilder Years, Tea and Sympathy, Tension at Table Rock, The Unguarded Moment, Hot Summer Night, and The Tattered Dress, along with The Fiend Who Walked the West (1958) and Night of the Quarter Moon (1959). Though Andrews was in his forties when his film career accelerated, his appearance led to consistent casting as grandfatherly or authoritative figures. His stark white hair, imposing build, and horn-rimmed glasses shaped the types of roles he received, frequently placing him as an ornery boss, a cagey businessman, or an officious bureaucrat.

Among his more prominent film appearances, Andrews played George F. Babbitt in Elmer Gantry (1960), and appeared as the secretary of defense in both The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and Son of Flubber (1963). He appeared alongside Doris Day and James Garner in The Thrill of It All (1963) and with Doris Day and Rock Hudson in Send Me No Flowers (1964). Additional film credits include The Young Savages (1961), The Young Doctors (1961), Advise and Consent (1962), Good Neighbor Sam (1964), Youngblood Hawke (1964), Kisses for My President (1964), The Glass Bottom Boat (1966), The Trouble with Girls (1969) with Elvis Presley, Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) in which he portrayed Admiral Harold R. Stark, How to Frame a Figg (1971), The Million Dollar Duck (1971), Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), Avanti! (1972), Charley and the Angel (1973), and The Seniors (1978). He played Molly Ringwald's grandfather in the John Hughes film Sixteen Candles (1984) and made his final feature-film appearance in Gremlins (1984).

Andrews was equally prolific on television from the 1950s through the early 1980s. His guest appearances spanned an extensive range of series, including The Twilight Zone, in the episodes "Third From the Sun" and "You Drive," as well as Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Bonanza, The Untouchables, Naked City, Route 66, Bewitched, Hawaii Five-O, The Andy Griffith Show, Charlie's Angels, The Bob Newhart Show, Sanford and Son, and Quincy, M.E., among many others. Producer Edward Montagne, recalling Andrews from his appearances on The Phil Silvers Show, cast him as Commander Roger Adrian in the ABC series Broadside, which ran from 1964 to 1965. Andrews had earlier filmed the pilot for the series Hazel in the role of George Baxter, but was the only cast member replaced when the pilot became a series, with movie actor Don DeFore taking the part. He played the character Charley in a 1966 television dramatization of Death of a Salesman and held the lead role of Harry Flood in the short-lived 1979 NBC series Supertrain. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Andrews appeared in a widely recognized series of Bell Telephone commercials as an overbearing executive.

Andrews married Emily Barnes in 1955. They had two daughters, Abigail and Tabitha, and a son, Edward III. Bewitched star Elizabeth Montgomery named her character's daughter Tabitha after Andrews' daughter, citing her affection for the old-fashioned quality of the name. Andrews was also an avid yachtsman.

Andrews died on March 8, 1985, following a heart attack at his home in Pacific Palisades, California. He was transported to Santa Monica Hospital, where he died later that day at the age of seventy. A memorial service was held on March 11 at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Pacific Palisades, and he was subsequently cremated.