Stage Andrews made his stage debut at age 21 in 1935, progressing to
Broadway that same year. During this period, Andrews starred in the short-lived but well-received military drama
So Proudly We Hail in the lead role opposite
Richard Cromwell. In 1936, Andrews debuted in the film ''Rushin' Art''. In 1949 he made a brief, uncredited appearance as a neighbor to
David Wayne's character in ''
Adam's Rib. His next film appearance came in 1955 as the subversive and corrupt Rhett Tanner, head of a violent political machine, in The Phenix City Story. This was soon followed by roles in other films such as The Harder They Fall (1956), These Wilder Years (1956), Tea and Sympathy (1956), Tension at Table Rock (1956), The Unguarded Moment (1956), Hot Summer Night (1957), The Tattered Dress (1957), The Fiend Who Walked the West (1958) and Night of the Quarter Moon'' (1959).
Film While Andrews' film acting career began in earnest in his forties, he appeared much older than he actually was and he was consistently typecast as a grandfatherly type. Though he often played amiable characters, Andrews was equally adept at portraying characters such as sleazy businessmen types or uptight bureaucrats. Andrews appeared in several popular films, including
Elmer Gantry (1960) in which he was memorable as
George F. Babbitt,
The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and
Son of Flubber (1963) as the secretary of defense,
The Thrill of It All (1963) with
Doris Day and
James Garner,
Send Me No Flowers (1964) with Doris Day and
Rock Hudson and
Avanti! (1972) as a government agent. Among his other film credits are
The Young Savages (1961),
The Young Doctors (1961),
Advise & 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) as Admiral
Harold R. Stark,
How to Frame a Figg (1971),
The Million Dollar Duck (1971), ''
Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), Charley and the Angel (1973) and The Seniors'' (1978). He played
Molly Ringwald's grandfather in the
John Hughes film
Sixteen Candles (1984) before making his final feature-film appearance in
Gremlins (1984).
Television Andrews guest-starred on many television series including
Mama,
Thriller,
Goodyear Television Playhouse,
Hands of Mystery,
The United States Steel Hour,
Justice (1954 series),
Cheyenne,
The Twilight Zone (in the episodes "
Third From the Sun" and "
You Drive"),
The Real McCoys,
The Eleventh Hour,
Route 66,
Naked City,
Gunsmoke,
Rawhide,
The Untouchables,
Bonanza,
Alias Smith and Jones,
The Wild Wild West,
Ironside,
The F.B.I.,
The Beverly Hillbillies,
Mr. Novak,
Sanford and Son,
One Day at a Time,
Love American Style,
Ellery Queen,
The Invaders,
Bewitched,
Hawaii Five-O, ''
Charlie's Angels, The Rookies, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Storefront Lawyers, The Love Boat, The Andy Griffith Show, Fantasy Island, Three's Company, The Bob Newhart Show and Quincy, M.E.''. Television producer
Edward Montagne remembered "Eddie Andrews" from his appearances in the military
sitcom The Phil Silvers Show (
Sergeant Bilko) and cast him as a co-star on the
ABC series
Broadside (1964–1965) as the rarefied Commander Roger Adrian. "The amusing thing is that Ed Montagne first offered me the Captain Binghamton role in his ''
McHale's Navy and I turned him down," said Andrews in 1965. "After seeing what a wonderful job Joe Flynn is doing with the role, I keep kicking myself for what was apparently a stupid decision. [Broadside
] is roughly a distaff version of McHale's Navy''. One reason I grabbed onto this series is that finally, I hope, I'll get an identity with exposure every week in the same role." Andrews had previously filmed the pilot for the popular series
Hazel in the role of George Baxter. His was the only role recast when the pilot became a series; he was replaced by movie actor
Don DeFore. Andrews played the character of Charley in the 1966 dramatization of
Death of a Salesman, and was active in television productions throughout the early 1980s. He played Elton Dykstra on
The Intruders, Ernest W. Stanley in
The Man Who Came to Dinner, Mayor Robert Chisholm alongside
Don Knotts in the film
How to Frame a Figg (1971), and Mayor Massey on the television film
The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton. In 1968, he played a
safecracker in a four-part episode of
I Dream of Jeannie and in early 1969, he appeared as a drug-dealing mortician on
Mod Squad. He also had the lead role as Harry Flood in the
NBC short-lived 1979 series
Supertrain. In 1982, he appeared in an episode of ABC's ''
Three's Company''. Edward Andrews was also a familiar face in television commercials, advertising various products. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he appeared in a series of popular commercials for
Bell Telephone as an overbearing executive. == Personal life ==