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Daytime diva Andrea Evans always believed she'd be a star. She achieved that goal in daytime soaps. What she didn't know was that real life can sometimes be as scary as any daytime plot. But the little girl who everyone thought was so beautiful she should be a model has weathered that storm and returned to be one of the Bold and the Beautiful - a role that comes naturally to her.
The professional life of a soap opera star is packed with greed, lust and violence - to name just a few of the human failings the actors dramatize every day. But it's all make-believe excess intended to entertain and boost ratings. That's what Andrea, whom People magazine dubbed "The Diva of Dirt," thought - until the unthinkable occurred.
Her wonderful professional life - the one she'd always felt she was born to live - turned into a nightmare, worse than any she'd ever played in on TV.
But more on that later. First meet the Diva, who now stars as Bold's resident trailer tramp, Tawny Moore.
"I'm one of the fortunate people. I always knew what I wanted to do," Andrea told eStar. P> And what she wanted to do was act.
The blue-eyed, strawberry blonde literally grew up in front of an audience, having been a child star and model in her early years. Even the Illinois town where she grew up during the late 1960s and early 1970s sounds like it was right out of a soap opera - Downer's Grove.
She was born in Aura, Ill., in 1957, and was an exceptionally beautiful child. Total strangers would approach her parents and ask if she was a model. It wasn't long before little Andrea was not only a model, but a beauty pageant-winner and a highly sought-after child actress. By age 10, Andrea was appearing regularly in commercials, print ads and semi-professional stage plays, including light opera and a production of Babar the Elephant.
"I never had any interest in modeling," Andrea told eStar. "I always wanted to be an actress." She was single-minded in her determination to make a name for herself in show business. She was an excellent yet impatient student who couldn't wait to get out of school and test the waters of professional theater. She skipped a grade in high school and graduated early, all the while continuing to work in commercials and regional theater. As a student at the University of Illinois Champagne/Urbana, Andrea was cast as an extra in Brian De Palma's The Fury.
"It was the first time I'd ever been on a film set," she told eStar. "I was so naive my mom and dad sent me to the set with a sack lunch, a baloney sandwich and a carton of milk!" Andrea might have been naive, but De Palma's producer, Frank Yablans, wasn't. He knew talent when he saw it, and instantly upgraded Andrea to a featured role. "The Fury changed everything," says Andrea. "It got me into the Screen Actor's Guild, it made my agents pay attention to my career, and even though most of what I did ended up on the editing room floor, it got me noticed by casting directors." The irony is that, at almost the same time, Andrea's parents received a devastating letter from one of her college professors. "He told them I had no talent and I should go into some other line of work," she told eStar. "Two weeks later, I landed a major role in The Awakening Land, a primetime mini-series for ABC television." Andrea's performance brought her to the attention of Mary Jo Slatter, the casting director for ABC's legendary daytime soap opera One Life to Live.
Andrea always knew her destiny lay outside the familiar sights of Downer's Grove. It was the bright lights of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles that offered her fame. Now, summoned by Slatter, the young actress came to the Big Apple and to star as One Life's Tina Clayton, a role that eventually earned her a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series, as well as an army of devoted fans. "Sometimes a character fits you like a glove, " Andrea told eStar. "Which isn't to say that I am Tina, but it was a very comfortable role for me to play." Andrea quickly became one of daytime's most popular leading ladies. She left One Life to play Patty Williams on The Young and the Restless, where she proved to be just as big a hit. But Andrea was sorely missed on One Life, and when her contract was up that show's producers asked her to return. She picked up right where she left off. In spite of her grueling TV schedule, she somehow found time to appear in feature films as well: The Ice Cream Man (1995), A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994) and The Opposite Sex and How to Live With Them (1992), as well as many of the top primetime television series. The ambitious Andrea also returned to her first passion, the stage, appearing in A.R. Gurney's Love Letters with former One Life love interest John Loprieno. The beautiful little strawberry blonde from Downer's Grove was living her dream. Then, in 1987, came the nightmare.
Soap fans are among the most devoted fans in the world. Tragically, one of Andrea's countless admirers crossed the line. It began when a small, well-dressed man tried to grab Andrea in the lobby of ABC's Manhattan studio. Security guards tossed him out, but two weeks later he returned. When he discovered Andrea was not in the building, he slashed his wrists on the front steps. He was rushed to New York's Bellevue Hospital, where he listed Andrea as his next of kin. "That's when I freaked out," Andrea told eStar. Informed by the police that they were powerless to act until she was physically harmed, Andrea made a bold decision. She moved west, walking away from her career and the public spotlight.
Andrea lived a life of seclusion, turning down many lucrative offers. She did appear in a number of memorable guest-starring roles on primetime TV, including ABC's Capitol News and the syndicated game show Hollywood Squares. However, this was mostly a dark time for Andrea, a time filled with fear and uncertainty. "There comes a point when you have to get on with your life," she told eStar. "You have to take control."
After a nine-year hiatus from daytime TV, Andrea was ready to make her return to what she loves most - acting. "It was hard getting back in the industry after being away so long," she told eStar. "Out of sight, out of mind I guess. It was like starting over again, maybe even harder since people had preconceived ideas about who I am and what I do. It's hard to get them to see you in a different light; to get your chair back once you've given it up."
However, Andrea remains as determined today as when she was an aspiring young actress. Fighting the "out of sight out of mind" syndrome, she had to re-introduce herself to casting directors and producers. But, just as it had earlier in her life, her talent won out in the end. The producers of The Bold and the Beautiful offered her the role of trashy, spiteful Tawny and she jumped at the chance. "I love daytime TV," she told eStar. "I'm a workaholic and the daily grind is perfect for me. I have a photographic memory, so learning the lines isn't a problem. I'm just grateful that I get to do what I love to do."
Fans of daytime television are grateful too.