Andrea Eastman with her horse Lucky in early August.
This week, we said goodbye—or, perhaps more fittingly, “see you down the trail”—to Andrea Eastman, a cherished friend of Return to Freedom and a beloved personal friend of RTF founder Neda DeMayo.
Andrea passed away peacefully on Wednesday at the age of 86, at her home in Santa Barbara.
“It is hard to talk about something so personal,” Neda said, “yet we want to celebrate the larger-than-life spirit that somehow miraculously fit into her five-foot frame. I lovingly called her my ‘pocket rocket.’”
“And though she be but little, she is fierce.”
—William Shakespeare
Fierce she was.
At a time when women had to fight to be heard—let alone command a room—Andrea broke through barriers and built an extraordinary career in Hollywood.
A Paramount Pictures executive and longtime ICM agent, her storied career included serving as casting director on The Godfather, managing Sylvester Stallone, and representing some of Hollywood’s most celebrated artists, among them Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, Burt Reynolds, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer and Kim Basinger.
But titles and famous names tell only a small part of Andrea’s story.
Neda remembers her as “a powerhouse with a heart of gold—equally at home at The Beverly Hills Hotel, dancing in a cowboy bar in Montana, or riding through the mountains of Big Sky.”
“I will always be grateful for her friendship and her counsel,” Neda said. “She was family.”
Those who knew Andrea also knew how deeply proud she was of her work on behalf of animals. She brought the same determination, influence and instinct that defined her Hollywood career to causes she believed in.
In the late 1990s, Andrea enlisted her friend Robert Redford’s help in the effort to pass California’s groundbreaking ban on horse slaughter.
In 2004, she helped turn a national spotlight on Premarin and the tragic fate of the mares kept continually pregnant so their urine could be harvested to manufacture the drug—and of the foals born into that industry. Through Katie Couric, Andrea helped bring the investigative story to NBC’s Dateline.
Her relationship with Return to Freedom began, appropriately enough, through horses.
In 2004, Andrea and Neda were both featured in Jill Rappaport and Wendy Wilkinson’s book, People We Know, Horses They Love. Their paths crossed at the book’s launch party in New York, beginning a friendship that would span more than two decades.
Andrea became a devoted supporter of RTF and soon joined its Advisory Board, where she also served on the Development Committee.
As she did throughout her life, Andrea opened doors—but never casually. She was discerning. She had an extraordinary instinct for recognizing when two people, an idea and a person, or a cause and an opportunity truly belonged together.
She loved connecting people, particularly when it could advance something—or someone—she believed in.
In 2013, when Robert Redford was inundated with requests to lend his name and support to organizations working on wild horse issues, he turned to Andrea. Her assessment of RTF was characteristically succinct: “They’re the real deal.”
Redford had already supported RTF’s advocacy efforts around horse slaughter and wild horse protection, but Andrea’s endorsement, followed by substantive conversations with Neda, deepened his involvement. In 2014, he joined Return to Freedom’s Board of Directors.
Andrea understood the power of relationships, but more importantly, she understood the responsibility that came with them.
In the final weeks of her life, the calls, texts and visits came from seemingly everywhere—friends from every chapter of an extraordinary life, reaching out with love and gratitude, remembering the introductions she had made, the doors she had opened, the advice she had given, the laughter they had shared, and the ways, large and small, that she had changed their lives.
Her friendships meant everything to her.
And so did her animals.
“For me, one of the hardest moments before she passed,” Neda recalled, “was seeing the sadness in her eyes as she looked at her dog, Polo, knowing that she would have to say goodbye.”
A few weeks before Andrea’s passing, Neda and their friend Joni Siegel brought Andrea’s beloved horses, Lucky and Shawnee, to visit her at her Santa Barbara home.
The horses quietly grazed the lawn along the path as neighbors gathered to watch. For Andrea, it was a chance to be close once more to two animals she dearly loved. For those privileged to witness it, it was a beautiful and unforgettable moment—a final visit between old friends.
Lucky and Shawnee will continue to be cared for at Return to Freedom’s Santa Ynez sanctuary location. Her beloved Polo has returned to Montana, where she will live with a very familiar friend.
There are never enough words to capture the essence of a person—particularly someone like Andrea.
She was glamorous and down-to-earth. Formidable and tenderhearted. Fiercely loyal. Funny. Generous. Discerning. Fearless. A friend to animals and a champion of people she believed in.
She was many things to many people.
To us, she was family.
And Andrea Eastman was, unquestionably, a rainmaker.
We will miss her more than words can say.
See you down the trail, Andrea.