Who is Andrea Evans?
Andrea Lynn Evans (June 18, 1957 – July 9, 2023) was a producer and actor from the United States. She was well known for her role as Tina Lord on the ABC serial series One Life to Live, which she performed from 1978 to 1981 and again from 1985 to 1990 before returning in 2008 and 2011. Evans also featured on The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Passions, among other shows.
| Born Name – | Andrea Lynn Evans |
| Date of Birth – | June 18, 1957 |
| Died – | July 9, 2023 (aged 66) |
| Place of Birth – | Aurora, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation – | Actress, producer |
| Years active – | 1978–2018 |
| Spouses – | Wayne Massey (m. 1981–1983) Stephen Rodriguez (m. 1998) |
| Children’s – | 1 |
Andrea Evans Career –
Evans was born on June 18, 1957, in Aurora, Illinois. Evans began her career as a child model, then moved on to regional theatre and commercials. She graduated from high school early and went on to attend the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Evans was hired as an extra in the 1978 Brian De Palma picture The Fury and the miniseries The Awakening Land the same year.
Evans quickly landed the part of Tina Clayton on the ABC daytime serial series One Life to Live, where she served until 1981. From 1983 until 1984, Evans portrayed Patty Williams, Paul Williams’ younger sister and Jack Abbott’s wife, on The Young and the Restless.
Evans returned to One Life to Live in 1985, in a plotline that was credited with getting the show “back on track” and eventually propelling Tina to her peak of fame. She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Ingenue for One Life to Live in 1988, and she has featured five times on the cover of Soap Opera Digest. From 1986 until 1990, Evans was on the cover of Soap Opera Digest every year.
Evans unexpectedly left One Life to Live in January 1990, disappearing from public view for over a decade. Years later, she confessed that she had fled to avoid a stalker who had gone so far as to break into the ABC studios in New York City, bent on murdering her. Along with ABC security, co-star Fiona Hutchison attempted to wrest the stalker from Evans. The stalker issue was widely downplayed in the news at the time.
Tina, the character on One Life to Live, relocated to California following her divorce from long-term love interest Cord Roberts. Evans discussed working with Rebecca Schaeffer, who played Annie Barnes on One Life to Live for six months in 1985, in a 2005 episode of the CBS News show 48 Hours, and how Schaeffer’s murder by her own stalker in August 1989 prompted Evans to leave the show in January 1990.
During the 1990s, Evans appeared in two feature films, one as a minor character in A Low Down Dirty Shame in 1994 and another as a prominent character in Ice Cream Man in 1995. Evans returned to television in 1999, as Amber Moore’s “trashy” mother Tawny on The Bold and the Beautiful until 2000. That year, she took over as Rebecca Hotchkiss Crane on the NBC serial opera Passions, replacing Maureen McCormick, whose ten-episode run had expired, and remained until the series’ last episode. Evans’ long-running presence on Passions sparked rumours for years that she would return to her One Life to Live character of Tina.
When NBC cancelled Passions, it was revealed in July 2007 that she will continue to star in the show on DirecTV. Passions wrapped production in March 2008, although fresh episodes aired on DirecTV until August 2008.
In the June 26, 2007 issue of Soap Opera Digest, Evans was asked what her favourite role was other than her current one on Passions; she replied, “That’s an easy one… Tina Lord Roberts on One Life to Live because in every actor’s life, you hope for a role that becomes bigger than yourself and for me, Tina was that role.”
ABC reported in April 2008 that Evans will return as Tina shortly; she made her debut on June 11, 2008. “Even though Andrea has not appeared on OLTL since 1990, she has remained among the most requested characters to return to the show,” said Executive Producer Frank Valentini. I warmly welcome her back to OLTL and the role where she left an unforgettable imprint on our viewers.” On November 5, 2008, Evans announced his resignation from the series. Evans and ABC both stated that the actress’ comeback was always intended to be temporary due to her “life, family, and home” being in California while One Life to Live was filming in New York City.
“The character of Tina is a very important part of the OLTL canvas,” Valentini stated in a statement. [If] there is a chance for her — Tina and Andrea — to return at a later point, the programme would be delighted to investigate it.” Evans was last seen on November 25, 2008.
Personal life and death –
In 1981, Evans married One Life to Live co-star Wayne Massey (who played Tina’s love interest Johnny Drummond). On January 10, 1998, Evans married Los Angeles attorney Stephen Rodriguez; the couple adopted a daughter in 2004.
Evans died of breast cancer on July 9, 2023, at the age of 66, at her home in Pasadena, California.