Background
Andie MacDowell was born in Gaffney, South Carolina, the daughter of Pauline "Paula" Johnston (née Oswald), a music teacher, and Marion Saint Pierre MacDowell, a lumber executive.
Andie MacDowell was born in Gaffney, South Carolina, the daughter of Pauline "Paula" Johnston (née Oswald), a music teacher, and Marion Saint Pierre MacDowell, a lumber executive.
She attended Winthrop University for two years before moving briefly to Columbia, South Carolina.
She made her film debut in 1984"s Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, before receiving critical acclaim for her role in Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989). Since then she has appeared in several notable films, including Groundhog Day (1993) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). She has also starred in Green Card (1990), Short Cuts (1993), Michael (1996) and Multiplicity (1996).
Since 2013 she has starred in the drama series Cedar Cove.
She has modeled for Calvin Klein Incorporated. and has been a spokeswoman for L"Oréal since 1986 celebrating 25 years with the company in 2011. Her ancestry includes English, French, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh.
Her family owned an Antebellum period summer house in Arden, North Carolina, which has since been made into a bed-and-breakfast named the Blake House Inn. Graffiti from her childhood visits are preserved in an upstairs bedroom closet.
She was initially spotted by a representative from Wilhelmina Models while on a trip to Los Angeles before she would later sign with Elite Model Management in New York City in 1978.
In the early 1980s, MacDowell modelled for Vogue magazine and appeared in ad campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, Vassarette, Armani perfume, Sabeth-Row, Mink International, Anne Klein and Bill Blass. A series of billboards in Times Square and national television commercials for Calvin Klein drew attention to her and led to her 1984 film debut in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, a role in which her lines were dubbed by Glenn Close because her Southern accent was too pronounced for her to play the role of an Englishwoman. In 1985, she had a small part in Saint Elmo"s Fire.
Four years later, director Steven Soderbergh cast her in the independent film Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989).
Since 1986, MacDowell has appeared in print and television advertisements for the cosmetic and haircare company L"Oréal. In later years she has acted primarily on television and in independent films.
In 2012 she co-starred in the short-lived American Broadcasting Company Family series Jane by Design. Since 2013, she has starred in the Hallmark Channel family series Cedar Cove.
Her performance earned her an Independent Spirit Award, a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, several other award nominations and led to a series of starring roles in films such as Green Card, The Object of Beauty, and Short Cuts. In the 1990s, MacDowell achieved stardom due to the box office success of director Harold Ramis"s 1993 comedy, Groundhog Day, and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), opposite Hugh Grant.
