Andrea Hope Elson (born March 6, 1969) is an American retired

child model A child model is a child who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art, such as photography, painting and sculpture. Practice Artists have used children as models for countless ...

and actress, best known for her science fiction television roles as Alice Tyler on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

adventure series '' Whiz Kids'' and as Lynn Tanner on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

comedy series '' ALF'', which garnered her two Youth in Film Award nominations in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

and

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Early life

Elson was born in New York City on March 6, 1969. She grew up in New York City with her parents and an older sister named Samantha (born circa 1966). While she was a child, the family moved to San Diego, California, for four years before returning to

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

Career

Elson began her professional career as a

and actress, appearing in a number of commercials, print advertisements and community theatre productions in San Diego. In 1983, after relocating with her family to Los Angeles, Elson made her television debut at the age of 14 with a co-starring role on the

mystery-adventure series, '' Whiz Kids''. On the series, she portrayed Alice Tyler, co-starring with

Matthew Laborteaux Matthew Charles Labyorteaux (born December 8, 1966) is an American film, television and voice actor. In many of his credits, his last name is spelled as "Laborteaux". He is also credited as Matthew Charles for his work in animation. He is best ...

, Todd Porter, and Jeffrey Jacquet as a group of teenage detectives who solve crimes and bring perpetrators to justice with the help of a talking computer. Although ''Whiz Kids'' lasted only one season, Elson's role as Alice established the 14-year-old and her teenage co-stars as prominent fixtures in the various teen magazines of the era, including ''

16 magazine ''16'' was a fan magazine published in New York City. Origins Founded in 1956, the first issue of ''16'' hit the newsstands in May 1957, with Elvis Presley on the cover. Its longtime editor-in-chief, former fashion model and subscriptions cler ...

'', '' Bop'' and ''

Teen Beat ''Teen Beat'' was an American magazine geared towards teenager, teenaged readers, published 1967–. Over its history, the magazine had multiple teen idols on its cover, including John Travolta, David Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Menudo (band), Menud ...

'', among others. The role also led to all the teenage ''Whiz Kids'' crossing over into a 1983 episode of ''

Simon & Simon ''Simon & Simon'' is an American crime drama television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981, to September 16, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS, and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two disparate brothers who ope ...

'' titled "Fly the Alibi Skies". In 1986, Elson landed a co-starring role on the

science-fiction situation comedy '' ALF''. She portrayed Lynn Tanner, the teenage daughter in a typical middle-class suburban family who adopt a friendly extraterrestrial, performed by puppeteer

Paul Fusco Paul Fusco is an American puppeteer, actor, television producer, writer and director. He is known best as the puppeteer and voice of the title character on the sitcom '' ALF'', for which he also served as creator, writer, producer, and director. ...

. The series lasted four seasons and her portrayal earned her two Youth in Film Award nominations before the series' cancellation in 1990. After the cancellation of ''ALF'', Elson continued to appear in a variety of television roles, guest starring on a number of television series of the time, including ''

Who's the Boss? ''Who's the Boss?'' is an American sitcom television series created by Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter, that aired on ABC from September 20, 1984, to April 25, 1992, with a total of 196 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. It was produce ...

'', ''

Parker Lewis Can't Lose ''Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' (rebranded simply as ''Parker Lewis'' for the third and final season) is an American teen sitcom that originally aired on Fox from September 1990 to June 1993. It was produced by Clyde Phillips Productions, in asso ...

'', ''

ABC Afterschool Special ''ABC Afterschool Special'' is an American anthology television series that aired on ABC from October 4, 1972, to January 23, 1997, usually in the late afternoon on weekdays. Most episodes were dramatically presented situations, often controve ...

'', '' Married... with Children'', ''

Mad About You ''Mad About You'' is an American television sitcom starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a married couple in New York City as they navigate life together. In later seasons, the couple has a daughter. It initially aired on NBC from September 2 ...

'', '' Step by Step'', and ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

'', as well as appearing in the television films ''

Class Cruise ''Class Cruise'' is an American teen comedy television film that premiered on NBC on October 22, 1989. The film was directed by Oz Scott and written by Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle. Plot A group of Mensa high school students are ...

'' and ''Frankenstein: The College Years''.

Personal life

Elson married former ''ALF'' stage manager Scott Hopper in 1993. They have a daughter, Claire, and a son, Dean. As of 2016, she owns and operates a

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

studio.

Filmography

Television

Video games

Soundtrack

Awards

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elson, Andrea 1969 births Living people 20th-century American actresses Actresses from New York (state) American child actresses American child models American television actresses Actors from Westchester County, New York 21st-century American women