Herb Andress was born in upper Austria, and always intended to become an actor. In 1957 he moved to France, appeared there in Chaque jour a son secret (1958) and in 1961 moved to New York, then later to San Francisco. He worked with Elena Williams in Las Vegas and Los Angeles in an act that became well known as "The Magical Dolls". He spent two years at a workshop at Columbia Pictures under teachers like Ida Lupino, Ralph Nelson and Charlton Heston. His first credits were under the name Herbert Andreas, and he often played Germans in the classic war series Combat! (1962), and soon began to get better parts. He moved to to Rome in 1968, and began a second career under the name Herb Andress in international movies. He lives now in Germany.