Martin was born Sandra Rehn, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Walter Rehn. She grew up near Rockford, Illinois, on her parents' farm, graduated from Monroe Center High School and studied dramatics for two years at Northwestern University. From there, she went to New York and worked as a model while she studied acting under Lee Strasberg. She honed her acting skills in the summer playhouse at Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania.
Martin's film debut came in Street of Sinners (1957). The Lady Takes a Flyer (1958) was the first film in which she was billed as Andra Martin. In 1958, she appeared in the horror film The Thing That Couldn't Die, about a 400-year-old head that uses telepathic control of various people to help him find his body. In 1958 she won the Hollywood Debut Award.[citation needed]
Martin was James Garner's leading lady in the 1959 film Up Periscope, and the daughter/secretary on the Perry Mason TV-series episode "The Case of the Prodigal Parent." She also played the role of defendant Arlene Ferris in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Waylaid Wolf."[citation needed]

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