When you think of iconic actresses from the 1970s, Ali MacGraw is likely to come to mind. Best known for her roles in films like “Goodbye, Columbus” and “Love Story,” Macgraw is also a model and animal rights activist. MacGraw is an ambassador for the charity Animals Asia and has worked with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She was born Elizabeth Alice MacGraw in Pound Ridge, New York.
MacGraw won two Golden Globe awards throughout her career and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She also received the honor of having her hands and feet memorialized in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. In 1972, she was voted the top female box-office star in the world. This gorgeous actress also had a budding career as a model and worked as a photographic assistant for six years.
MacGraw had a difficult upbringing and later struggled with addiction. However, through a lot of hard work, rehabilitation programs and the support of her loved ones, she has been sober for years and is an inspiration to many souls still struggling today. MacGraw speaks openly about her experiences with addiction and helps break harmful stigmas surrounding mental health and addiction.
In her personal life, MacGraw has been married three times, and she has one child from her second marriage. Her most famous relationship, with co-star Steve McQueen, began when they appeared together in the 1972 film “The Getaway.” Read on to learn more about MacGraw and her tumultuous relationship with McQueen.
Early Life and Career
Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw (1972), (National General Pictures/Solar/First Artists/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images)
Ali MacGraw was born on April 1, 1939, in Pound Ridge, New York. MacGraw recounted her childhood in an interview with Vanity Fair in 2010 and described her old family life as “horrible.”
Despite her difficult upbringing, MacGraw was a hard worker and went on to make a name for herself in both the fashion and film industries. She started fronting magazines and TV commercials worldwide, one of her more notable works being the beach girl in the Polaroid Swinger camera ads during the 1960s. Another of MacGraw’s popular commercials from that time was for International Paper.
She landed the coveted role of assistant editor at Harper’s Bazaar after graduation, where she made $54 a week and went on to work as a photographer’s assistant. It was during her stint as a photographer’s assistant that she was headhunted to be a model herself after somebody at a photoshoot decided she was far too beautiful to be kept hidden behind the lens.
Not long after, MacGraw burst into the film industry, starring in the 1969 movie “Goodbye, Columbus,” her movie debut. Her work in the film earned her the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She went on to star in numerous other movies that became classics like “Love Story,” “The Getaway,” in which she played opposite Steve McQueen, and the 1974 production of “The Great Gatsby.”
According to an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, MacGraw struggled with confidence as an actress and often felt nervous on set. “I was afraid every breathing minute of my film career,” she told the interviewer. Based on the accolades she received from her films, MacGraw’s nerves did not get the best of her.
Personal Life
Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw (1972), (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
McQueen and MacGraw married in 1973 after she left her second husband, and they had a tumultuous relationship. MacGraw said of McQueen, “This was a man who could walk into any room and (any) man, woman and child would go, ‘Whoa, what’s that?’ And I was no exception. He was incredibly attractive most of the time but there was also danger, there was a bad boy there.”
They later divorced in 1977. According to Vanity Fair, MacGraw did not receive “a dime’s worth of settlement” from the divorce. McQueen passed away three years later from cancer.
MacGraw doesn’t have any regrets but wishes things could have ended differently with McQueen. “I wish we had both grown old sober. There were wonderful days and dreadful days. I’m not a victim in any way,” she explained. “There were many times that were just wonderful and there were many times that were just ghastly.”
One of the difficult parts of their relationship was the expectations that McQueen had for his wife, which did not involve a successful film career. “I couldn’t even go to art class because Steve expected his ‘old lady’ to be there every night with dinner on the table,” MacGraw confessed to People in 1991.
MacGraw ultimately takes responsibility for her break from acting but said McQueen’s wish was for her not to work while they were married. “I made choices. I fell in love too easily and I didn’t do any homework. I was never trained as an actress, and that was my own stupidity.”
Today, MacGraw is 82 and living life to the fullest. “I used to rewrite the past, fantasize about the future,” she said. “But now, I believe in living fully to the very best of my ability. I feel very blessed.”
Are you a fan of MacGraw’s work? What do you think about her relationship with McQueen? Let us know, and be sure to send this along to your friends and family.
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