n the fickle landscape of Hollywood, few trajectories have been as dizzying as that of Ali MacGraw. She was the quintessential “It Girl” of the 1970s, an overnight superstar who became the face of a generation only to vanish from the silver screen at the height of her powers. Today, at 85, MacGraw lives far from the paparazzi’s flashbulbs, settled in a remote village where she has traded the artifice of Tinseltown for a life of gray-haired grace and community service.
Roots of a Creative Spirit
Born Elizabeth Alice MacGraw on April 1, 1939, in Pound Ridge, New York, the future icon was the daughter of two artists, Frances and Richard MacGraw. While her mother was a refined artist who had worked in Paris and Greenwich Village, her father’s history was darker. A survivor of a brutal childhood in an orphanage who ran away to sea at 16, Richard carried a simmering resentment that cast a long shadow over the MacGraw household.
“Daddy was frightened and really, really angry,” MacGraw later reflected. “He never forgave his real parents for giving him up.” She described his life as a constant struggle to suppress a rage born of profound hurt.
Financial instability forced the family into a cramped, doorless house on a wilderness preserve, shared with another couple. The lack of privacy was “horrible,” according to MacGraw. While Frances supported the family through commercial art assignments, Richard’s frustration over his struggling painting career often boiled over into violence directed at Ali’s brother, Richard Jr. “On bad days he was horrendous,” she recalled. “Daddy would beat my brother up, badly. I was witness to it.”
From ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ to the Spotlight
Despite the domestic turmoil, MacGraw inherited her parents’ creative drive. After attending Rosemary Hall and Wellesley College, she landed in New York City as an assistant to the legendary Diana Vreeland at Harper’s Bazaar. The job was a grueling introduction to the fashion world—a real-life precursor to The Devil Wears Prada.
“It was ‘Girl! Get me a pencil!’” MacGraw said of her time as a “flunkie.” However, her tireless work ethic caught the eye of photographer Melvin Sokolsky. Within six months, she transitioned from assistant to stylist, a role she held for six years. Her dedication was legendary; colleagues recall her working until one in the morning to prepare for the next day’s shoots.
Eventually, the woman behind the camera was pulled in front of it. MacGraw’s natural, scrubbed-clean beauty made her a global modeling sensation. A brief, bizarre encounter with Salvador Dalí—who began sucking her toes while sketching her—convinced her that the world of acting might offer more dignity than modeling.
The ‘Love Story’ Phenomenon
MacGraw’s transition to film was explosive. Though untrained, her raw, “untutored” quality resonated with audiences. After a breakout role in 1969’s Goodbye, Columbus, which earned her a Golden Globe, she encountered the script that would define her career: Love Story.
The script moved her to tears, and her meeting with Paramount’s head of production, Robert Evans, changed her life twice over. Evans didn’t just cast her; he fell in love with her. They married in 1969 and welcomed their son, Josh, in 1971.
Love Story (1970) became a cultural juggernaut, shattering box office records and earning MacGraw an Academy Award nomination. She was the undisputed queen of Hollywood, but the foundation was already cracking.
The McQueen Years and the Breaking Point
The decline began with a knock on the door from Steve McQueen, who wanted MacGraw for The Getaway. The chemistry was instantaneous and destructive. “I looked in those blue eyes, and my knees started knocking,” MacGraw admitted. She left Evans for McQueen, beginning a tumultuous chapter in Malibu.
While she admired McQueen’s “original, principled” nature, his deep-seated insecurities—rooted in his own abandonment issues—led to a suffocating marriage. McQueen demanded she give up her career to be a stay-at-home “old lady.” He was obsessively jealous and insisted on a strict prenuptial agreement.
“I couldn’t even go to art class because Steve expected his ‘old lady’ to be there every night with dinner on the table,” she recalled. The marriage ended in 1978, leaving MacGraw with nothing per the prenuptial terms.
A Descent and a New Mexico Horizon
The late 70s and early 80s were a “brutal” time. MacGraw struggled with substance abuse, famously arriving on the set of Convoy (1978) under the influence. As her films began to flop, she felt the industry’s inherent cruelty toward women over 40.
A period of deep loneliness and alcoholism followed. “I lost my judgment; I fancied other women’s husbands,” she confessed. In 1986, she checked into the Betty Ford Clinic, a 30-day stay that she credits with saving her life.
In 1993, after a wildfire destroyed her California home, MacGraw walked away from the wreckage of her Hollywood life and moved to Tesuque, New Mexico. In this tiny village north of Santa Fe, she found the peace that had eluded her for decades. To her neighbors, she isn’t a former Oscar nominee; she is a dedicated volunteer for the International Folk Art Market and an advocate for animal rights.
The Next Generation: Josh Evans
While MacGraw found peace in New Mexico, her son, Josh Evans, forged his own path in the family business. Looking remarkably like his mother—particularly his expressive eyes—Josh bypassed the traditional path to stardom.
He secured a role in Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July by sheer persistence, later appearing in The Doors. However, Josh eventually found his true calling behind the camera as a director, helming films like Death in the Desert. “I am definitely more comfortable on the side of the camera that does not show myself,” he says.
Today, the family remains close. MacGraw describes Josh as her “favorite human being on the planet.” In a life defined by the extreme highs of stardom and the painful lows of personal struggle, Ali MacGraw has finally found her equilibrium—not in the spotlight, but in the quiet, creative shadows of the desert.
— roxysaint (@roxysaint) October 30, 2019
