Ali MacGraw.html



Alice "Ali" MacGraw (born April 1, 1939)¹ is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actress.

Biography

Early life

MacGraw was born in Pound Ridge, Westchester County, New York, the daughter of commercial artists;² MacGraw has described her father as "violent".³ MacGraw's maternal grandfather, Maurice Klein, was a Jewish immigrant from Budapest, Hungary.¹ She has one brother.

Career

An alumna of Rosemary Hall and Wellesley College, she began working in 1960 as a photographic assistant at Harper's Bazaar, as an assistant to the legendary fashion maven, Diana Vreeland, at Vogue, as a fashion model, and as a photographer's stylist. She has also worked as an interior decorator. MacGraw also appeared in several television commercials including the one for the Polaroid Swinger camera.

She gained notice in Goodbye, Columbus, but real stardom came in 1970 with Love Story. MacGraw was nominated for the 1970 Academy Award for Best Actress for Love Story. She lost to Glenda Jackson, who won that year for Women in Love. MacGraw's keen eye and sense of style were celebrated on the cover of Time. Her minimalist style basically consisted of healthy skin without much makeup, long gleaming hair pulled back simply, and the ever-present brimless woolen hat that became known as the "Ali Cap." In 1971, she was on Richard Blackwell's worst-dressed list.⁴

In 1972, she had her footprints and autograph engraved at Grauman's Chinese Theatre after only four films. MacGraw has starred in other films, such as: The Getaway, Convoy, Players, Just Tell Me What You Want, and the television miniseries China Rose and The Winds of War. In 1985, MacGraw appeared in a brief-but-well received 14-episode stint on the hit ABC prime-time soap opera Dynasty as "Lady Ashley Mitchell."

MacGraw wrote a well-received autobiography, Moving Pictures (which she now states was "not well written"), which described her struggles with alcohol and male dependence. She was treated for the former at the Betty Ford Center. In 1991, People magazine chose her as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.

Since 1994, she has lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, after "fleeing Malibu".⁵ Having become a Hatha Yoga devotee in her fifties, she made a tremendously successful Yoga video with the American Yoga Master Erich Schiffmann, Ali MacGraw Yoga Mind and Body, which was a bestseller upon release and was still popular more than a decade later. The video's impact was such that in June 2007 Vanity Fair magazine credited her for being one of the people responsible for the practice's recent popularity in the United States. In keeping with her interests, she narrated a well-received documentary on Yoga, The Fire of Yoga in 2003.

She made her Broadway theatre debut in New York City in 2006 as a dysfunctional matriarch in the drama Festen (The Celebration). She was also included in a Seventeen magazine issue for inspiring hairstyles.

Animal welfare

In July 2006, MacGraw filmed a public service announcement for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), urging residents to take their pets with them in the event of wildfires.⁶ In 2008, she wrote the foreword to the book Pawprints of Katrina⁷ about Best Friends Animal Society and the largest pet rescue in U.S. history.⁸ An animal rights advocate throughout her life, she was given the Humane Education Award by Animal Protection of New Mexico for speaking out about animal issues.⁹

Notable films she rejected

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• Bonnie and Clyde (1967) (Bonnie Parker) — Warren Beatty offered her the part of Bonnie Parker, but she declined.
• Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) (Carol) — Offered the role of Carol, but had to refuse due to family reasons.
• The Adventurers (1970) (Sue Ann Daley) — Turned down the role of Sue Ann Daley in the movie version of Harold Robbins' best-seller.
• Klute (1971) (Bree Daniels) — Turned down the role of call girl Bree Daniels which won Jane Fonda an Oscar.
• Diamonds Are Forever (1971) (Tiffany Case) — Ali turned down the role of Tiffany Case.
• The Godfather (1972) (Kay Adams) — Director Francis Ford Coppola considered casting Ali MacGraw in the role of Kay Adams.
• Chinatown (1974) (Evelyn) — Ali MacGraw was original choice for the role of Evelyn Mulwray.
• The Great Gatsby (Daisy) — MacGraw wanted the role of Daisy but didn't get it when her marriage to producer Robert Evans ended.[1]
• Barry Lyndon (1975) (Lady Lyndon) — Turned down master director Stanley Kubrick's offer of the lead role.
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) (Marion) — MacGraw turned down the lead role.

Personal life

On October 24, 1969, MacGraw married film producer Robert Evans; their son, Josh Evans, is an actor, director, producer and screenwriter. They divorced in 1972 after she became involved with Steve McQueen on the set of The Getaway, whom she then married on August 31, 1973, and divorced in 1978. When her former husband, Robert Evans, received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she accompanied him.

She divides her time living in her homes in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

References

External links

• Ali MacGraw at the Internet Movie Database
• Ali MacGraw at TV.com