TMS Muse of the Week: Ali MacGraw
(Getty Images)
Every once in a while, someone is just born with natural star quality. Sometimes even just a person’s name can show they were destined to become a superstar. Drew Barrymore and Alicia Silverstone were born with bona fide movie star names. Yet for various reasons, Alicia never officially reached the same heights career wise as Drew. Ali MacGraw doesn’t necessarily have a star name, but she did have plenty of all the other genuine fame potential elsewhere. In the late 1960s, I don’t think any other young woman in showbusiness had the ‘it’ factor more than Ali. She was a confidently cool girl from New England, had the natural beauty, effortless presence and could leave an impression. Originally starting as both a fashion model and stylist in mid-1960s NYC who could easily rival Jean Shrimpton or Veruschka; Ali made an easy jump into film acting in 1968 when she began dating Paramount studio head Robert Evans. Within a year, the couple married and Ali was the hottest thing in Hollywood, landing lead roles in the hits, Larry Peerce’s Goodbye Columbus (1969) and Arthur Hiller’s Love Story (1970). Fortunately for both Ali and movie fans, her casting was not just the expected nepotism, but she could carry a scene and hold her own opposite already established actors; as noted with various positive reviews and acclaim from critics the years of release.
If you’re like me, you probably assumed her classics, Goodbye Columbus, Love Story, as well as Sam Peckinpah’s The Getaway (1972), were only three of many movies the model-actress co-starred in. But surprisingly, when you look at Ali’s Wiki or IMDb pages, those are actually the only note-worthy projects on her resume, save for maybe her recurring stint on ABC’s primetime soap “Dynasty” (1985). The name ‘Ali MacGraw’ is like ‘Jane Fonda’ or ‘Cher,’ in that it’s one of those names that you think of when referencing the 1960s-70s. She made her mark on pop culture and film history, even with the small number of credits. To be honest, I actually didn’t really get the big deal with the starlet until the first time I watched Goodbye Columbus and it was then I found her charming. She was just as delightful in Love Story—this time with more dramatic material—and both acting efforts are impressive enough to distract from the fact that she was 29/30 while playing college students. Though I’m not a huge fan of The Getaway, Ali’s performance does stand out as a highlight.
(David Gahr)
So how did such a hyped-up career from one of the it girls of mid-20th century become so limited? Well, let’s just say Ali made some poor decisions in retrospect. While she and Bob Evans were the power couple of Hollywood from 1969-72, with son Josh born in 1971; Ali was in consideration for roles in classics like Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) and Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974). But eventually Diane Keaton and Faye Dunaway were cast as the female leads in those films, and during production of Peckinpah’s The Getaway, Ali started a secret affair with her co-star Steve McQueen. By the time the crime thriller was released, the brunette would leave the big shot producer-husband for the global movie star and soon-to-be second husband. This move was not only the end of her first marriage and the Paramount advantages, but also her popularity. Ali and Steve may have been a good looking couple on screen and in person, but behind the scenes things quickly became tumultuous while they were together. Between 1973-78, Ali made virtually no movies during her second marriage.
Hindsight is 20/20, and Ali has openly spoken about past mistakes she’s made and seems to be content to live her life modestly since the 1980s. Obviously we don’t know Ali personally, or what was going through her mind and behind closed doors with her ex-husbands. I’m going to choose to be open-minded and not too judgmental or suggest she should have stayed in an unhappy marriage—if that was the case with her and Bob. But looking back, I think it’s safe to say regarding how her career turned out; Ali probably would have made a couple of different choices, to say the least.