Let Us Now Consider Ali MacGraw

[quote]every American boy wanted to be with her

I'd rather have had Ryan O'Neal.

per Wikipedia:

[quote]Elizabeth Alice "Ali" MacGraw (born April 1, 1939) is an American actress, model, author, and animal rights activist. She first gained attention with her role in the film Goodbye, Columbus (1969), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She gained an international profile for her role in the film Love Story (1970), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. In 1972, MacGraw was voted the top female box office star in the world[3] and was honored with a hands and footprints ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre after having been in just three films. She went on to star in the popular action films The Getaway (1972) and Convoy (1978) as well as the romantic sports drama Players (1979), the comedy Just Tell Me What You Want (1980), and the historical novel-based television miniseries The Winds of War (1983). In 1991, she published an autobiography, Moving Pictures.

It's interesting that she was 30 (or close to it) when she landed her first picture.

The perks of being Mrs. Robert Evans

We've done PLENTY on Ali MacGraw, and she isn't popular here. And please let's not back to those endless Ryan O'Neal threads.

"I never understood Ali McGraws appeal. She’s like shag carpet, turquoise refrigerators and shiny wallpaper. She was one of those 70s things that doesn’t make much sense when you look at it from a different time period. She was a terrible actress. She was clunky and unintelligent. She was dumb enough to become Steve McQueen’s slave. She gave up her career for him and everyone came to their senses while she was gone and went, “Why did we think that was cool?”"

Seventies icon.

[quote]Why isn't she more of an established thing on DL?

Because she can't fucking act.

She was very unusual looking. Incredibly strong jawed, almost masculine features with the brows and dark hair. Not conventionally pretty.

While I think she was quite beautiful, and photographed fabulously, she also had a slightly androgynous quality that was part of the aesthetic of the time. She didn't seem to have much personality and she was - no other way to put this - a terrible actress.

She was to the 70s not entirely unlike what Audrey Hepburn was to the 60s, although Hepburn had genuine charm.

Ali by no means had the career or popularity of Audrey Hepburn, even as a stick figure image of the times. Her career was Love Story (1970), and it all went downhill very quickly. She was photographed with husbands, but she was no icon, no symbol - to anyone. I know, I read Modern Screen and Photoplay in the 1970s.

Never could see the appeal....I seem to remember Pauline Kael referencing her "smug nostrils." That about says it all.

I can think of only two performances of hers that are remotely watchable: GOODBYE COLUMBUS and JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT.

She makes Candice Bergen look like Streep.

Um, Just Tell Me What You Want is not so watchable.

Ali MacGraw was a model-turned-"actress," whose exotic, bohemian chic look was perfect for a hippie generation that embraced all things Eastern (Morocco, India, etc.) or Native American. She may not have been a good actress, but she radiated style and anti-establishment glamour. And her love life kept her name in the press.

[quote] She was to the 70s not entirely unlike what Audrey Hepburn was to the 60s, although Hepburn had genuine charm.

And Audrey was actually good as long as you gave her good script, direction, and cast to work with. Even under the best of circumstances, Ali just fell flat. Her face is nice to look at, but what does she do with it? Not much that I could tell. Okay, I'll give her [italic]Love Story[/italic], but when was she even adequate in anything else?

Her acting was wretched.

She was awful in Dynasty.

[quote] She was awful in Dynasty.

I can imagine how bad she would have been in a sitcom.

I never thought she was attractive -- and I've always liked brunettes.

R16 And in Winds of the War. Thankfully Jane Seymour took over and played the role with upsetting scenes very well.

You could look right up her nose in her photographs. But did that movie Love Story ever catch fire! And everyone had the book. Erich Segal died pretty recently I think.

She's almost bad enough to be a female Danny Pintauro.

She was beautiful, IMO, and I still love her personal style. She’s aged gracefully, with minimal intervention, and lovely gray hair.

Not much of an actress, but I always like looking at her.

MacGraw owes Lesley Ann Warren a big debt of gratitude. Warren was originally scheduled to play Brenda in “Goodbye, Columbus” but had to drop out due to her pregnancy. Robert Evans relates the story himself in “The Kid Stays in the Picture” — he was very enthusiastic about Warren, but lost interest once he found out she was pregnant. Evans searched for a replacement, and found MacGraw. “Goodbye, Columbus”‘turned out to be MacGraw’s most relaxed and effective performance but I’ve wondered what Warren might have done with the role.

I saw her in a Broadway debut in the play Festen.

That was the worst experience ever in a Broadway theater for me.

She sucked

She looks gorgeous now - if anything I think she's more striking as she's aged. Very patrician, very elegant, always tasteful.

Can't stand her on-screen but I think she'd be interesting to have a drink with.

Some older actresses could take a page from Ali's book on aging.

Beautiful then, beautiful now.

Her aesthetic in Love Story was everything.

Katie Lee Joel looks exactly like her.

Fun interview about DYNASTY.

With respect, OP, let us consider Shirley Bassey.

she was a terrible actress....

Ali MacGraw, 80

aka...Lady Ashley Mitchell for 14 episodes on "Dynasty: in 1985.

Great facial structure, and the dark hair, skin, eyes, made her stand out.

R13, HOW OLD ARE YOU? Something tells me you were born in 1995, because what you wrote is bullshit.

R26, Ali looks very good for 80. However, she's had all the plastic surgery, albeit good plastic surgery. I'll never forget seeing her on an Oprah show with Oprah asking her if she'd consider plastic surgery in the future. Good one, Oprah!

[quote] You could look right up her nose in her photographs.

How shocking!!

Quadruple threat: Can't sing. Can't dance. Can't act. Can't fake orgasm.

She looks great now.

^ thank you, Sherrill Aston MD

Ali MacGraw looking exactly like Ali MacGraw for Polaroid 1965.

I agree with R9. She was terrific in "Goodbye Columbus". I like that film. She was charming and it's the best performance she ever gave.

I use to live in santa fe years ago and she is a long time resident. I saw her twice in the years I lived there and she checked me out both times. She was still very attractive and in shape I dont think she got anything in the way of much money from either of her former husbands and I got the impression she wasnt loaded. Modest house. She liked interior design.

Imagine. She was nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture.

The movie was like the Star Wars of its time. Huge crowds everywhere it played. I still remember the long lines outside the Loews State in Time Square back when winters in New York were incredibly bitterly cold and people lined up on a sidewalk for a movie. Is the movie as bad and laughable as I remember it being?

Yes.

It was still the grungy hippie era and this romantic film shows up two beautiful young people. It came along at the right time.

Zefferelli's "Romeo &Juliet" sort of lead the way. And both films had big lush theme songs.

*this romantic film shows up with two beautiful

I had heard so much about "Love Story" and I finally watched it. Awful. Wooden performances by both Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal.

For some reason Ali McGraw was a meme on the old AOL gay celebrity message board in the mid 90s. Does anyone remember that board? They renamed it The Beauty Shop for a bit, it had a level of cuntiness nearly equal to DL.

LOVE STORY was a very thin (in story and pages) best selling novel. The screen adaptation was quite good considering most movies made from books aren't. That was a major reason the movie was successful, and it would have been in any era. As far as real quality, if there wasn't a semi-nude premarital love scene in it, it would have been a TV movie of the week.