Career
Early career
Beginning in 1960, MacGraw spent six years working at Harper's Bazaar magazine as a photographic assistant to fashion maven Diana Vreeland.[1] She worked at Vogue magazine as a fashion model, and as a photographer's stylist. She has also worked as an interior designer.
Film and television
MacGraw began her acting career in television commercials,[citation needed] including one for the Polaroid Swinger camera.[8] In one commercial for International Paper, she was on a beach in a bikini made of Confil and went for a swim underwater to prove its strength and durability. MacGraw gained attention in the film Goodbye, Columbus (1969), but real stardom came when she starred opposite Ryan O'Neal in the romantic drama Love Story (1970), one of the highest-grossing films in U.S. history.[9] The film, and MacGraw's performance in particular, received widespread critical acclaim, and earned her the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, in addition to a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Following Love Story, MacGraw was celebrated on the cover of Time magazine.
In 1972, after appearing in just three films, she had her footprints and autograph engraved at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. She then starred opposite Steve McQueen in The Getaway (1972), which was one of the year's top ten films at the box office. Having taken a five-year break from acting, in 1978 MacGraw re-emerged in another box office hit, Convoy (1978), opposite Kris Kristofferson. She then appeared in the films Players (1979) and Just Tell Me What You Want (1980), directed by Sidney Lumet.
In 1983, MacGraw starred in the highly successful television miniseries The Winds of War. In 1985, MacGraw joined hit ABC prime-time soap opera Dynasty as Lady Ashley Mitchell, which, she admitted in a 2011 interview, she did for the money.[10] She appeared in 14 episodes of the show before her character was killed off in the "Moldavian Massacre" cliffhanger episode in 1985.
She also hosted segments for the Encore Love Stories premium cable network in the late 1990s and 2000s.
In February 2021, MacGraw and O'Neal were honored with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, nearly 50 years after the release of Love Story.[11]
Stage
MacGraw made her Broadway theater debut in New York City in 2006 as a dysfunctional matriarch in the drama Festen (The Celebration).
In 2016, MacGraw reunited with Ryan O'Neal in a staging of A.R. Gurney's play Love Letters, which toured the US and UK through 2017.[12]
Magazine recognition
In 1991, People magazine selected MacGraw as one of its "50 Most Beautiful People" in the World.[13]
In 2008, GQ magazine listed her in their "Sexiest 25 Women in Film Ever" edition.[14]
Yoga
Having become a Hatha Yoga devotee in her early 50s, MacGraw produced a yoga video with the American Yoga Master Erich Schiffmann, Ali MacGraw Yoga Mind and Body. The impact of this bestselling video was such that in June 2007, Vanity Fair magazine credited MacGraw with being one of the people responsible for the practice's recent popularity in the United States.
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.[15] In 2008, she wrote the foreword to the book Pawprints of Katrina[16] by author Cathy Scott and photography by Clay Myers about Best Friends Animal Society and the largest pet rescue in U.S. history.[17] MacGraw is also a U.S. Ambassador for animal welfare charity Animals Asia.[18] An animal rights advocate throughout her life, she received the Humane Education Award by Animal Protection of New Mexico for speaking out about animal issues.[19]