Ali MacGraw Turned 85 & Looks As Gorgeous As Ever Nowadays

May 27, 2021

When you think of iconic actresses from the 1970s, Ali MacGraw is likely to come to mind. Best known for her roles in films like "Goodbye, Columbus" and "Love Story," Macgraw is also a model and animal rights activist. MacGraw is an ambassador for the charity Animals Asia and has worked with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. She was born Elizabeth Alice MacGraw in Pound Ridge, New York.

MacGraw won two Golden Globe awards throughout her career and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She also received the honor of having her hands and feet memorialized in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. In 1972, she was voted the top female box-office star in the world. This gorgeous actress also had a budding career as a model and worked as a photographic assistant for six years. 

MacGraw had a difficult upbringing and later struggled with addiction to alcohol and other substances. However, through a lot of hard work, rehabilitation programs, and the support of her loved ones, she has been sober for years and is an inspiration to many souls still struggling today. MacGraw speaks openly about her experiences with addiction and helps break harmful stigmas surrounding mental health.

Many of us draw inspiration from celebrities. At 85 years old, MacGraw is the epitome of timeless beauty, and her life was anything but ordinary. From working at a high-end magazine as an editor to three marriages ending in divorce, here is a glimpse into the life of the former actress. She now spends her days living what seems like a beautiful life with newfound tranquility. Read on to learn more about MacGraw's life and to see her stunning recent photos.

Ali MacGraw was born on April 1 in 1939, April Fool's Day, making her currently 85 years old. According to her biography, her parents were artists, and she was en-route to an art career of her own at Wellesley College. MacGraw's mother was Jewish. Her mother had kept her ancestry hidden from MacGraw's father, who was suspected to be anti-semitic.

MacGraw's father, Richard, grew up in an orphanage and ran away when he was just 16 years old. He studied art in Munich, Germany, and later moved to the United States. MacGraw claims he never really got over his parents abandoning him as a child. 

MacGraw recounted her childhood in an interview with Vanity Fair in 2010 and described her old family life as "horrible." Together with her brother and her parents, MacGraw lived in a doorless house on a Pound Ridge wilderness preserve with an elderly couple with whom they had to share the kitchen and bathroom. Her mother, Frances, supported them with commercial-art assignments, which made her father — "the real artist," according to her mother — feel emasculated as he never sold any of his paintings.

"On good days he was great, but on bad days he was horrendous," MacGraw recalled of her father. MacGraw would consciously try to be the mediator and peacemaker in her family, saying she "put all (her) energy into trying to correct the chaos in their life."

She landed the coveted role of assistant editor at Harper's Bazaar after graduation, where she made $54 a week and went on to work as a photographer's assistant. It was during her stint as a photographer's assistant that she was headhunted to be a model herself after somebody at her work decided she was far too beautiful to be kept hidden behind the lens. 

Despite her humble beginnings, MacGraw was a hard worker and made a name for herself in both the fashion and film industries. MacGraw started fronting magazines and TV commercials worldwide, one of her more notable works being the beach girl in the Polaroid Swinger camera ads during the 1960s. One other popular commercial from that time was for International Paper. It featured the actress in a bikini made of confit swimming in the ocean to show off the product's durability.

Not long after, MacGraw burst into the film industry, starring in the 1969 movie "Goodbye, Columbus," her movie debut. Her work in the film earned her the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She went on to star in numerous other movies that became classics like "Love Story," "The Getaway," in which she played opposite Steve McQueen, and the 1974 production of "The Great Gatsby."

According to an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, MacGraw struggled with confidence as an actress and often felt nervous on set. "I was afraid every breathing minute of my film career," she told the interviewer. Based on the accolades she received from her films, MacGraw's nerves did not get the best of her. 

Most of MacGraw's anxiety came from not having much experience acting outside of the commercials she did in her early career. "There was no time for acting school. I'm in awe of film actors who have trained but I also think that you have to live your life so you've got something to draw on," MacGraw said in the same interview.

MacGraw's first marriage was to Robin Hoen, a banker who studied at Harvard. The couple dated for five years prior to marrying in 1962, after MacGraw graduated from Wellesley College. Unfortunately, they were divorced only a year and a half later. In 1969, MacGraw remarried to film producer Robert Evans, and the two had a son, Josh Evans. Josh also works in the entertainment industry as an actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. 

The couple divorced in 1972 after MacGraw's public affair with McQueen while filming "The Getaway." McQueen and MacGraw married in 1973 and had a tumultuous relationship. They later divorced in 1978. According to Vanity Fair, MacGraw did not receive "a dime's worth of settlement" from the divorce. 

Looking back on her past relationships, MacGraw told the Sydney Morning Herald, "I would say that most of us start with a complicated childhood, everybody doing their best and screwing up – I'm a mother, I'm sure I've done it. And I think one has to look at it, walk through the fire, cry the tears, rage the rage. Those guys were 50 freaking years ago; I can't have them in my heart now." MacGraw has truly moved on from the past and focuses instead on a better future.

MacGraw underwent drug rehabilitation at the Betty Ford Center in 1986, which she describes to be her salvation. "My stay there was the most terrifying and life-changing experience I've ever had," she said. "The single biggest thing that happened to me was my newfound certainty that there is a higher power. And I began to feel an underlying peace and sense of order that I had yearned for forever."

That sense of peace is noticeable in the way MacGraw speaks about her present life. "I don't want to sit in anger any more, pretending that everything is wonderful because I want people to like me, but seething underneath. But that takes work, and concentration to change. I couldn't have done it by myself. So the years go by. I am lucky, I am blessed and happy and doing the best I can," MacGraw said to the Sydney Morning Herald.

When she turned the big 70 in 2010, she told Vanity Fair that almost every man from her past called her up. 

"That's another thing that getting older really cements: ex-lover, ex-husband, child, girlfriends, gay friends — that gaggle of human beings is a gift. Time is really precious now. I have too many books I haven't read and too much music I haven't listened to and too many long-distance phone calls with people I don't get to see. So I get up very early, at 6:30. I am disciplined, in many ways. And — this will sound Pollyanna-ish — but gratitude is where I start."

In an interview in 2017, MacGraw talks about how living "in a community that is small and with many causes that need help" fills her days as she no longer does acting work. She also devotes her time to volunteering for animal welfare causes and has maybe gotten a bit too devoted, saying: "I have to restrain myself from bringing home any more strays." She has been living in her "little cottage" in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for almost 28 years now.

According to AARP, MacGraw's current days are a routine of tranquil activities which begin before sunrise. She is surrounded by her animals, often does pilates, yoga, and goes on a walk every day, which she says is her "meditation." She also dedicates "45 minutes of gratitude for all (she has) been given." 

MacGraw had lived in New Mexico since 1993 when her home in Malibu, California, burned down in a wildfire. After that tragedy, MacGraw went to stay with some friends outside of Sante Fe and is still totally enamored with the state. "I love as you go further up in New Mexico where there is no one, the landscape is completely jaw-dropping — the sky, the clean air, endless miles of vista," she told the Herald-Tribune. 

In the same interview, MacGraw added, "One of the lucky things for someone my age is that I'm open and curious. There's not just one thing I love to do and feel bereft if I can't. But I know that I'm not happy when I'm not doing something creative." This sounds like a hint that there may be some future artistic projects from the star.

Always the fashion icon, MacGraw's style has changed to fit her current surroundings. She told the Sydney Morning Herald that she typically wears: "Pretty much what I'm wearing now. Jeans or skinny pants, a simple top, quite a lot of tribal or Mexican or Afghan jewellery – stuff like that – ballet slippers and scarves and shawls." This sounds like the perfect outfit for relaxing or working on creative projects.

Despite being in her 80s, MacGraw stays busy with her activism. "I will sign anything and speak about every environmental thing you can think of. I'm not capable of giving a ton of money but I'm a voice and I use it when I'm asked. In Santa Fe we have a fantastically animal-conscious community, and I'm psycho about animals," she said to the Sydney Morning Herald. 

According to the Herald Tribune, MacGraw has also served as an ambassador for the women's world fashion line Ibu Movement. She was also the recipient of the Humane Education Award by Animal Protection of New Mexico for her extensive work as an animal rights advocate. MacGraw may be most famous for her acting, but her lifelong dedication to helping animals deserves just as much recognition. 

Now that MacGraw is getting older, she is starting to think differently about life. "In November I started to wake up in the middle of the night thinking, 'Oh my god, I'm going to be 80. The rest of the trip is so short compared to the one behind me.' I'd never felt like that before." MacGraw is 85 now and still looks as healthy and glowing as ever before.

MacGraw came to terms with getting older and began to embrace the subject thanks to her friend and journalist, Gloria Steinem. MacGraw said emphatically in her interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, "I love Gloria Steinem's remark – she's my age, and a friend – when somebody said to her, 'Wow, Gloria, you look great for 40.' She said, 'This is what 40 looks like.' And I thought, 'This is what 80 looks like.'"

MacGraw has had a successful career and a personal life full of ups and downs. Overall, she maintains an attitude of gratitude and spends her time helping animals. What are your thoughts about Ali MacGraw's story? Did her struggles move you? If it inspired you, be sure to pass this story along to your friends and family!