Ali MacGraw was born Alice MacGraw in Pound Ridge, New York. She was born to an Irish-American Father and a Jewish mother. She has one brother. Both parents were artists and coming from an artistic family, Ali realized from an early age she wanted a career in the arts. She attended the prestigious Wellesley College which boasts Hilary Rodham Clinton and Diane Sawyer as alumni.
At age 22, Ali became an assistant to Diana Vreeland at Harper's Bazaar and stylist at Vogue Her natural beauty and grace impressed the photographers and she was asked to move in front of the camera and do some photo shoots. Her clean, fresh look was a bit hit and she began a successful second career modeling and appearing in TV commercials. She started the Less-is-More look as she needed and used little make-up thus creating a huge trend in women wanting to look natural rather than made-up. She soon turned to acting.
Ali MacGraw began discussing a return to films with Steve and to her dismay, Steve became furious and demanded she remain a housewife only. He didn't want her to take classes or have any outside interests because he wanted her to be at home and waiting for him when he decided to come home. With Steve living his double life, she was unable to maintain hers as the dutiful wife and began looking at scripts. In 1978, she signed on for a role in Sam Peckinpah's Convoy and her marriage to McQueen came to a very nasty end. Ali MacGraw had signed a pre-nuptial agreement and had very little of her own money since she hadn't worked in so long.
Steve controlled everything. Consequently, he kicked Ali out of their marital home and moved the woman with whom he'd been having his latest affair, into their home even as Josh was still living there and Ali's clothes were still in the closet. Her name was Barbara Minty and she would become his third wife. Even Steve's first wife Neile was disgusted by his behavior and made the remark that it was not his most shining moment. In Steve's mind, because she had refused to do everything he'd asked, he felt Ali had betrayed him and he would never forgive her. They divorced in 1978.
Ali had always hoped to reconcile their differences with Steve but, on his deathbed, he would not see or speak to her. Some say it is because he did not want her to see him in his condition. According to Marshall Terrill's biography, many of Steve's closest friends and confidantes are convinced she was the one true love of his life which may be the reason he could not bear to see her eyes when she saw him. Neither she nor her son, Josh, who adored Steve and considered him his father, would find peace or closure with that chapter in their lives.
After her divorce, Ali had a run of bad luck including a fire which destroyed her home in California. With that, she moved to New Mexico. She would continue working in some films and TV and was cast in the mini-series hit The Winds of War with Robert Mitchum, China Rose, Gunsmoke: The Long Ride and Natural Causes. She even did a quick stint on Dynasty playing Lady Ashley Mitchell. In 1995, Ali MacGraw published her autobiography, Moving Pictures which she wrote about her alcoholism, male dependence and her treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic.