The intensity of Ali MacGraw’s feelings for Steve McQueen led to her decision to divorce her first husband and marry McQueen instead. She was completely unprepared for the fact that her second marriage would turn out to be a failure and that it would make it difficult for her to make ends meet.
According to an article published in the July 1991 issue of Orange Coast Magazine, by the time “Love Story” was released, Ali MacGraw had already tied the knot with her first husband, Robert Evans. Both stars were living lavish lifestyles when they wed in 1971, with MacGraw being one of the most renowned actresses in the world at the time.
Evans was also extremely important in the Hollywood film industry due to his position as chief of production at Paramount Studios. As the young pair effortlessly threw parties, premieres, and galas while wearing expensive goods, they were the object of everyone’s envy.
MacGraw and Evans each had private aircraft, which they used to travel to other parts of the world in order to meet with notable people, such as the president of France, the queen of England, and other world leaders. Joshua was born into their family while the couple was still married.
On the magazine covers where she posed with her newborn kid, the actress seemed calm and collected. Nevertheless, MacGraw revealed how she really felt about the fast-paced life she had by saying:
“It seemed as if I was sprinting in front of a forest fire, and that if I stopped running, it would somehow engulf me in some way,” she said.
The celebrity said that everything was “fantastic,” but the negative side effect was that it frightened her an even greater amount. The New Straits Times published an article on May 4, 1986, detailing how MacGraw had improved her lifestyle years earlier when she was already married to Evans.
She had been living in a cramped apartment in New York before to being married, but after they were married, she moved into a large home in Beverly Hills! It didn’t seem as if the actress had any interest in living the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle.
She went on to say that in her wildest dreams, she had never imagined that so many eyes would be on her. The actress believed it must’ve been someone else’s dream since living like that severely upset her, and she had to make an effort to keep her sanity. She felt that must’ve been somebody else’s dream.
When MacGraw first met Steve McQueen, her marriage went through a period of adjustment. When he came to explore the potential of her appearing in “The Getaway,” a movie that he wanted to create and Evans’ business wanted to produce, she met him.
The moment the actress caught her first glimpse of Steve McQueen from across the room, she forgot how to breathe. She was afraid because she had some way of knowing that the celebrity felt the same way that she did.
The actress did all in her power to get out of playing a leading role in the movie, making up reasons like her kid being too young (he hadn’t even turned a year old yet) and the screenplay not being to her taste. The pressure finally got to MacGraw, and he gave up and went to San Antonio to film the scene.
The actress began contrasting Evans and McQueen in their performances. She saw that her husband strutted about and displayed his ego when he was interacting with the financial folks, while McQueen seemed cool and calm while he attended meetings wearing Levi jeans.
The latter didn’t talk much, yet he still managed to get the big guns to eat out of the palm of his hand. Because of his charisma and charm, McQueen was able to receive things he didn’t even specifically ask for.
After being married to Evans for two years, MacGraw divorced him and married Steve McQueen after the two had an affair in public together. On the other hand, the actress had no idea that her marriage to the actor would turn out to be such a nightmare.
Even though both MacGraw and McQueen were actresses at the time they tied the wedding, he insisted that she give up her acting career before they could be married. In addition to this, he forced her to sign a prenuptial agreement (prenup), which prohibited her from possessing anything but her clothing and accessories after the wedding.
The actress consented enthusiastically after being told that the requirements were only a reflection of McQueen’s male ego. On the other hand, she progressively realized that she had made a significant error by marrying her new husband since he did not know either himself or her.
MacGraw eventually became a stepmother to Chad, who was McQueen’s son. This was one of the reasons why she was content to give up her job in order to care for her son and her stepson. She and her spouse essentially lived a hermit’s life at their house in Malibu.
Her career was in a precarious position as a result of the years she spent without working. The actress claims that Steve McQueen yearned for a “regular” existence, which is presumably why he had them living like hermits in the first place.
The second marriage of MacGraw was already on the verge of dissolution by the summer of 1977. She needed something to do, so she made the decision to return to acting, but the route wasn’t an easy one for her to go.
After five years of marriage together, she and McQueen eventually divorced in the same year after which they had been together. The actress was forced to continue looking for performing gigs anywhere she could since the prenuptial agreement that she had signed had the unintended consequence of leaving her bankrupt.
The meager number of films in which she featured were met with resounding failure. MacGraw was a guest star on the television show “Dynasty” and had an appearance in the movie “Winds of War.” The actress had a good time when she was on “Dynasty,” but she quit the show because she believed that it put her life and her relationship with her kid in danger. She justified her choice by saying:
“Looking back on the decisions I’ve made over the last several years, there are some of them that don’t seem as foolish as they seem to have been.”
The celebrity said that she was responsible for a large number of people, including herself and Joshua, and that she was unable to attend the event. MacGraw also said that one of her goals was to achieve financial independence so that she could do whatever she pleased with her life.
MacGraw now had to exercise self-control in order to prevent herself from taking any more strays into her house, and she maintained close relationships with a number of individuals.
Her greatest major achievement after the birth of her kid was “surviving the fairy tale” and getting her “true self back.” A few years later, in 1980, McQueen passed away as a result of cancer; his ex-wife struggled to find comfort again in her own skin and never married again after the loss of her former husband.
MacGraw was questioned by AARP in 2017 on her life after leaving McQueen and what transpired after she left the fashion house. The actress had relocated to Santa Fe, Mexico, to a “small villa” about the time when she retired from the entertainment industry.
After a fire at her Malibu house in 1993, she decided it was time to move to a new location. She took the occurrence to be a message that she needed to relocate to a location farther away from Hollywood, and once she did so, she devoted her time to working for organizations that advocate for the protection of animals.
MacGraw now had to exercise self-control in order to prevent the introduction of other strays into her house and maintained tight relationships with a number of individuals. She surrounded herself with regular individuals who weren’t interested in the most recent fashion trends, and she defined her life as follows:
“I am very aware of how privileged I am.”
The former actress practiced yoga, and she attributes her ability to remain calm during the ordeal to the benefits she derived from the discipline. In addition, she felt calm, joyful, and content on a regular basis as a result of doing the exercise.
MacGraw also practiced Pilates and went for a daily walk of forty-five minutes, which she considered to be a kind of meditation. She has also come to terms with her existence and is no longer desperate to have a momentous love affair or a breakthrough in her creative career.
