Richard MacGraw: What happened to Ali MacGraw’s father?

Richard MacGraw is the father of Ali MacGraw. Richard MacGraw’s daughter is an American actress. She made headlines in the 1960s and 1970s for the various roles she played on screen. For her role in  Goodbye, Columbus, she won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She went on to gain international recognition for her role in the romantic drama 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, she was voted the top female box office star in the world.

Richard MacGraw: Bio Summary

Who was Ali MacGraw’s father?

Richard MacGraw was born on October 21, 1906, in Ridgewood, Bergen County, NJ, United States. He was the son of Augustus MacGraw and Elizabeth MacGraw. According to the actress her father had survived a miserable childhood in an orphanage, run away to sea at 16, and enrolled in art school in Munich. “Daddy was frightened and really, really angry. He never forgave his real parents for giving him up.” His adult life was spent “suppressing the rage that covered all his hurt.”- She told Vanity fair. The actress described her father as “violent”.

Richard MacGraw was an artist

While Ali, born Elizabeth Alice MacGraw is known for her exceptional talent onscreen her father was a commercial artist (Graphic Designer). Though they are not doing the same thing, the father and daughter choose to express themselves through art.

In 1972, MacGraw was voted the top female box office star in the world and was honored with a hands and footprints ceremony at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre after having been in just three films. She retained her leading woman status in only four films afterward.

Richard MacGraw was married to Frances MacGraw. His wife was Jewish, the daughter of emigrants from Budapest, Hungary. Richard’s wife was considered a “pioneer” as an artist, who had taught in Paris before settling in Greenwich Village. 

ALSO, READ; Frances Klein MacGraw: Who was Ali MacGraw’s mother?

The couple tied the knot in a beautiful wedding ceremony on 25 May 1935 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States.  Ali’s parents married when her mother was nearing 35: “My gorgeous father: a combination of Tyrone Power and a mystery, a brilliant artist and a brain beyond brains.“

The couple went on to have two children- Ali and her brother Richard MacGraw Jr, an artist. The MacGraws wanted to live in the country but had no money, so they shared a house on a Pound Ridge wilderness preserve with an older couple.

Ali recalls in an Interview with Vanity Fair, “There were no doors; we shared the kitchen and bathroom with them. It was utter lack of privacy. It was horrible.” Richard’s wife supported the family with commercial art assignments. Most of his paintings never sold, and he felt emasculated and frustrated.

ALSO, READ; Robin Hoen: Who was Ali MacGraw’s ex-husband?

“Daddy would beat my brother up, badly. I was witness to it, and it was terrible.” Frances did not intervene, and when Ali tried, “it was hopeless.” Ali took it upon herself to be “the controller,” hoping her ultra-good behavior might protect her brother. “I put all my energy into trying to correct the chaos in our life. I was the Perfect Girl—capital P, capital G.”- She told Vanity Fair.

What happened to Ali MacGraw’s father?

Richard MacGraw passed away in June 1978 in Westchester County, New York, United States. He was 71 years old at the time of his death. The cause of his death was not made public by the family.

Richard MacGraw’s daughter has lived in Tesuque, New Mexico, since 1994, after the house she rented in Malibu was destroyed by a fire. she originally intended to make a cameo as herself in the Breaking Bad episode “Grey Matter” as a guest at the birthday party of character Elliott Schwartz, set in Santa Fe, but her appearance did not make the final cut of the episode.