More than thirty years have passed since then Ali MacGraw She lost her home in the Malibu fires of 1993. Now, in the light Los Angeles firesThe 85-year-old “Love Story” actress shares her emotional story of loss and resilience. She details the moment she knew it was time to flee Los Angeles and offers advice to those recently affected by the devastation.
“When it happened to me, I lost everything,” said McGraw, who now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hollywood Reporter. “The tattered little yoga outfit I had on was all I had after the fire. I had just rented the house and everything I owned was inside. Before I left to do work in Thailand, I had set everything up exactly right. I wanted it, and… Something didn't fit in that house, I got rid of it, and I knew where absolutely everything was, including every book.
Ali MacGraw, best known for her role in the 1970s film “Love Story,” fled Los Angeles in 1993. (Getty Images/Everett Collection)
McGraw had always dreamed of living near the Pacific Ocean and rented several Malibu homes throughout the 1970s.
However, in November 1993, A The fire broke out They burned 18,000 acres of Malibu over a period of ten days, according to what the British newspaper “Daily Mail” reported Malibu Times. McGraw's rented house burned to the ground.
“It's all gone,” she told THR. “The only thing that was there was a funny piece of land overlooking the ocean as well as outdoor metal furniture from the homeowner. Looking at that ocean churning against the sky full of horror and deep smoke, it was like a movie scene.” “.
McGraw moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico after losing her Malibu home in a 1993 fire. (Everett Group)
“I remember saying very quietly: What am I supposed to learn from this?” Which is kind of a sophisticated version of “Why me?” “But that wasn’t the reason I was there,” she continued. “What happened was so bizarre and so monumental that the ending of Malibu was completely ruined. Then I heard this message: It's time for you to get out of Los Angeles. I burst out laughing and thought, 'Cool, isn't it?' Isn't there a more subtle way to make that suggestion?”
“For some reason, I never cried,” she added. “I never continued. This is not a comment on how cool I was or any of that, but I was very calm. I don't know why, because it was horrific. It was considered one of the major fires in Malibu, but absolutely nothing that happened could have affected what was happening.” now.”
McGraw starred opposite Ryan O'Neal in the film “Love Story.” (Everett Group)
McGraw made a name for herself in Los Angeles.
Throughout much of the 1960s, McGraw spent years working at Harper's Bazaar as a photography assistant, and then at Vogue as a model and stylist.
In 1969, she received global recognition for her role in the film Goodbye, Columbus, and a year later, she starred opposite Ryan O'Neal in the film Love Story. Los Angeles was home.
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“What happened was so strange and so monumental that the end of Malibu was completely destroyed. Then I heard this message: It's time for you to get out of Los Angeles.”
McGraw said she wanted to stay in Malibu, but she figured it out.
“This realization coincided with a moment that same week when I was walking with my friend through the heartbreaking section of barriers that had just been destroyed,” she said. “We were walking the streets looking for a house I could live in. Nothing. I can remember my friend and I were getting a Starbucks and we were with our dogs, and we went down every block. I started crying because I've been doing this every day for months, and it's like this guy saw me I'm crying, and he said to me in a really rough way, “Why are you crying?” I said, “I can't find a place to live,” and he said, “But I heard you have a house near Santa Fe?” I told him it's for sale, and he said, “If it's not sold, Why don't you go there?
McGraw, who was spotted in her hometown of Santa Fe this week, is urging people to show compassion and kindness to those affected by the Los Angeles fires. (background)
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“I didn’t know if I wanted it,” she added. “I was never someone who wanted to live in the desert or somewhere dry and dry. I loved having the ocean close by, and living among the greenery and the flowers. He said this incredibly clear thing that changed my life: 'If you don't do it' like that, don't stay.' “What a concept! I came down for a while. That was 32 years ago.”
McGraw said it's important for people to understand that disasters can happen to “any of us” at any time.
“The more people act with kindness and generosity, the better off we will be,” she said. “I would like to hope that anyone with any kind of empty housing would feel inclined to offer it to help these people for a year at a very reasonable rent that they could never have imagined, and not as a great opportunity to make money. We live in a time when people have more money than entire countries, Helping two families makes a real impact.”
The actress now enjoys a quiet life in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (background)
Having gone through a similar situation, the actress urges people to show more “compassion, kindness and generosity in all areas.”
“(It) could change our civilization,” she said. “Whatever happened to the phrase ‘I only go for the grace of God?’ Treat others the way you would like to be treated, and somehow, with deep breathing and kindness, you move on to another feeling over time.”
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“Now is a great time for people to connect,” she added. “It doesn't have to be huge, even the smallest gesture makes a big difference. We have to start turning the language and emotional behavior around how the world works for me now, with the hysteria, anger and rage on the rise. I'm tired of it, there's an easier, softer way.”
While McGraw once lived a busy life in Los Angeles, she enjoys the peace and quiet that Santa Fe offers.
“I'm a weird old bird at this point. I live north of Santa Fe, and I'm very involved in the community,” she said. New York Times in May. “I'm lucky to be healthy. I know a lot of people who don't have that option. I have a life that makes me happy.”
“I'm grateful to have all of that, but I live a completely different life now,” she added. “I don't care at all about being seen in the latest piece of clothing or knowing the latest song. I don't feel belittled for not knowing these things. I've done it all and been looked at, and that's for another time.” “.
