Ali MacGraw knew she had to flee California in 1993 after losing everything in a fire in Malibu

It has been over thirty years since Ali MacGraw lost her home in the 1993 Malibu fires. Now, in light of the fires in LA, the 85-year-old Love Story actress shares her emotional story of loss and resilience. She describes the moment she knew it was time to flee Los Angeles and offers advice for those recently affected by the devastation.

“When it happened to me, I lost everything,” MacGraw, who currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, told The Hollywood Reporter. “The grubby little outfit I wore to yoga was literally all I had after the fire. I had just rented the house and everything I owned was inside. Just before I left to do a job in Thailand, I had everything laid out exactly like this. I wanted it and everything that didn’t fit in this house, I knew where absolutely everything was, including every book.

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Ali MacGraw, known for her role in the 1970s film “Love Story,” fled Los Angeles in 1993. (Getty Images/The Everett Collection)

MacGraw had always dreamed of living near the Pacific Ocean and rented various houses in Malibu in the 1970s.

However, in November 1993, a fire broke out that burned 18,000 acres of Malibu in ten days, according to the Malibu Times. MacGraw’s rental home was burned to the ground.

“Everything was gone,” she told THR. “The only thing there was a fun lot with ocean views and metal patio furniture from the owner of the house. The view of this turbulent ocean with the sky full of horror and deep smoke was like a scene from a movie.”

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MacGraw moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico after losing her Malibu home in the 1993 fire. (The Everett Collection)

“I remember saying very calmly, ‘What am I supposed to learn from this?’ That’s kind of a sophisticated version of ‘Why me?’ But that wasn’t the reason for me,” she continued. “What happened was so bizarre and powerful that it completely destroyed the end of Malibu. Then I heard this news: It’s time for you to leave Los Angeles. I burst out laughing and thought, ‘Wow, is that?’ Is there a more subtle way to make that suggestion?”

“For some reason I never cried,” she added. “I never moved on. This isn’t a comment on how great I am or anything, but I was stone cold. I don’t know why because it was terrible. It was considered one of the largest fires in Malibu, but nothing that has ever happened can even come close to changing what is going on right now.”

MacGraw starred opposite Ryan O’Neil in Love Story. (The Everett Collection)

MacGraw made a name for himself in Los Angeles.

During much of the 1960s, MacGraw worked for years as a photography assistant for Harper’s Bazaar magazine and later as a model and stylist for Vogue.

In 1969 she gained worldwide recognition for her role in Goodbye, Columbus and a year later she starred opposite Ryan O’Neil in Love Story. Los Angeles was my home.

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“What happened was so bizarre and powerful that it completely destroyed the end of Malibu. That’s when I heard this message: It’s time for you to leave Los Angeles.”

– Ali MacGraw

MacGraw said she wanted to stay in Malibu, but came to a realization.

“This realization coincided with a moment that same week when I was walking with my friend in the heartbreaking part of the Palisades that was being destroyed,” she said. “We walked the streets looking for a house where I could live. Nothing. I can remember my friend and I had our Starbucks in hand and we were with our dogs and walking down every single block. I started crying because I had done this every day for months. This man had apparently seen me crying and said in a really harsh way, “Why are you crying?” I said, “I can’t find a place to live.” He said, “But I heard you have a house near Santa Fe?” I told him it was for sale and he said if it didn’t sell, ‘Why don’t you just go there?'”

MacGraw, seen in her hometown of Santa Fe this week, is urging people to show compassion and kindness to those affected by the LA fires. (BACKBAR)

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“I didn’t know if I would like it,” she added. “I’ve never been one to live in the desert or in a dry, dry place. I loved being near the sea and living among greenery and flowers. He said this incredibly obvious thing that changed my life: ‘If you don’t do it.’ If you like it, don’t stay.’ What a concept! I went under for a while. That was 32 years ago.”

MacGraw said it’s important for people to understand that disasters can happen to “any of us” at any time.

“The more people behave kindly and generously, the better off we will be,” she said. “I would like to hope that anyone who has an empty apartment would be inclined to offer this up to help these people for a year with the incredibly cheap rent they ever imagined, rather than as a major way to make money earn. We live in a time when people have more money than entire countries and for whom it would really make sense to help a few families.”

The actress is now enjoying a quiet life in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (BACKBAR)

After going through a similar situation, the actress is urging people to show “more compassion, kindness and generosity across the board.”

“(It) could change our civilization,” she said. “What happened to the phrase, ‘Without the grace of God I go there?’ Treat others the way you would like to be treated, and over time, through deep breathing and kindness, you will somehow arrive at a different feeling.”

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“Now is a great time for people to come forward,” she added. “It doesn’t have to be huge, even the smallest gesture makes a big difference. We need to start flipping the language and emotional behavior to how the world seems to be working to me right now, with major hysteria, anger and “I’m tired of it.” There is an easier, gentler way.

While MacGraw once led a busy life in Los Angeles, she now enjoys the peace and quiet that Santa Fe brings.

“I’m a strange old bird at this point. I live north of Santa Fe, kind of in nature, and I’m very involved in the community,” she told the New York Times in May. “I am fortunate to be in good health. And I know so many people who don’t have that choice. I have a life that makes me happy.”

“I’m grateful that I had all of that, but I live a very different life now,” she added. “It’s not important to me at all to be seen in the latest clothing or to know the latest song. I don’t feel diminished by not knowing these things. I did everything and was looked at, and that was for another time.”

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