MacGraw and O’Neal also will receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the first virtual double-star ceremony in history. Watch the live ceremony Friday, Feb. 12 at 2:30 p.m. ET on YouTube. Here are 13 fun bits of trivia about the seven-time Academy Award nominee, the No. 1 box office hit of 1970 and one of the first films ever to top $100 million in ticket sales.
- The film began as a screenplay by author Erich Segal, who later adapted it into a novel that remained on the New York Times bestseller list for 41 weeks.
- Ali MacGraw admitted she was confused about the movie’s tagline, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”
- Erich Segal based Ryan O’Neal’s character on Tommy Lee Jones and Al Gore, who were housemates at Harvard and friends of Segal’s.
- Eight up-and-coming actors—including Michael Douglas, Jon Voight and Peter Fonda—turned down the role of Oliver before it went to Ryan O’Neal.
- For the sake of authenticity, director Arthur Hiller convinced Ali MacGraw to learn harpsichord for the scene in which it’s played by her character, Jenny.
- To prepare for his role, Ryan O’Neal learned to ice skate.
- The snow scene in the Harvard football stadium was completely improvised—it was supposed to be a picnic, but the weather had other ideas. 8.The composer of the Oscar winning theme, Frances Lai, responsible for the iconic theme from A Man and a Woman (1966), was convinced by French actor Alain Delon to write the moving “Theme From Love Story.”
- Both the Cornell and Dartmouth hockey teams were played by Dartmouth’s actual team. Cornell hockey coach Ned Harkness only allowed Cornell jerseys to be used in the film, on the condition that Cornell win the game with Harvard.
- John Marley, who was nominated for best supporting actor for his role as the father of Ali MacGraw’s character, played studio head Jack Woltz in The Godfather two years later.
- In 2020, Paramount restored the film, using the original camera negative, including better source material in all shots and updating the audio.
- After this film (which was kicked off campus after one week of filming), Harvard University prohibited almost all commercial filming on its grounds.
- Oliver’s car in the film was an MG TC Midget, a British car produced by the MG Company from 1945 to 1949. Next, Plan Your Valentine’s Day Movie Marathon With Our Ranking of the 75 Best Romantic Films of All Time
