Barbara Joan "Barbra"Streisand (/ˈstraɪsænd/STRY-sand; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. Over a career spanning more than six decades, Streisand has achieved success in various areas of the entertainment industry, including the attainment ofEmmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards.
Streisand was born April 24, 1942, inBrooklyn, New York City, to Diana Ida (née Rosen; 1908–2002)[19] and Emanuel Streisand (1908–1943). Her mother had been a soprano in her youth and considered a career in music, but later became a school secretary.[20] Her father was a high school teacher at the same school, where they first met.[21] Streisand's family isJewish.[22][23][24] Her paternal grandparents emigrated fromGalicia (modern-dayPoland andUkraine) in theAustro-Hungarian Empire, and her maternal grandparents from theRussian Empire, where her grandfather had been acantor.[25][26]
In August 1943, a few months after Streisand's first birthday, her father died at age 34 from complications from anepileptic seizure, possibly the result of a head injury years earlier.[27]: 3 The family fell into near poverty, with her mother working as a low-paid bookkeeper.[28] As an adult, Streisand remembered those early years as always feeling like an "outcast", explaining, "Everybody else's father came home from work at the end of the day. Mine didn't."[27]: 3 Her mother tried to pay their bills but could not give her daughter the attention she craved: "When I wanted love from my mother, she gave me food," Streisand says.[27]: 3
Streisand recalled that her mother had a "great voice" and sang semi-professionally on occasion. In a 2016 interview withRosie O'Donnell, Streisand recounted that when she was 13, she and her mother recorded some songs on tape during a visit to theCatskills. That session was the first time Streisand ever asserted herself as an artist, which also became her "first moment of inspiration."[29]
She has an older brother, Sheldon, and a younger half-sister, singerRoslyn Kind,[30][31][32] from her mother's remarriage to Louis Kind in 1950.[33][34]
Education
Streisand began her education at the Jewish OrthodoxYeshiva of Brooklyn when she was five.[35] She was considered bright and inquisitive; however, she lacked discipline, often shouting answers to questions out of turn.[36][27]: 3 She next attended Public School 89 in Brooklyn, and during those early school years began watching television and going to movies. "I always wanted to be somebody, to be famous... You know, get out of Brooklyn."[27]: 3
Streisand became known by others in the neighborhood for her voice. She remembers sitting on the stoop in front of their apartment building with the other kids and singing: "I was considered the girl on the block with the good voice."[27]: 3 That talent became a way for her to gain attention. She would often practice her singing in the hallway of her apartment building, which gave her voice an echoing quality.[37]
She made her singing debut at a PTA (Parent—teacher association) assembly, where she became a hit to everyone but her mother, who was mostly critical of her daughter. Streisand was invited to sing at weddings and summer camp, along with having an unsuccessful audition at MGM records when she was nine. By the time she was 13, her mother began supporting her talent, helping her make a four-song demo tape, including "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" and "You'll Never Know".[27]: 4
Becoming an actress was her main objective. That desire was made stronger when she saw her first Broadway play,The Diary of Anne Frank, when she was 14. The star in the play wasSusan Strasberg, whose acting she wanted to emulate.[27]: 4 Streisand began spending her spare time in the library, studying the biographies of various stage actresses such asEleanora Duse andSarah Bernhardt. In addition, she began reading novels and plays and studying the acting theories ofKonstantin Stanislavski andMichael Chekhov.[27]: 4
In 1956, she attendedErasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, where she became an honor student in modern history, English, and Spanish. She also joined the Freshman Chorus and Choral Club, where she sang with another choir member and classmate,Neil Diamond.[38] Diamond recalls, "We were two poor kids in Brooklyn. We hung out in the front of Erasmus High and smoked cigarettes." The school was near an art movie house, and he recalls that she was always aware of the films they were showing.[39] She had a crush on 15-year-old US Chess Champion and fellow studentBobby Fischer, whom she found to be "very sexy".[40][41]
During the summer of 1957, she landed her first stage experience as a walk-on at the Playhouse, inMalden Bridge, New York. That small part was followed by a role as the kid sister inPicnic and as a vamp inDesk Set.[27]: 4 In her second year, she took a night job at theCherry Lane Theatre inGreenwich Village, helping backstage. When she was a senior, she rehearsed for a small part inDriftwood, a play staged in a midtown attic space.[27]: 5
She graduated from Erasmus Hall in January 1959 at age 16, and despite her mother's pleas that she stay out of show business, she set out trying to get roles on the New York City stage.[27]: 5 After renting a small apartment on 48th Street in the heart of the theater district, she accepted any job she could involving the stage, and at every opportunity, she "made the rounds" of the casting offices.[27]: 5
Career
Beginnings
Streisand, c. 1962
Living on her own at 16, Streisand took various menial jobs to have some income. During one period, she lacked a permanent address, and found herself sleeping at the home of friends or anywhere else she could set up the army cot she carried around. When desperate, she returned to her mother's flat in Brooklyn for a home-cooked meal. However, her mother was horrified by her daughter's "gypsy-like lifestyle", wrote biographerKaren Swenson, and again begged her to give up trying to get into show business,[27]: 6 but Streisand took her mother's pleadings as even more reason to keep trying: "My desires were strengthened by wanting to prove to my mother that Icould be a star."[27]: 6
Streisand took a job as an usher at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater forThe Sound of Music early in 1960. During the run of the play, she heard that the casting director was auditioning for more singers, and it marked the first time she sang in pursuit of a job.[27]: 6 Although the director felt she was not right for the part, he encouraged her to begin including her talent as a singer on her résumé when looking for other work.[27]: 6
Streisand asked her boyfriend,Barry Dennen, to tape her singing, copies of which she could then give out to possible employers. Dennen found a guitarist to accompany her:.[27]: 6
We spent the afternoon taping, and the moment I heard the first playback I went insane ... This nutty little kook had one of the most breathtaking voices I'd ever heard ... when she was finished and I turned off the machine, I needed a long moment before I dared look up at her.
Dennen grew enthusiastic and he convinced her to enter a talent contest at the Lion, agay nightclub in Manhattan'sGreenwich Village. She performed two songs, after which there was a "stunned silence" from the audience, followed by "thunderous applause" when she was pronounced the winner.[27]: 7 She was invited back and sang at the club for several weeks.[42] During this time, disliking her name,[43] she changed it from "Barbara" to "Barbra".[42]In early days of her career, Streisand was repeatedly told she was too ugly to be a star and was advised to get anose job, which she declined to do.[1]
Nightclub shows
Streisand was next asked to audition at the Bon Soir nightclub, after which she was signed up at $125 a week. It became her first professional engagement in September 1960, where she was the opening act for comedianPhyllis Diller. She recalls it was the first time she had been in that kind of upscale environment: "I'd never been in a nightclub until I sang in one."[27]: 7
Dennen now wanted to expose Streisand to his vast record collection of female singers, includingBillie Holiday,Mabel Mercer,Ethel Waters, andÉdith Piaf. Streisand realized she could still become an actress by first gaining recognition as a singer.[27]: 7 From his collection she drew the song that best defined her mission in singing:A Sleepin' Bee, with music byHarold Arlen and lyrics byTruman Capote for the 1954 musicalHouse of Flowers. "The lyrics to that song gave me the three acts of a play that I longed for as an actress," Streisand said. "And Harold was one of those writers who could write these magnificent melodies. That gave me what I needed."[44] According to biographer Christopher Nickens, hearing other great female singers benefited her style, as she began creating different emotional characters when performing, which gave her singing a greater range.
Streisand improved her stage presence when speaking to the audience between songs. She discovered that her Brooklyn-bred style of humor was received favorably.[27]: 8 During the next six months appearing at the club, some began comparing her singing voice to famous names such asJudy Garland,Lena Horne andFanny Brice. Her conversational ability to charm an audience with spontaneous humor during performances became more sophisticated and professional.[27]: 8 Theater criticLeonard Harris wrote: "She's twenty; by the time she's thirty she will have rewritten the record books."[27]: 9
Her name is Barbra Streisand. She is 20 years old, she has a three-octave promiscuity of range, she packs more personal dynamic power than anybody I can recall sinceLibby Holman orHelen Morgan. She can sing as loud asEthel Merman and as persuasively asLena orElla, or as brassy as aSophie Tucker ... and only Barbra Streisand can turn "Cry Me a River" into something comparable toEnrico Caruso having his first bash atPagliacci. When Streisand cries you a river, you got a river, Sam ... and she will be around 50 years from now if good songs are still written to be sung by good singers.
—Syndicated columnistRobert Ruark, on her 1963 performances at the Blue Angel.[45][46]
Early theatre roles and Broadway debut
Streisand accepted her first role on the New York stage inAnother Evening with Harry Stoones, a satirical comedy play in which she acted and sang two solos. The show received terrible reviews and closed the next day. With the help of her new personal manager,Martin Erlichman, she had successful shows in Detroit and St. Louis. Erlichman then booked her at an even more upscale nightclub inManhattan, the Blue Angel, where she became a bigger hit during the period from 1961 to 1962. Streisand once toldJimmy Fallon, with whom she sang a duet,[47] on theTonight Show, that Erlichman was a "fantastic manager" and still managed her career after 50 years.[48]
While appearing at the Blue Angel, theater director and playwrightArthur Laurents asked her to audition for a new musical comedy he was directing,I Can Get It for You Wholesale. She got the part of secretary to the lead actor businessman, played by then unknownElliott Gould.[27]: 9 They fell in love during rehearsals and eventually moved into a small apartment together. The show opened on March 22, 1962, at theShubert Theater, and received rave reviews. Her performance "stopped the show cold", wrote Nickens.[27]: 9 [27]: 10 Groucho Marx, while hosting theTonight Show, told her that 20 was an "extremely young age to be a success on Broadway".[49] Streisand received aTony Award nomination and New York Drama Critic's prize for Best Supporting Actress.[50] The show was recorded and made into an album.[27]: 10
Early television appearances
Streisand in 1966
Streisand's first television appearance was onThe Tonight Show, then credited to its regular host,Jack Paar. She was seen during an April 1961 episode on whichOrson Bean substituted for Paar. She sangHarold Arlen's "A Sleepin' Bee".[51] During her appearance,Phyllis Diller, also a guest on the show, called her "one of the great singing talents in the world."[52]
Later in 1961, before she was cast inAnother Evening With Harry Stoones, Streisand became a semi-regular onPM East/PM West, a talk/variety series hosted byMike Wallace andJoyce Davidson.[53] Some of Streisand'sPM East segments survive as audio recordings, and still photos survive, but moving images do not.
In early 1962, she went into the Columbia Records studio for the cast recording ofI Can Get It for You Wholesale. Also that spring, she participated in a 25th anniversary studio recording ofPins and Needles, the classicpopular front musical originated in 1937 by theInternational Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Reviews of both albums highlighted Streisand's performances.[54]
In May 1962, Streisand appeared onThe Garry Moore Show, where she sang "Happy Days Are Here Again" for the first time. Her sad, slow version of the 1930s upbeat Democratic Party theme song became hersignature song during this early phase of her career.[27]: 10
Johnny Carson had her on theTonight Show half a dozen times in 1962 and 1963, and she became a favorite of his television audience and himself personally. He described her as an "exciting new singer".[55] During one show, she joked with Groucho Marx, who liked her style of humor.[27]: 10
She did three or four songs, and she was beyond brilliant – so amazing.
In December 1962, Streisand made the first of a number of appearances onThe Ed Sullivan Show. She was later a cohost onThe Mike Douglas Show, and also made an impact on a number ofBob Hope specials. Performing with her onThe Ed Sullivan Show wasLiberace, who became an instant fan of the young singer. Liberace invited her toLas Vegas to perform as his opening act at theRiviera Hotel. He is credited with introducing Streisand to audiences on the West Coast.[57] The following September, during her ongoing shows atHarrah's Hotel in Lake Tahoe, she andElliott Gould took time off to get married inCarson City, Nevada. With her career and popularity rising so quickly, she saw her marriage to Gould as a "stabilizing influence".[27]: 11
First albums
At age 21, Streisand signed a contract withColumbia Records that gave her full creative control, in exchange for less money. Lieberson relented and agreed to sign her. Nearly three decades later, she said:[58][1]
The most important thing about that first contract – actually, the thing we held out for – was a unique clause giving me the right to choose my own material. It was the only thing I really cared about. I still received lots of pressure from the label to include some pop hits on my first album, but I held out for the songs that really meant something to me.
Streisand took advantage of this several times during her career.[1] Columbia wanted to call her first album, in early 1963,Sweet and Saucy Streisand. She used her control to insist that it was calledThe Barbra Streisand Album, saying "if you saw me on TV, you could just go [to the record shop] and ask for the Barbra Streisand album."[1] It reached the top 10 on theBillboard chart and won threeGrammy Awards.[27]: 11 The album made her the best-selling female vocalist in the country.[27]: 11 The Second Barbra Streisand Album followed later that year, which established her as the "most exciting new personality sinceElvis Presley."[27]: 11 She ended that breakthrough year of 1963 by performing one-night concerts in Indianapolis, San Jose, Chicago, Sacramento, and Los Angeles.[27]: 11
In 1966, Streisand repeated her success withFunny Girl in London's West End at thePrince of Wales Theatre. From 1965 to 1968 she appeared in her first four solo television specials, including theEmmy Award–winningMy Name is Barbra.
Beginning withMy Name Is Barbra, her early albums were often medley-filled keepsakes of her television specials. Starting in 1969, she began attempting more contemporary material, but like many talented singers of the day, she found herself out of her element with rock. Her vocal talents prevailed, and she gained newfound success with the pop and ballad-orientedRichard Perry-produced albumStoney End in 1971. Thetitle track, written byLaura Nyro, was a major hit for Streisand.
After years of largely ignoring Broadway and traditional pop music in favor of more contemporary material, Streisand returned to her musical-theater roots. Columbia Records objected that the songs she wanted to sing were not pop songs, but Streisand asserted the full creative control her contract gave her—'I've always had the right to sing what I want'[1]—with 1985'sThe Broadway Album, which was unexpectedly successful, holding the coveted No. 1 Billboard position for three straight weeks and being certified quadruple platinum. The album featured tunes byRodgers and Hammerstein,George Gershwin,Jerome Kern, andStephen Sondheim, who was persuaded to rework some of his songs especially for this recording.The Broadway Album was met with acclaim, including a Grammy nomination for album of the year, and handed Streisand her eighth Grammy as Best Female Vocalist. After releasing the live albumOne Voice in 1986, Streisand was set to release another album of Broadway songs in 1988. She recorded several cuts for the album under the direction ofRupert Holmes, including "On My Own" (fromLes Misérables), a medley of "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?", and "Heather on the Hill" (fromFinian's Rainbow andBrigadoon, respectively), "All I Ask of You" (fromThe Phantom of the Opera), "Warm All Over" (fromThe Most Happy Fella), and an unusual solo version of "Make Our Garden Grow" (fromCandide). Streisand was not happy with the direction of the project and it was scrapped. Only "Warm All Over" and a reworked, lite FM-friendly version of "All I Ask of You" were ever released, the latter appearing on Streisand's 1988 effort,Till I Loved You. At the beginning of the 1990s, Streisand started focusing on her film directorial efforts and became almost inactive in the recording studio. In 1991, a four-disc box set,Just for the Record, was released. A compilation spanning Streisand's entire career to date, it featured over 70 tracks of live performances, greatest hits, rarities, and previously unreleased material.
Streisand taping her TV SpecialBarbra Streisand ... and other Musical Instruments in 1973
The following year, Streisand's concert fundraising events helped propel PresidentBill Clinton into the spotlight and into office.[62] Streisand later introduced Clinton at his inauguration in 1993. Streisand's music career, however, was largely on hold. A 1992 appearance at an APLA benefit, as well as the aforementioned inaugural performance, hinted that Streisand was becoming more receptive to the idea of live performances. A tour was suggested, though Streisand would not immediately commit to it, citing her well-known stage fright as well as security concerns. During this time, Streisand finally returned to the recording studio and releasedBack to Broadway in June 1993. The album was not as universally lauded as its predecessor, but it did debut at No. 1 on the pop charts (a rare feat for an artist of Streisand's age, especially given that it relegatedJanet Jackson'sJanet to the No. 2 spot). One of the album's highlights was a medley of "I Have A Love" / "One Hand, One Heart", a duet withJohnny Mathis, who Streisand said is one of her favorite singers.[63][64]
In 1993,The New York Times music criticStephen Holden wrote that Streisand "enjoys a cultural status that only one other American entertainer, Frank Sinatra, has achieved in the last half century".[65] In September 1993, Streisand announced her first public concert appearances in 27 years (discounting her Las Vegas nightclub performances between 1969 and 1972). What began as a two-night New Year's event at theMGM Grand Las Vegas led to a multi-city tour in the summer of 1994. Tickets for the tour sold out in under an hour. Streisand also appeared on the covers of major magazines in anticipation of whatTime magazine named "The Music Event of the Century". The tour was one of the biggest all-media merchandise parlays in history. Ticket prices ranged from US$50 to US$1,500, making Streisand the highest-paid concert performer in history at the time.Barbra Streisand: The Concert went on to be the top-grossing concert of the year and earned fiveEmmy Awards and thePeabody Award, while the taped broadcast onHBO was the highest-rated concert special in HBO's 30-year history. Following the tour's conclusion, Streisand once again kept a low profile musically, instead focusing her efforts on acting and directing duties as well as a burgeoning romance with actorJames Brolin.
In 1996, Streisand released "I Finally Found Someone" as a duet with Canadian singer and songwriterBryan Adams. The song was nominated for an Oscar, as it was part of the soundtrack of Streisand's self-directed movieThe Mirror Has Two Faces. It reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was her first significant hit in almost a decade and her first top 10 hit on the Hot 100 (and first gold single) since 1981.
In 1997, she finally returned to the recording studio, releasingHigher Ground, a collection of songs of a loosely inspirational nature that also featured a duet withCéline Dion. The album received generally favorable reviews and once again debuted at No. 1 on the pop charts. Following her marriage to Brolin in 1998, Streisand recordedA Love Like Ours the following year. Reviews were mixed, with many critics complaining about the somewhat syrupy sentiments and overly lush arrangements; however, it did produce a modest hit for Streisand in the country-tinged "If You Ever Leave Me", a duet withVince Gill.
On New Year's Eve 1999, Streisand returned to the concert stage, selling out in the first few hours, eight months before her return.[66] At the end of the millennium, she was the number one female singer in the U.S., with at least two No. 1 albums in each decade since she began performing. A two-disc live album,Timeless: Live in Concert, was released in 2000. Streisand performed versions of theTimeless concert in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, in early 2000. In advance of four concerts (two each in Los Angeles and New York) in September 2000, Streisand announced that she was retiring from playing public concerts. Her performance of the song "People" was broadcast on the Internet via America Online.
Streisand's subsequent albums includedChristmas Memories (2001), a somewhat somber collection of holiday songs, andThe Movie Album (2003), featuring famous film themes and backed by a large symphony orchestra.Guilty Pleasures (calledGuilty Too in the UK), a collaboration with Barry Gibb and a sequel to theirGuilty, was released worldwide in 2005.
Streisand performing in July 2007 atThe O2 Arena in London
In February 2006, Streisand recorded the song "Smile" alongsideTony Bennett at Streisand'sMalibu home. The song is included on Bennett's 80th birthday album,Duets. In September 2006, the pair filmed a live performance of the song forTony Bennett: An American Classic, directed byRob Marshall. The special aired on NBC on November 21, 2006, and was released on DVD the same day. Streisand's duet with Bennett opened the special.
That same year, Streisand announced her intent to tour again, in an effort to raise money and awareness for multiple issues. After four days of rehearsal at theSovereign Bank Arena inTrenton, New Jersey, the2006 Streisand concert tour began on October 4 at theWachovia Center inPhiladelphia, continued with a featured stop inSunrise, Florida, and concluded at Staples Center in Los Angeles on November 20, 2006. Special guestsIl Divo were interwoven throughout the show. Streisand's 20-concert tour set box office records. At the age of 64, she grossed $92,457,062 and set house gross records in 14 of the 16 arenas played on the tour. She set the third-place record for her show of October 9, 2006, at Madison Square Garden, the first- and second-place records, of which are held by her two shows in September 2000. She set the second-place record atMGM Grand Garden Arena, with her December 31, 1999, show being the house record and highest-grossing concert of all time. This led many people to openly criticize Streisand forprice gouging, as many tickets sold for upwards of $1,000.[67]
A collection of performances culled from different stops on this tour,Live in Concert 2006, debuted at No. 7 on theBillboard 200, making it Streisand's 29th Top 10 album.[68] In the summer of 2007, Streisand gave concerts for the first time in continental Europe. The first concert took place inZürich (June 18), then Vienna (June 22), Paris (June 26), Berlin (June 30),Stockholm (July 4, canceled),Manchester (July 10), andCelbridge, nearDublin (July 14), followed by three concerts in London (July 18, 22 and 25), the only European city where Streisand had performed before 2007. Tickets for the London dates cost between £100.00 and £1,500.00, and for Ireland, between €118 and €500. The Ireland date was marred by issues with serious parking and seating problems, leading to the event's being dubbed a fiasco byHot Press.[69] The tour included a 58-piece orchestra.
In February 2008,Forbes listed Streisand as the No. 2-earning female musician between June 2006 and June 2007, with earnings of about $60 million.[70] On November 17, 2008, Streisand returned to the studio to begin recording what would be her 63rd album[71] and it was announced thatDiana Krall was producing the album.[72] Streisand is one of the recipients of the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors.[73] On December 7, 2008, she visited the White House as part of the ceremonies.[71]
On April 25, 2009,CBS aired Streisand's latest television special,Streisand: Live in Concert, highlighting the featured stop from her 2006 North American tour inFort Lauderdale, Florida. On September 26, 2009, Streisand performed a one-night-only show at theVillage Vanguard in New York City's Greenwich Village.[74] This performance was later released on DVD asOne Night Only: Barbra Streisand and Quartet at The Village Vanguard. On September 29, 2009, Streisand and Columbia Records released the studio albumLove is the Answer, produced by Diana Krall.[75] On October 2, 2009, Streisand made her British television performance debut with an interview onFriday Night with Jonathan Ross to promote the album. This album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and registered her biggest weekly sales since 1997, making Streisand the only artist in history to achieve No. 1 albums in five different decades.
On February 1, 2010, Streisand joined over 80 other artists in recording a new version of the 1985 charity single "We Are the World".Quincy Jones andLionel Richie planned to release the new version to mark the 25th anniversary of its original recording. These plans changed, however, in view of the devastating earthquake that hitHaiti on January 12, 2010, and on February 12, the song, now called "We Are the World 25 for Haiti", made its debut as a charity single to support relief aid for the island nation.
Streisand is one of many singers who useteleprompters during their live performances. Streisand has defended her choice in using teleprompters to display lyrics and, sometimes, banter.[80]
In September 2014,[81] she releasedPartners, a new album of duets that features a song with Elvis Presley as well as collaborations withAndrea Bocelli,Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie,Billy Joel,Babyface,Michael Bublé,Josh Groban,John Mayer,John Legend,Blake Shelton, and Jason Gould. This album topped theBillboard 200, with sales of 196,000 copies in the first week, making Streisand the only recording artist to have a number-one album in each of the last six decades.[82] It was also certified gold in November 2014 and platinum in January 2015, thus becoming Streisand's 52nd gold and 31st Platinum album, more than any other female artist in history.[83]
In May 2016, Streisand announced the upcoming albumEncore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway, to be released in August following a nine-city concert tour,Barbra: The Music, The Mem'ries, The Magic, including performances in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and a return to her hometown of Brooklyn.[84] In June 2018, Streisand confirmed she was working on the new studio albumWalls,[85] released November 2, 2018, just prior to the U.S. midterm election. The album's lead single, "Don't Lie to Me", was written as a criticism of America's political climate amid thepresidency of Donald Trump,[86][87] while the title track alludes to Trump's frequent calls for awall at the Mexico border.[88]
From 1969 to 1980, Streisand appeared inTop Ten Money Making Stars Poll, the annual motion picture exhibitors poll of Top 10 Box Office attractions a total of 10 times,[96] often as the only woman on the list. After the commercially disappointingAll Night Long in 1981, Streisand's film output decreased considerably, appearing in only eight films since.
I'm impressed with her choosingYentl; it was extraordinary. But for some reason, Hollywood turned against her ... there was a lack of sympathy toward her ... Christ, she could have playedCleopatra better thanLiz Taylor, with her enormous power and the subtlety of her singing ... She is one of the great actresses and she hasn't been well used.
Streisand produced a number of her own films, setting up Barwood Films in 1972.Yentl (1983) was turned down by every Hollywood studio at least once when she proposed both directing and starring in the film, until Orion Pictures took on the project and gave the film a budget of $14 million.[98] ForYentl (1983), she was producer, director, and star, an experience she repeated forThe Prince of Tides (1991) andThe Mirror Has Two Faces (1996). There was controversy whenYentl received five Academy Award nominations but none for the major categories of Best Picture, Actress, or Director.[99]The Prince of Tides received even more Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay, although not for director. Upon completion of the film, its screenwriter,Pat Conroy, who also authored the novel, called Streisand "a goddess who walks upon the earth."[27]: xii
Streisand also co-scriptedYentl (withJack Rosenthal), something for which she is not always given credit.[100] According toThe New York Times editorAndrew Rosenthal, in an interview with Allan Wolper, "The one thing that makes Barbra Streisand crazy is when nobody gives her the credit for having writtenYentl."[101]
In 2005, Streisand's Barwood Films, Gary Smith, and Sonny Murray purchased the rights toSimon Mawer's bookMendel's Dwarf.[102] In December 2008, she stated that she was considering directing an adaptation ofLarry Kramer's playThe Normal Heart, a project she has worked on since the mid-1990s.[103]
Streisand reprised the role of Roz Focker inLittle Fockers (2010, alongside Dustin Hoffman), the third film from theMeet the Parents trilogy.
Plans emerged in 2015 for Streisand to direct a feature biopic about the 18th-century Russian empressCatherine the Great, based on the top 2014 Black List script produced byGil Netter,[105] withKeira Knightley starring.[106] Streisand was also set to star in a film adaptation of the musicalGypsy – featuring music byJules Styne, book byArthur Laurents, and lyrics byStephen Sondheim – withRichard LaGravenese attached to the project as screenwriter.[107] Streisand was in advanced negotiations to star and produce the film in April 2016, to be directed byBarry Levinson and distributed bySTX Entertainment.[108] Two months later, the film's script had been completed and production was scheduled to begin in early 2017.[109] Streisand reportedly exited the project,[110] and bothfailed to move into production.
Artistry
Streisand possesses amezzo-sopranovocal range,[111][112] which Howard Cohen of theMiami Herald described as "peerless".[112]Whitney Balliett wrote, "Streisand wows her listeners with her shrewd dynamics (in-your-ear soft here, elbowing-loud there), her bravura climbs, her rolling vibrato, and the singular Streisand-from-Brooklyn nasal quality of her voice – a voice as immediately recognizable in its way as Louis Armstrong's."[113] Music writer Allegra Rossi adds that Streisand creates complete compositions in her head:[37]
Even though she can't read or write music, Barbra hears melodies as completed compositions in her head. She hears a melody and takes it in, learning it quickly. Barbra developed her ability to sustain long notes because she wanted to. She can mold a tune that others cannot; she's able to sing between song and speech, keeping in tune, carrying rhythm and meaning.
While she is predominantly a pop singer, Streisand's voice has been described as "semi-operatic" due to its strength and quality of tone.[114] According to Adam Feldman ofTime Out, Streisand's "signature vocal style" is "a suspension bridge between old-school belting and microphone pop."[115] She is known for her ability to hold relatively high notes, both loud and soft, with great intensity—which led classical pianistGlenn Gould to call himself "a Streisand freak"[116]—as well as for her ability to make slight but unobtrusive embellishments on a melodic line.
Since about 2010 critics and audiences noted that her voice had "lowered and acquired an occasionally husky edge". However,New York Times music critic Stephen Holden noted that her distinctive tone and musical instincts remained, and that she still had "the gift of conveying a primal human longing in a beautiful sound".[114] Paul Taylor ofThe Independentwrote that Streisand "has sounded a little scratchy and frayed, though the stout resolve and superb technique with which Streisand manages to hoist it over these difficulties has come to seem morally as well aesthetically impressive."[117] Reviewing Streisand's 2014 studio albumPartners, Gil Naveh ofHaaretzdescribed Streisand's voice as "velvety, clear and powerful ... and the passing years have given it a fascinating depth and roughness."[118]
Streisand has been married twice. Her first husband was actorElliott Gould, whom she married on September 13, 1963. They announced their separation on February 12, 1969, and divorced on July 6, 1971.[119][120] They had one child,Jason Gould, who appeared as her on-screen son inThe Prince of Tides.
She started a relationship with hairdresser/producerJon Peters in 1973.[123] He went on to be her manager and producer. They broke up in 1982 during the making ofYentl, but remain friends. She is the godmother of his daughters, Caleigh Peters and Skye Peters.[124]
Streisand briefly dated film directorMichael Cimino in early 1983, though they kept their relationship secret. Cimino had considered her for a role in his planned adaptation ofThe Fountainhead byAyn Rand, which was not made.[125]
From November 1983 to October 1987, Streisand lived withBaskin-Robbins ice cream heirRichard Baskin,[126] who composed the lyrics to "Here We Are At Last" on her 1984 albumEmotion. They remained friends after the split, and Baskin would accompany Streisand to public events in between her subsequent romances.[127]
Streisand dated tennis championAndre Agassi from 1992 to 1993. Writing about the relationship in his 2009 autobiography, Agassi said: "We agree that we're good for each other, and so what if she's twenty-eight years older? We'resimpatico, and the public outcry only adds spice to our connection. It makes our friendship feel forbidden, taboo – another piece of my overall rebellion. Dating Barbra Streisand is like wearing Hot Lava."[134]
Her second husband is actorJames Brolin, whom she married on July 1, 1998.[139] They have no children together. Brolin has two sons from his first marriage, including actorJosh Brolin, and one daughter from his second marriage.[140][141]
Streisand has several dogs; she loved her dog Samantha so much that she had hercloned.[142]
In March 2019, Streisand apologized for her controversial statements aboutMichael Jackson's accusers.[143]
Name
Streisand changed her name from "Barbara" to "Barbra" because, she said, "I hated the name, but I refused to change it."[144] Streisand further explained, "Well, I was 18 and I wanted to be unique, but I didn't want to change my name because that was too false. You know, people were saying you could be Joanie Sands, or something like that. (My middle name is Joan.) And I said, 'No, let's see, if I take out the 'a,' it's still 'Barbara,' but it's unique."[145] A 1967 biography with a concert program said, "the spelling of her first name is an instance of partial rebellion: she was advised to change her last name and retaliated by dropping an "a" from the first instead."[146]
According to Streisand, her surname is pronounced with an "s" sound "like sand on the beach," not the "z" sound often used.[147] TheApple voice digital assistantSiri originally pronounced her surname wrong, prompting Streisand to personally contact Apple CEOTim Cook to complain about the pronunciation, which Apple soon corrected.[148]
Politics
In the early years of her career, Streisand's interest in politics was limited, with the exception of her participation in activities of the anti-nuclear groupWomen Strike for Peace in 1961 and 1962.[149] In 1968, her political activism increased, and she helped promote the presidential campaign ofEugene McCarthy who held an anti–Vietnam War stance.[150] In July 1968, withHarry Belafonte and others, she performed at the Hollywood Bowl in a fundraising concert sponsored by theSouthern Christian Leadership Conference to benefit the poor.[151]
In 2012, Streisand stated, "The newlaws requiring U.S. citizens to produce photo IDs at the poll are designed to deprive elderly and minority citizens of the precious right to cast their vote. These regressive laws are themselves the most dangerous voter fraud threatening American democracy."[161] Streisand continued her voter rights advocacy in 2020, tweeting a link toVoteRiders, a nonprofit that assists citizens with obtaining voter ID.[162]
A longtime supporter ofIsrael, Streisand helped celebrate the 90th birthday ofShimon Peres atJerusalem's international convention center in June 2013.[163] She also performed at two other concerts in Tel Aviv that same week, part of her first concert tour of Israel.[164]
In an October 2018 interview withEmma Brockes ofThe Guardian, Streisand discussed the theme of her new albumWalls: the danger she believed PresidentDonald Trump posed towards the United States. She said, "This is a dangerous time in this nation, this republic: a man who is corrupt and indecent and is assaulting our institutions. It's really, really frightening. And I just pray that people who are compassionate and respect the truth will come out and vote. I'm saying more than just vote. Vote for Democrats!"[166] In November 2023, she praised PresidentJoe Biden, saying "I like Biden. I think he has done a good job. I think he is compassionate, smart, supports the right things."[167]
Philanthropy
Streisand during the opening ceremony of the Streisand building in the Hebrew University, 1984
In 1984, Streisand donated the Emanuel Streisand Building for Jewish Studies to theHebrew University of Jerusalem, in the Mount Scopus campus, in memory of her father, an educator and scholar who died when she was young.[168][169][170]
Streisand has personally raised $25 million[171] for organizations through her live performances. The Streisand Foundation,[172] established in 1986, has contributed over $16 million through nearly 1,000 grants to "national organizations working on preservation of the environment, voter education, the protection ofcivil liberties andcivil rights,women's issues[173] andnuclear disarmament".[174]
In 2009, Streisand gifted $5 million to endow the Barbra Streisand Women's Cardiovascular Research and Education Program atCedars-Sinai Medical Center's Women's Heart Center.[176] In September that year,Parade magazine included Streisand on its Giving Back Fund's second annual Giving Back 30 survey, "a ranking of the celebrities who have made the largest donations to charity in 2007 according to public records",[177] as the third most generous celebrity. The Giving Back Fund claimed Streisand donated $11 million, which The Streisand Foundation distributed. In 2012 she raised $22 million to support her women's cardiovascular center, bringing her own personal contribution to $10 million. The program was officially named the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center.[178]
At Julien's Auctions in October 2009, Streisand, a longtime collector of art and furniture, sold 526 items, with all the proceeds going to her foundation. Items included a costume fromFunny Lady and a vintage dental cabinet purchased by the performer at 18 years old. The sale's most valuable lot was a painting byKees van Dongen.[179]
In June 2020, she giftedGeorge Floyd's daughter, Gianna Floyd, Disney shares.[181]
On September 22, 2022,Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, invited Streisand to become an ambassador for theUNITED24 platform, focusing on the Medical Aid direction of support.[182] Streisand helped raise $240,000 for medical care.[183]
Legacy
Streisand is regarded as the "Queen of the Divas" by various media outlets.[184]The New York Times called her among the three of America's Most Beloved Divas (alongsideDolly Parton andPatti Labelle).[185]Vulture honored her enduring legacy saying her works influence "extends toCéline Dion, the 1980s output ofLionel Richie andLuther Vandross, and the more maudlin ballads ofMariah Carey,Adele, andWhitney Houston."[186] In 2022,Forbes hailed Streisand as the "Queen of the Charts" for her longevity on theBillboard charts,[187] and she was ranked at number 88 onBillboard's 2025 "Top 100 Women Artists of the 21st Century" list.[188] TheLos Angeles Times also hailed her as the "most influential female vocalist" and the "most revolutionary of performers" for being responsible for changing the rules for female performers to come.[189]CNN listed her as one of the most romantic singers of the 20th century.[190] In 2023,Rolling Stone ranked Streisand at number 147 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[191] In 1997,New York magazine acknowledged her fashion sense saying "she embarked on a surreal, chameleonic, personal fashion quest" that single-handedly began the retro revolution in the 1960s.[192]
She received Breakthrough Awards for "making films that portray women with serious complexity" at the Women, Men and Media symposium in 1991.[195] In 1992, she was given the Commitment to Life Award byAIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), and the Bill of Rights Award by theAmerican Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, the Dorothy Arzner Special Recognition byWomen in Film, and the Golden Plate by theAcademy of Achievement. She was honored with the Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award from the ASCAP in 1994 and thePeabody Award in 1995, the same year she was accorded an Honorary Doctorate in Arts and Humanities byBrandeis University.[194] She was also awarded Filmmaker of the Year Award for "lifetime achievement in filmmaking" by ShowEast and Peabody Award in 1996,Christopher Award in 1998.
In 2000, President Bill Clinton presented Streisand with theNational Medal of Arts, the highest honor specifically given for achievement in the arts,[196] andLibrary of Congress Living Legend, she also received the highest honor for a career in filmAFI Life Achievement Award fromAmerican Film Institute and Liberty and Justice Award fromRainbow/PUSH Coalition,Gracie Allen Award, First Annual Jewish Image Awards in 2001, and Humanitarian Award "for her years of leadership, vision, and activism in the fight for civil liberties, including religion, race, gender equality and freedom of speech, as well as all aspects of gay rights" fromHuman Rights Campaign in 2004. In 2007, French President Nicolas Sarkozy presented Streisand withLegion of Honour, the highest decoration in France, and President George W. Bush presented herKennedy Center Honors, the highest recognition of cultural achievement.
In 2011, she was given Board of Governors Humanitarian Award for her efforts on behalf of women's heart health and her many other philanthropic activities." byCedars-Sinai Heart Institute. She received the L'Oréal Paris Legend Award in 18thElle Magazine Women in Hollywood. In 2012, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from theWomen Film Critics Circle. She was accorded an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by theHebrew University of Jerusalem in 2013. In that year, she was also recipient of the Charlie Chaplin Award for Lifetime Achievement by theFilm Society of Lincoln Center as the only female artist to direct, write, produce and star in the same major studio film,Yentl,[197] along with a Lifetime AchievementGlamour Awards.[198]
In 2014, Streisand was on one of eight differentNew York Magazine covers celebrating the magazine's "100 Years, 100 Songs, 100 Nights: A Century of Pop Music in New York". She also received theAmerican Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Board of Governors Award,[199] the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award atThe Hollywood Reporter's annual Women in Entertainment Breakfast,[200] and came first in the 1010 Wins Iconic Celebrity Poll by CBS in 2015.[194] In November 2015, PresidentBarack Obama announced that Streisand would receive thePresidential Medal of Freedom, the highestcivilian award of the United States.[201]
In 1970, she received aSpecial Tony Award named "Star of the Decade", and was selected "Star of the Decade" by theNational Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) in 1980, "Star of Decade" by NATO/ShowWest and President's Award byNARM in 1988. That year she was also named as All-Time Favorite Musical Performer byPeople's Choice Awards. In 1986,Life named her as one of "Five Hollywood's Most Powerful Women".[205] In 1998,Harris Poll reported that she is the "Most Popular Singer Among Adult Americans of All Ages." She was also featured onVH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll,[206] Top 100 Singers of all time byMojo magazine,[207] named the century's best female singer in a Reuters/Zogby poll, and "Top Female Artist of the Century" byRecording Industry Association of America in 1999.[208][209] In 2006, Streisand was one of honorees atOprah Winfrey's white-tie Legends Ball.[210]
In 2015,The Daily Telegraph ranked Streisand as one of the 10 top female singer-songwriters of all time.[211]A&E'sBiography magazine ranked Streisand as one of their favorite leading actress of all time,[212] she was also featured on the Voices of the Century list byBBC,[213] the "100 Greatest Movie Stars of Time" list compiled byPeople,[214]VH1's list of the "200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons of All Time",[215] the "100 Greatest Entertainers of All Time", "ranked at #13" and the "Greatest Movie Star of all time list" byEntertainment Weekly,[206] "The 50 Greatest Actresses of All Time" byAMC,[216] and Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists.[217]Billboard also ranked Streisand as the top female Jewish musician of all time.[218] As agay icon, Streisand was named byThe Advocate as one of the "25 Coolest Women" and the "9 Coolest Women Appealing to Both Lesbians and Gay Men",[219] and was also placed among the "12 Greatest Female Gay Icons of All Time" byOut magazine.[220] She was recognized as one of the top gay icons of the past three decades byGay Times.[221]
During the first decade of the 21st century, the American Film Institute celebrated 100 years of the greatest films in American cinema. Four of Streisand's songs were represented onAFI's 100 Years ... 100 Songs, which highlighted "America's Greatest Music in the Movies": "The Way We Were" at #8, "Evergreen (Love Theme FromA Star Is Born)" at # 16, "People" at #13, and "Don't Rain on My Parade" at #46. Many of her films were represented on AFI's 100 Years ... series.AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Laughs, highlighting "the films and film artists that have made audiences laugh throughout the century," rankedWhat's Up, Doc? at #61.AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Passions highlighted the top 100 greatest love stories in American cinema and placedThe Way We Were at #8,Funny Girl at #41, andWhat's Up, Doc? at #68.AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals highlighted the 25 greatest American movie musicals, rankingFunny Girl at #16.[222]
In a 2003 lawsuit, Streisand claimed that a website illustratingcoastal erosion invaded her privacy because one of its over 12,000 images happened to show herMalibu, California, home; Streisand wanted the photo removed from the site. The suit was dismissed and the resultant publicity prompted hundreds of thousands of people to download the photo, which had been accessed only four times prior to Streisand initiating legal action.[226][227] The termStreisand effect was coined to refer to an attempt tocensor information which unintentionally publicizes that information.[228]
Namesakes
TheBarbra Streisand Cup is arugby union match held inSydney,[229] Australia each year played between the Sydney Convicts, Australia's first gay and inclusive Rugby Union club, and theMaccabi Rugby FC, Sydney's only Jewish rugby team. The match is typically played in or around April, between the rival clubs and is named in Streisand's honour as she is known to have a large fan base in both the gay and the Jewish communities.
Streisand's writing of her autobiography stalled at various stages,[230] andViking Press announced in May 2015 that they anticipated publishing her long-awaited memoir in 2017, spanning Streisand's entire life and career.[231]
Upon the release ofMy Name Is Barbra on November 7, 2023,[232][233] herBBC interview concluded with Streisand claiming she wanted "to have more fun" in life.[234]
^Newfield, Jack (November 1996)."Diva Democracy".George. Barbra-archives.com.Archived from the original on September 11, 2011. RetrievedAugust 17, 2011.
^Gould, Glenn (May 1976)."Streisand as Schwarzkopf". Barbra Streisand Archives.Archived from the original on September 2, 2016. RetrievedJanuary 6, 2014.
^"Is Barbra Streisand still secretly seeing Clint Eastwood? Are they in love?".Orlando Sentinel. December 11, 1989.Barbra's private life of late has become predictable. Her fling with Eastwood was short-lived, shorter than her romp with Don Johnson before his marriage. A steady companion throughout has been Richard Baskin, the ice-cream mogul. He still squires Streisand around Hollywood no matter what her flings of the moment.
^Dougherty, Margot (May 9, 1988)."Spring Fervor".People.Archived from the original on February 28, 2023.
^"What's this about Clint Eastwood falling for Barbra Streisand?".Orlando Sentinel. May 16, 1989.It's the talk of all Hollywood. Eastwood and Streisand are on the rebound – he from a 15-year relationship with actress-director Sondra Locke, she from a short but intense fling with Don Johnson. The result: Eastwood and Streisand are Tinseltown's most provocative couple of the moment.
^"Goldmine's Hall of Fame Inductees".Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia. Goldmine Hall of Fame. July 5, 2012. RetrievedJuly 5, 2012.
Harvey Fierstein / Marco Paguia, David Oquendo, Renesito Avich, Gustavo Schartz, Javier Días, Román Diaz, Mauricio Herrera, Jesus Ricardo, Eddie Venegas, Hery Paz, and Leonardo Reyna / Jamie Harrison, Chris Fisher, Gary Beestone, and Edward Pierce (2025)
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