Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand (born April 24, 1942) is an iconic two-time Academy Award-winning American singer, theatre and film actress, composer, film producer and director. She won her Oscars for Best Actress and Best Original Song.

Biography

Early years

She was born Barbara Joan Streisand to a Jewish family in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York then moved to another area in Brooklyn. Her father, Emanuel Streisand, a grammar teacher, died when she was only 15 months old, and she had a lifelong turbulent relationship with her stepfather, Louis Kind. Her well-intentioned mother, Diana Ida Rosen, did not encourage her daughter to pursue a show business career, opining that Barbara was not attractive enough. This criticism, many speculate, led to a lifelong insecurity about her appearance, despite enormous success in every facet of show business.

She was educated at the famed Erasmus Hall High School, where she graduated fourth in her class in 1959, and sang in the school choir with Neil Diamond. She never attended college.

Early singing, theater, and television career

Following a music competition, she became a nightclub singer in her teens. She originally had wanted to be an actress, and appeared in a number of Off-Off-Broadway productions, including one with then-aspiring actress Joan Rivers, but when her boyfriend Barry Dennen helped her shape a club act — first performed in a gay bar in Manhattan's Greenwich Village in 1960 — she became a big success as a singer. It was also at this time that she shortened her first name to Barbra to make it more distinctive.

In 1962 Streisand appeared on Broadway, first in a small but star-making (and show-stopping) role in the musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962), and she quickly signed her first recording contract with Columbia Records in 1962. Her first album, The Barbra Streisand Album, won two Grammy Awards in 1963. Her recording success continued, and at one time, Streisand's first three albums appeared simultaneously on Billboard's pop albums Top Ten - an amazing feat considering it was at a time when rock and roll and The Beatles dominated the charts.

Jule Styne's and Bob Merrill's Funny Girl (1964), based upon the life of Fanny Brice, was fashioned especially for Streisand after Styne saw Streisand's Wholesale performance, though the wife of Ray Stark (the show's producer), daughter of Fannie Brice, was strongly opposed, and preferred Carol Burnett.

After some notable television guest appearances, Streisand built on her success with a number of television specials for CBS. The first special, My Name Is Barbra (1965), is considered by many to be the best and has been praised by critics and fans.

Singing career

Barbra Streisand has recorded more than 60 albums, almost all with the Columbia Records label. Her early works in the 1960s (her debut, The Second Barbra Streisand Album, The Third Album, My Name Is Barbra, etc.) are considered classic renditions of theatre and nightclub standards, including her famously ironic version of "Happy Days Are Here Again". Beginning with My Name Is Barbra her albums were often medley-filled keepsakes of her television specials.

Starting in 1969, Streisand tackled contemporary songwriters; she floundered on attempts to tackle rock, but finally found success with the pop and ballad-oriented, Richard Perry-produced Stoney End in 1971, whose Laura Nyro-written title track was a big hit.

During the 1970s she was also highly prominent in the pop charts, with number-one records like "The Way We Were", "Evergreen", "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" and "Woman In Love"; some of these came from soundtrack records to her films.

When the 1970s ended, Streisand was named the most successful female singer in the U.S., with only Elvis Presley and The Beatles having sold more albums. In 1982, music critic Stephen Holden wrote that Streisand was "The most influential mainstream American pop singer since Frank Sinatra."

Streisand returned to her musical theater roots with 1985's The Broadway Album. This was an unexpected commercial success, holding the coveted #1 Billboard position for 3 weeks straight, and being certified 3x Platinum. The album featured some songs reworked by Stephen Sondheim especially for this recording, was critically acclaimed, nominated as Album of the Year and landed Streisand her 8th Grammy as Best Female Vocalist.

In 1991 a four-disc box set, entitled Just for the Record was released, spanning Streisand's entire career. It featured over 70 tracks, including live material, greatest hits, and rarities, from her early recordings up to 1991.

Around 1992, however, music success was not in Streisand's favor. She was again, proclaimed the most influential entertainer by the New York Times, for her relationship with President Bill Clinton. Streisand's concert fundraising events helped propel Clinton into the spotlight and into office. Streisand later introduced Clinton at his inauguration in 1992. However, Streisand's music career was on hold. A concert tour was suggested to her and she debated it for nearly 2 yrs, due to her immense stage fright. A year later, Streisand landed yet another #1 Back to Broadway (another show-tunes themed piece). In September 1993, Streisand made news again, announcing her first public concert tour in 27 years. Tickets to the limited tour were sold out in under 1 hr. Streisand also hit the cover of every major magazine, in anticipation of what Time 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 $50 to $1,500 - making Streisand the highest paid concert performer in history. Barbra Streisand: The Concert, went on to be the top grossing concert of the year, earned 2 Emmy Awards, the prestigious Peabody Award, and the taped broadcast on HBO is to-date, the highest rated concert special in HBO's 30 year history.

On New Year's Eve 1999 she returned to the concert stage, scoring another personal triumph for giving the highest grossing single concert in Las Vegas history to date. At the end of the last millennium, she still was the number-one female singer in the United States, with at least 2 # 1 albums in each decade since she had started out.

Her most recent albums have been Christmas Memories (2001), a collection of somber holiday songs, and The Movie Album (2003), featuring famous movie themes and backed by a large symphony orchestra. Guilty Pleasures (called Guilty Too in the UK), a collaboration with Barry Gibb and a sequel album to their previous Guilty, was released worldwide in 2005.

Film career

Her first film was a reprise of her Broadway hit, Funny Girl (1968), for which she won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actress, sharing it with Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter), the first time there was a tie in this Oscar category. Her next two movies were also based on musicals, Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly! (1969) and Alan Jay Lerner's and Burton Lane's On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970), while her fourth film was based on the Broadway play The Owl and the Pussycat (1970).

She also starred in the original screwball comedies What's Up, Doc? (1972), with Ryan O'Neal, and For Pete's Sake (1974), and the hugely successful drama The Way We Were with Robert Redford. Her second Academy Award was for Best Original Song as composer of the song "Evergreen", from A Star Is Born (1976) and was the first time a woman had received this award (the film itself, though, was widely criticized as a vanity project).

Along with Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier, Barbra Streisand formed First Artists Production Company in 1969 so these actors could secure properties and develop movie projects for themselves. Streisand's initial outing with First Artists, while not a huge commercial success, was the personal Up the Sandbox (1972).

In 1970, she had a topless scene in The Owl and the Pussycat. She quickly regretted the move and bought up all prints of the film, deleting the scene. When High Society magazine later published the original photos of her bare breasts, Streisand sued them. She was the largest female box office draw of the 1970s.

She has produced a number of her own films, setting up Barwood Films in 1972. For Yentl (1983) she was producer, director, writer, and star, an experience she largely repeated for The Prince of Tides (1991). Steven Spielberg called Yentl a masterpiece, and many critics praised both it and Prince of Tides. There was controversy when Yentl received five Academy Award nominations but none for the major categories of Best Picture, Actress, or Director ( 1983 Academy Awards® Winners and History). There was more controversy when Prince of Tides received even more nominations, including Best Picture, but Streisand still was snubbed for Best Director. Some claimed that her well-known uncompromising, tough behavior was to blame for the slight, while others felt that Hollywood was punishing her for being a woman, and if a man behaved the same way, he would have been given recognition.

In 2004, Streisand made a return to film acting in the comedy Meet the Fockers (a sequel to the popular Meet the Parents), playing opposite Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, and Robert DeNiro. The film was very successful and garnered positive reviews, especially for Streisand's performance as Stiller's overbearing mother.

2006: The return

In 2006, Streisand made a bold announcement that few in the public actually believed they would ever hear again. Barbra announced her intent to tour again, in an effort to raise money and awareness for multiple issues dear to Streisand's heart. The tour kicks off October 4, 2006, at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia; followed by October 9 at Madison Square Garden in New York City; October 13 at Verizon Center in Washington, DC; October 18 at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan; October 22 at the TD Bank North Garden in Boston; October 28 at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida; November 2 at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta; November 7 at the United Center in Chicago; November 13 at the HP Pavilion at San Jose, California; and ending on November 18 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

Awards

Over the years, Streisand has been the recipient of an award in every medium she has worked in. Among her many awards are two Oscars, six Emmys, eleven Golden Globes, ten Grammys, a Tony award, two Cable Ace awards, the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as a number of other awards.

In 1995 she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. As of 2005, her U.S. album sales rank her as the top-selling female recording artist in the U.S.

Even though her Tony was a special "Star of the Decade" award, Streisand remains one of only a few individuals (including Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, Liza Minnelli, and Whoopi Goldberg) to have won an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy and a Grammy. Because her Tony was honorary rather than one of the regular awards, she is generally not counted as one of these winners.

Personal life

Barbra Streisand has been married twice.

Her first husband was actor Elliott Gould, to whom she was married from 1963 to 1971. They have one child, Jason Gould.

Her second husband is actor James Brolin, to whom she has been married since 1998. The wedding was reported extensively in the celebrity gossip media. While they have no children together, Brolin has two children from his first marriage and one child from his second marriage.

Streisand has also allegedly dated Ryan O'Neal, Alan Alda, Robert Redford, Tom Smothers, Warren Beatty, Jon Voight, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, producer Jon Peters, Kris Kristofferson, Don Johnson, Steve McQueen, Richard Gere, Andre Agassi, Dodi Al Fayed, Peter Jennings, and (according to one biographer) Prince Charles.

Performances on Broadway

I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962), musical - Tony Nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Funny Girl (1964), musical - Tony Nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical

Television Specials

Year	Title	Notes
1965	My Name Is Barbra
1966	Color Me Barbra
1967	The Belle of 14th Street
1968	A Happening in Central Park	filmed June 17, 1967
1973	Barbra Streisand... and Other Musical Instruments
1975	Funny Girl to Funny Lady
1976	Barbra: With One More Look at You
1983	A Film Is Born: The Making of 'Yentl'
1987	One Voice
1994	Barbra Streisand: The Concert	Also producer
2000	Barbra Streisand: Timeless

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	Funny Girl	Fanny Brice
1969	Hello, Dolly!	Dolly Levi
1970	On a Clear Day You Can See Forever	Daisy Gamble
1970	The Owl and the Pussycat	Doris
1972	What's Up, Doc?	Judy Maxwell
1972	Up the Sandbox	Margaret Reynolds
1973	The Way We Were	Katie
1974	For Pete's Sake	Henrietta 'Henry' Robbins (aka July Pork Bellies)
1975	Funny Lady	Fanny Brice
1976	A Star Is Born	Esther Hoffman	Also executive producer
1979	The Main Event	Hillary Kramer	Also producer
1981	All Night Long	Cheryl Gibbons
1983	Yentl	Yentl (aka Anshel)	Also producer, director, and writer
1987	Nuts	Claudia Draper	Also producer
1991	The Prince of Tides	Dr. Susan Lowenstein	Also producer and director
1996	The Mirror Has Two Faces	Rose Morgan	Also producer and director
2004	Meet the Fockers	Roz Focker

Discography

See Barbra Streisand discography

External links

Official Site
Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Barbra Streisand
Guilty Pleasures Blog
Barbra Streisand Barbra Streisand Fan Site
Barbra Streisand at the Internet Broadway Database
Barbra Streisand Brief Biography & Filmography

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