Another name that is bound to come up?
In fact, it’s hard to think of anyone quite as legendary as her.
After that, Streisand starred in dozens of acclaimed films “Hello, Dolly!”
in 1969, “What’s Up, Doc?”
Here’s how she went from humble beginnings in Brooklyn to global stardom.
Her parents were Diana and Emanuel Streisand.
The family struggled to make ends meet.
Although Streisand may have found fame and riches, her humble beginnings have stuck with her.
“When you grow up poor, you’re always poor in a sense …
I always said this about success it doesn’t change you,” she said.
“It just makes you more of what you were, what you are.”
Barbra Streisand was known as the local singer from when she was as young as 5 years old.
It turned out the man was Streisand’s mother’s new husband.
Everything changed for the young girl.
Streisand suddenly found herself living in a new house with this stranger.
“It was very traumatic to me,” she confessed.
“Because then my mother had a baby, I didn’t even know she was pregnant.”
To make matters worse, Streisand’s new stepfather didn’t seem to like her.
As she toldOprah, he actually rebuffed her attempts to fit into the family.
Living through her mother’s secretive remarriage apparently gave Streisand a lifelong fear of being lied to.
“I’m convinced this is why I cannot stand to be lied to.
I can take any truth; just don’t lie to me,” she said.
When she was young, she had big dreams of becoming a serious actor and appearing in classic plays.
“Playing characters was my life, my ambition, my dream,” she told The Guardian.
You know, Ibsen, Chekhov, Shakespeare."
So, the young Streisand began taking acting classes in Manhattan and even acting in plays during the summer.
The following year, she auditioned for the renowned Actors Studio in New York.
When she was 18, she landed a slot singing at The Bon Soir, a Greenwich Village nightclub.
Her performances were a huge hit and the gig did prove to be life-changing, despite her ancient attire.
It was her first Broadway audition ever.
Instead, they rewrote the part of an old secretary for the 19-year-old.
The role was so small that she only sang one song.
However, asCBS Newsreported, she got a three-minute standing ovation on opening night.
“My salary was $175, and the next day it went up to $350!”
“It meant the world to me,” she later toldCBSof the show.
“It was everything I imagined wanting a play to be for me.”
In 1968, she was cast in the film adaption of “Funny Girl” opposite Omar Sharif.
Although it was only her first movie, Streisand earned her first Oscar for the role.
“The film ‘Funny Girl’ is near and dear to my heart!”
she later wrote on herwebsite.
It was a brilliant musical, combining a dramatic story with music."
In fact, the pair had their first date after her audition.
“After her last audition, they say, ‘Thank you,'” Gould recalled toCBS.
And I remembered her number and I called her."
For Streisand, Gould was a comfortable match who understood her Brooklyn upbringing.
He was also her first serious boyfriend.
“I loved Elliott.
He was familiar to me,” she wrote in her memoir, “My Name Is Barbra.”
The pair had a son,Jason Gould, in 1966.
However, by 1971, their marriage had come to an end.
As Elliott explained, the main reason for their divorce was Streisand’s burgeoning career.
Elliott was also busy with numerous roles in acclaimed films.
In 1972, she was cast in Peter Bogdanovich’s “What’s Up, Doc?”
a screwballcomedy starring Ryan O’Nealand Madeline Kahn.
As O’Neal later toldThe Hollywood Reporter, “I learned more about comedy from Barbra than anyone.”
The film also earned her a second Oscar nomination.
“I loved the script, I loved the story.
It’s a wonderful story,” she toldLarry Kingof the film.
In fact, she loved it so much that she later pushed to make a sequel.
Streisand starred as Yentl, a Jewish girl from Poland who dresses as a boy to study religion.
Although she initially pitched the film to director Milos Forman, she ended up directing it herself.
You have it all in your head.’
And I thought ‘Oh my gosh, really?’
Streisand also became the first woman to win a Golden Globe for directing after the project.
The pair had met two years earlier on a blind date during a dinner party.
Since then, Brolin and Streisand have been the perfect picture of a happy Hollywood couple.
Brolin even confessed in an interview onThe Talkthat their relationship had only gotten stronger during the pandemic.
“When I wanted more artistic control, I started directing,” she told theHarvard Business Review.
“It allows me to complete my own vision.”
It’s work when you go do a movie.
You’ve got to get up early in the morning and put on makeup and have costume fittings.
It’s a pain in the neck" (viaBarbra Archives).
This began in the ’80s with her donations to universities.
“I keep some for myself but do something like my father intended … about education.”
Over the years, she expanded her philanthropy, donating to causes related to gender equality and climate change.
“I love to have a purpose that’s bigger than myself.
It’s not about financially making myself richer,” the actor said.
However, she also wanted her fans to enjoy it.
It’s been a long journey."
She also added extra stories and music to it.
“I like doing private things not public things,” she explained to Zane Lowe forApple Musicin 2021.
Streisand has continued to crave a life out of the spotlight.
“It was more exciting to dream about being famous than the reality,” she told theBBCin 2023.
“I’m a very private person.
I don’t enjoy stardom.”
Streisand even hinted that she would probably never appear in another movie.
“I want to live life.
I haven’t had much fun in my life, to tell you the truth.
And I want to have more fun.”
