She is one of the most commercially and critically successful female entertainers in modern entertainment history, with more than 71.5 million albums shipped in the United States and 140 million albums sold worldwide. She is the best-selling female artist on the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) Top Selling Artists list and the only female recording artist in the top ten. Her achievement is all the more remarkable, as she is the only artist who was not a part of the rock n roll genre. Along with Frank Sinatra, Cher, Jamie Foxx and Shirley Jones, she shares the distinction of being awarded an acting Oscar and also recording a #1 pop single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
According to the RIAA, Streisand holds the record for the most Top 10 albums of any female recording artist; a total of 31 to her credit since 1963. Streisand also has the widest span (46 years) between first and latest Top 10 albums of any female recording artist. With her 2009 album, Love Is the Answer, she became the only artist to achieve number 1 albums in five consecutive decades. Her RIAA tally sho
Early years
Streisand was born to a Jewish family, Emmanuel and Diana (née Rosen), on April 24, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York. She was the second of two children. Fifteen months later, Emmanuel died of a cerebral hemorrhage and the family went into near-poverty. She attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn. Soon Streisand became a nightclub singer while in her teens. She originally wanted to be an actress and appeared in summer stock and in a number of Off-Off-Broadway productions, including Driftwood (1959), with the then-unknown Joan Rivers. (In her autobiography, Rivers wrote that she played a lesbian with a crush on Barbra's character, but this was later refuted by the play's author.) Driftwood ran for only six weeks. When her boyfriend, Barry Dennen, helped her create a club act—first performed in The Lion, a gay bar in Manhattan's Greenwich Village in 1960—she achieved success as a singer. One early appearance outside of New York City was at Enrico Banducci’s hungry i nightclub in San Francisco. In 1961, Streisand appeared at the Town and Country nightclub in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, but her appearance was cut short; audiences did not understand her revolutionary singing style.
Portrait photograph, 1962
Streisand's first television appearance was on The Tonight Show, then hosted by Jack Paar, in 1961, singing Harold Arlen's A Sleepin' Bee. Orson Bean, who substituted for Paar that night, had seen the singer perform at a gay bar and booked her for the telecast. Streisand became a semi-regular on PM East/PM West, a talk/variety series hosted by Mike Wallace, in late 1961. Westinghouse Broadcasting, which aired PM East/PM West in a select few cities (Boston, New York, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago and San Francisco), has since wiped all the videotapes because of the cost of videotape at the time. Audio segments from some episodes are part of the compilation CD Just for the Record, which went platinum in 1991. The singer said on 60 Minutes in 1991 that thirty years earlier Mike Wallace had been "mean" to her on PM East/PM West. He countered that she had been "self-absorbed." 60 Minutes included the audio of Streisand saying to him in 1961, "I like the fact that you are provoking. But don't provoke me."
In 1962, after several appearances on PM East/PM West, Streisand first appeared on Broadway, in the small but star-making role of Miss Marmelstein in the musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale. Her first album, The Barbra Streisand Album, won two Grammy Awards in 1963. Following her success in I Can Get It for You Wholesale, Streisand made several appearances on The Tonight Show in 1962. Topics covered in her interviews with host Johnny Carson included the empire-waisted dresses that she bought wholesale, to her “crazy” reputation at Erasmus Hall High School, soon enough she got engaged.
Streisand returned to Broadway in 1964 with an acclaimed performance as entertainer Fanny Brice in Funny Girl at the Winter Garden Theatre. The show introduced two of her signature songs, People and Don't Rain on My Parade. Because of the play's overnight success she appeared on the cover of Time. In 1966, she repeated her success with Funny Girl in London's West End at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
Singing career
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Streisand has recorded 35 studio albums, almost all with the Columbia Records label. Her early works in the 1960s (her debut The Barbra Streisand Album, The Second Barbra Streisand Album, The Third Album, My Name Is Barbra, etc. are considered classic renditions of theater and cabaret standards, including her slow version of the normally uptempo Happy Days Are Here Again. She performed this in a duet on The Judy Garland Show. Garland referred to her on the air as one of the last great belters. They also sang There's No Business Like Show Business with Ethel Merman joining them.
Beginning with My 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-oriented Richard Perry-produced album Stoney End in 1971. The title track, written by Laura Nyro, was a major hit for Streisand.
Barbra Streisand (1975)
During the 1970s, she was also highly prominent on the pop charts, with Top 10 recordings such as The Way We Were (US No. 1), Evergreen (US No. 1), No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (1979, with Donna Summer) (US No. 1), You Don't Bring Me Flowers (with Neil Diamond) (US No. 1) and The Main Event (US No. 3), some of which came from soundtrack recordings of her films.
As the 1970s ended, Streisand was named the most successful female singer in the U.S.—only Elvis Presley and The Beatles had sold more albums. In 1980, she released her best-selling effort to date, the Barry Gibb-produced Guilty. The album contained the hits Woman In Love (which spent several weeks atop the pop charts in the Fall of 1980), Guilty, and What Kind of Fool.
After years of largely ignoring Broadway and traditional pop music in favor of more contemporary material, Streisand returned to her musical-theater roots with 1985's The Broadway Album, which was unexpectedly successful, holding the coveted #1 Billboard position for three straight weeks, and being certified quadruple Platinum. The album featured tunes by Rodgers & Hammerstein, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Stephen Sondheim, who was persuaded to rework some of his songs especially for this recording. The Broadway Album was met with acclaim, including a nomination for Album of the Year and, ultimately, handed Streisand her eighth Grammy as Best Female Vocalist. After releasing the live album One Voice in 1986, Streisand was set to take another musical journey along the Great White Way in 1988. She recorded several cuts for the album under the direction of Rupert Holmes, including On My Own (from Les Misérables), a medley of How Are Things in Glocca Morra? and Heather on the Hill (from Finian's Rainbow and Brigadoon, respectively), All I Ask of You (from Phantom of the Opera), Warm All Over (from The Most Happy Fella) and an unusual solo version of Make Our Garden Grow (from Candide). Streisand was not happy with the direction of the project and it was ultimately 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 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.
The following year, Streisand's concert fundraising events helped propel former President Bill Clinton into the spotlight and into office. 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 released Back to Broadway in June 1993. The album was not as universally lauded as its predecessor, but it did debut at #1 on the pop charts (a rare feat for an artist of Streisand's age, especially given that it relegated Janet Jackson's Janet to the #2 spot). One of the album's highlights was a medley of I Have A Love / One Hand, One Heart a duet with the legendary Johnny Mathis, who Streisand said is one of her favorite singers.
In 1993, New York Times music critic Stephen Holden wrote that Streisand "enjoys a cultural status that only one other American entertainer, Frank Sinatra, has achieved in the last half century."
In September 1993, Streisand announced her first public concert appearances in 27 years. What began as a two-night New Year's event at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas eventually led to a multi-city tour in the summer of 1994. Tickets to the tour were sold out in under one hour. Streisand also appeared on the covers of major magazines 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 US$50 to US$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 five Emmy Awards and the Peabody Award, and the taped broadcast on HBO is, to date, 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 her acting and directing duties as well as her burgeoning romance with actor James Brolin. In 1997, Streisand finally returned to the recording studio, releasing Higher Ground, a collection of songs of a loosely-inspirational nature which also featured a duet with Céline Dion. The album received generally favorable reviews and, remarkably, once again debuted at #1 on the pop charts.
Following her marriage to Brolin in 1998, Streisand recorded an album of love songs entitled A Love Like Ours the following year. Reviews were mixed, with many critics carping 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 with Vince Gill.
On New Year's Eve 1999, Streisand returned to the concert stage, giving the highest grossing single concert in Las Vegas history to date.[citation needed] At the end of the millennium, she was the number one female singer in the U.S., with at least two #1 albums in each decade since she began performing. A 2-disc live album of the concert entitled Timeless: Live in Concert was released in 2000. Streisand performed versions of the "Timeless" 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 she was retiring from future paying public concerts. Her performance of the song People was broadcast on the Internet via America Online.
Streisand's most recent albums have been Christmas Memories (2001), a somewhat somber collection of holiday songs (which felt entirely—albeit unintentionally—appropriate in the early post-9/11 days), 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 to their previous Guilty, was released worldwide in 2005.
In February 2006, Streisand recorded the song Smile alongside Tony Bennett at Streisand's Malibu home. The song is included on Tony Bennett's 80th Birthday Album, Duets. In September 2006, the pair filmed a live performance of the song for a special directed by Rob Marshall entitled Tony Bennett: An American Classic. The special aired on NBC Television November 21, 2006, and was released on DVD the same day. Streisand's duet with Bennett opens the special.
In 2006, Streisand announced her intent to tour again, in an effort to raise money and awareness for multiple issues. After four days of rehearsal at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey, the tour began on October 4 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, continued with the featured stop in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (this was the concert Streisand chose to film for a TV special), and concluded at Staples Center in Los Angeles on November 20, 2006. Special guests Il Divo were interwoven throughout the show. On stage closing night, Streisand hinted that six more concerts may follow on foreign soil. The show was known as Streisand: The Tour.
Streisand's 20-concert tour set record box-office numbers. At the age of 64, well past the prime of most performers, she grossed US$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 October 9, 2006 show 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 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, with her December 31, 1999 show being the house record and the highest grossing concert of all time. This led many people to openly criticize Streisand for price gouging, as many tickets sold for upwards of US$1,000.
A collection of performances culled from different stops on this tour, Live in Concert 2006, debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200, making it Streisand's 29th Top 10 album. In the summer of 2007, Streisand gave concerts for the first time in continental Europe. The first concert took place in Zürich (June 18), then Vienna (June 22), Paris (June 26), Berlin (June 30), Stockholm (July 4, canceled), Manchester (July 10) and Celbridge, near Dublin (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 GB£1,500.00 and for the Ireland date between €118 and €500. The tour included a 58-piece orchestra.
In February 2008, Forbes Magazine listed Streisand as the #2 top-earning female musician, between June 2006 and June 2007, with earnings of about US$60 million. Although Streisand's range has changed with time and her voice has become deeper over the years, her vocal prowess has remained remarkably secure for a singer whose career has endured for nearly half a century.
On November 17, 2008, Streisand returned to the studio to begin recording what will be her sixty-third album and it was announced that Diana Krall was producing the album.
On April 25, 2009, CBS aired Streisand's latest TV special, Streisand: Live In Concert, highlighting the aforementioned featured stop from her 2006 North American tour, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Streisand is one of the recipients of the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors. On December 7, 2008, she visited the White House as part of the ceremonies.
On September 26, 2009, Streisand performed a one-night-only show at the Village Vanguard in New York City's Greenwich Village.
On September 29, 2009, Streisand and Columbia Records released her newest studio album titled Love is the Answer, produced by Diana Krall. On October 2, 2009, Streisand made her British television performance debut after her interview on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, promoting the album. This album was a big success, debuting straight at #1 on the Billboard 200 and registering her biggest weekly-sales since 1997. This made Streisand the only artist in history to achieve #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 and Lionel 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 hit Haiti 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 beleaguered island nation.
Film career
in Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Her first film was a reprise of her Broadway hit, Funny Girl (1968), an artistic and commercial success directed by Hollywood veteran William Wyler, for which she won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actress, sharing it with Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter), the first (and only) time there was a tie in this Oscar category. Her next two movies were also based on musicals, Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly! directed by Gene Kelly (1969) and Alan Jay Lerner's and Burton Lane's On a Clear Day You Can See Forever directed by Vincente Minnelli (1970), while her fourth film was based on the Broadway play The Owl and the Pussycat (1970).
During the 1970s, Streisand starred in several screwball comedies, including What's Up, Doc? (1972) and The Main Event (1979), both co-starring Ryan O'Neal, and For Pete's Sake (1974) with Michael Sarrazin. One of her most famous roles during this period was in the drama The Way We Were (1973) with Robert Redford, for which she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. She earned her second Academy Award for Best Original Song as composer (together with lyricist Paul Williams) for the song "Evergreen", from A Star Is Born in 1976; this was the first time a woman had received this award.
Along with Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier, Streisand formed First Artists Production Company in 1969 so the actors could secure properties and develop movie projects for themselves. Streisand's initial outing with First Artists was Up the Sandbox (1972).
From a period beginning in 1969 and ending in 1980, Streisand appeared in the annual motion picture exhibitors poll of Top 10 Box Office attractions a total of 10 times, often as the only woman on the list. After the commercially disappointing All Night Long in 1981, Streisand's film output decreased considerably. She has only acted in five films since.
Streisand produced a number of her own films, setting up Barwood Films in 1972. For Yentl (1983), she was producer, director, and star, an experience she repeated for The Prince of Tides (1991) and The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996). There was controversy when Yentl received five Academy Award nominations, but none for the major categories of Best Picture, Actress, or Director. Prince of Tides received even more Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, but the director was not nominated. Streisand is also the writer of Yentl, something she is not always given credit for. According to New York Times Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal in an interview (story begins at minute 16) with Allan Wolper, "the one thing that makes Barbra Streisand crazy is when nobody gives her the credit for having written Yentl."
In 2004, Streisand made a return to film acting, after an eight-year hiatus, in the comedy Meet the Fockers (a sequel to Meet the Parents), playing opposite Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, Blythe Danner and Robert De Niro.
In 2005 Streisand's Barwood Films, Gary Smith Co. and Sonny Murray purchased the rights to Simon Mawer's book Mendel's Dwarf. As of December 2008, Streisand stated she is considering directing an adaptation of Larry Kramer's play The Normal Heart — a project Ms. Streisand has worked on since the mid-1990s Streisand has been seen shooting scenes for sequel to 2004's Meet the Fockers Andrew Lloyd Webber stated that Streisand is one of several actresses interested in playing the role of Norma Desmond in the film adaptation of Webber's musical version of Sunset Boulevard (Meryl Streep and Glenn Close were also interested), although Paramount Pictures has delayed the film.
Politics
Streisand has long been an active supporter of the Democratic Party and many of their causes. Streisand said, "The Democrats have always been the party of working people and minorities. I've always identified with the minorities." Streisand has personally raised $15 million for organizations through her live performances. The Streisand Foundation, established in 1986, has contributed over $16 million through its grants to "national organizations working on preservation of the environment, voter education, the protection of civil liberties and civil rights, women’s issues and nuclear disarmament." In 2006, Streisand donated $1 million to the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation in support of President Bill Clinton’s climate change initiative.
Lawsuit
Streisand sued aerial photographer Kenneth Adelman for displaying a photograph of her Malibu, California home, along with other photos of the entire California coastline, on the website of the California Coastal Records Project. Her suit was dismissed under the anti-SLAPP provisions of California law.Mike Masnick of Techdirt.com coined the term "Streisand Effect" in January 2005 after the publicity generated by Streisand's efforts to suppress the publication of the photograph.
Awards
In 2000, Barbra Streisand was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
Music awards
Streisand's works have been nominated for over 56 Grammy Awards; she won 10 of these, including two special awards. She has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame three times.
Year Award Category Work Result
1963 Grammy Awards Album of the Year The Barbra Streisand Album Won
Best Female Vocal Performance Won
Record of the Year Happy Days Are Here Again Nominated
1964 Best Female Vocal Performance People Won
Album of the Year Nominated
Record of the Year Nominated
1965 Best Female Vocal Performance My Name Is Barbra Won
Album of the Year Nominated
1966 Best Female Vocal Performance Color Me Barbra Nominated
Album of the Year Nominated
1968 Best Contemporary-Pop Vocal Performance Funny Girl Soundtrack Nominated
1970 AGVA Georgie Award Entertainer of the Year — Won
1972 Grammy Awards Best Pop Female Vocal Performance Sweet Inspiration / Where You Lead Nominated
AGVA Georgie Award Singing Star of the Year — Won
1975 People's Choice Awards Favorite Female Singer of the Year Won
1976 Grammy Awards Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance Classical Barbra Nominated
1977 Best Pop Female Vocal Performance Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born) Won
Song of the Year Won
Record of the Year Nominated
Best Original Score – Motion Picture or Television Special Nominated
AGVA Georgie Award Singing Star of the Year — Won
1978 Grammy Awards Best Pop Female Vocal Performance You Don't Bring Me Flowers (with Neil Diamond) Nominated
1979 Record of the Year Nominated
Best Pop Vocal Performance – Duo, Group, or Chorus Nominated
1980 Guilty (with Barry Gibb) Won
Album of the Year Nominated
Record of the Year Woman In Love Nominated
Best Pop Vocal Female Performance Nominated
AGVA Georgie Awards Singing Star of the Year — Won
1985 People's Choice Awards Favorite All-Around Female Entertainer Won
1986 Grammy Awards Best Pop Vocal Female Performance The Broadway Album Won
Album of the Year Nominated
Best Instrumental Arrangement Acompanying Vocal Being Alive Nominated
1987 Best Pop Vocal Female Performance One Voice Nominated
Best Music Video Performance Nominated
1988 People's Choice Awards Favorite All-Time Musical Performer — Won
1991 Grammy Awards Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance Warm All Over Nominated
1992 Grammy Legend Award — Special award
1993 Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance Back to Broadway Nominated
1994 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award — Special award
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance Barbra: The Concert Nominated
Best Pop Female Vocal Performance Ordinary Miracles Nominated
1997 Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals Tell Him (with Céline Dion) Nominated
I Finally Found Someone (with Bryan Adams) Nominated
2000 Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Timeless – Live In Concert Nominated
2002 Christmas Memories Nominated
2003 The Movie Album Nominated
2004 Grammy Hall of Fame Funny Girl (Barbra Streisand and Sydney Chaplin) Inducted
2006 The Barbra Streisand Album
2007 Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Live in Concert 2006 Nominated
2008 Grammy Hall of Fame The Way We Were Inducted
Film awards
Year Award Category Work Result
1969 Academy Awards Best Actress Funny Girl Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) Won
1970 Hello, Dolly! Nominated
Henrietta World Film Favorite — Special award
1971 Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) The Owl and the Pussycat Nominated
Henrietta World Film Favorite — Special award
1974 Academy Awards Best Actress The Way We Were Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) Nominated
1975 Henrietta World Film Favorite — Special award
1976 Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) Funny Lady Nominated
1977 Academy Awards Best Original Song Evergreen (from A Star Is Born) Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) Won
Best Original Song Won
1978 Henrietta World Film Favorite — Special award
1984 Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) Yentl Nominated
Best Director (Motion Picture) Won
1988 Best Actress in Motion Picture (Drama) Nuts Nominated
1992 Academy Awards Best Picture The Prince of Tides Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Director (Motion Picture) Nominated
1997 Academy Awards Best Original Song I Finally Found Someone (from The Mirror Has Two Faces) Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) The Mirror Has Two Faces Nominated
Best Original Song I Finally Found Someone (from The Mirror Has Two Faces) Nominated
2000 Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement — Special award
Personal life
Streisand has been married twice. Her first husband was actor Elliott Gould, to whom she was married from 1963 to 1971. They had one child, Jason Gould, who would go on to star as her on-screen son in Prince of Tides. Her second husband is James Brolin, whom she married on July 1, 1998. While they have no children together, Brolin has two children from his first marriage, including Academy Award nominated actor Josh Brolin, and one child from his second marriage. Both of her husbands starred in the 1970s conspiracy horror thriller Capricorn One.
Jon Peters' daughters, Caleigh Peters and Skye Peters, are her goddaughters.
Streisand shares a birthday with Shirley MacLaine, and they celebrate together every year.
Streisand's philanthropic organization, The Streisand Foundation, gives grants to "national organizations working on preservation of the environment, voter education, the protection of civil liberties and civil rights, women’s issues and nuclear disarmament" and has given large donations to programs related to women's health.
In September 2008, Parade magazine included Streisand on their 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". Streisand was named third most generous celebrity. The Giving Back Fund claimed Streisand donated $11 million, which The Streisand Foundation distributed.
At Julien’s Auctions in October 2009, Streisand, a long-time collector of art and furniture, sold 526 items with all the proceeds toward her foundation. Items included a costume from Funny Lady and a vintage dental cabinet purchased by the performer at 18 years old. The sale’s most valuable lot was a painting by Kees van Dongen.
References in popular culture
On television
The most memorable parody of Streisand's iconic status has been on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live in the recurring skit Coffee Talk where character Linda Richman, played by Mike Myers, hosts a talk show dedicated to, among other things, the adoration of Streisand. Streisand, in turn, made an unannounced guest appearance on the show, surprising Myers and guests, Madonna and Roseanne Barr. Mike Myers also appeared as the Linda Richman character on stage with Streisand at her 1994 MGM Grand concert, as well as a few of the 1994 Streisand tour shows.
She appeared in an early episode of The Lucy Show as a record saleswoman in the local record store.
Streisand is mentioned many times in television sitcoms. In the CBS 1993–1999 sitcom The Nanny, Fran Drescher's character Fran Fine, along with her entire family, is obsessed with the performer.
Streisand is frequently mentioned in the sitcom Will & Grace, particularly by the character Jack McFarland. Songs made famous by Streisand, such as "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" from Yentl and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" from The Broadway Album are reproduced by characters in the show.
The sitcom Friends refers to Streisand in at least two episodes. In The One Where Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister, Monica names a sandwich at her 1950s-styled restaurant after Barbra Streisand. A soup is also named after Streisand's movie Yentl. Meanwhile, in The One After 'I Do', Phoebe pretends she is pregnant with James Brolin's baby, to which Chandler Bing responds "[A]s in Barbra Streisand's husband, James Brolin?" In the same episode, Gould appears on the show as Ross and Monica's father.
At least four episodes of the animated sitcom The Simpsons refer to Streisand. Outside Springfield Elementary School, announcing Lisa's jazz concert, is an advertisement for a Streisand concert in the same venue for the following day, with tickets still on sale. In another episode, after Marge undergoes therapy, she informs the therapist that whenever she hears the wind blow, she'll hear it saying "Lowenstein", Streisand's therapist character in The Prince of Tides, despite Marge's therapist having a completely different name. Another reference comes in "Sleeping with the Enemy" when Bart exclaims after seeing Lisa make a snow-angel in a cake on the kitchen table, "At least she's not singing Streisand". In "Simple Simpson," the on-stage patriotic western-singer says that Ms. Streisand is unpatriotic and could be pleased by spitting on the flag and strangling a bald eagle.
"Mecha Streisand" as portrayed in the animated show South Park
Another enduring satirical reference is in the animated series South Park, most notably in the episode "Mecha-Streisand", where Streisand is portrayed as a self-important, evil, gigantic robotic dinosaur with a terrible singing voice about to conquer the universe before being defeated by Robert Smith of The Cure. On another occasion, the Halloween episode "Spookyfish" is promoted for a week as being done in "Spooky-Vision", which involves Streisand's face seen at times during the episode in the four corners of the screen. At the end of the feature film South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, her name is used as a powerful curse word, a gag repeated in the episode "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants". The Mecha-Streisand character made a return in the Season 14 episode "200", as one of several celebrities the show had lampooned over the years.
In the 2002–04 Icebox.com cartoon and animated TV series Queer Duck, the title character is obsessed with Streisand. He undergoes Christian-based conversion therapy to be made straight; only Barbra's magic nose can return him to his gayness.
In the 2005 Fox animated sitcom American Dad, Season 5 Episode 1 shows Roger preparing to watch a Streisand special where the entertainer sings the collected works of Céline Dion in Las Vegas.
In Season 1 Episode 12 of Boston Legal aired in August 2005, Denny Crane boasts that he once had a threesome with Shirley Schmidt and Barbra Streisand. Schmidt corrects him by reminding him that "Barbra Streisand" was actually a female impersonator, whose penis would have been a cue.
In the 2007 Fox animated sitcom Family Guy, one episode shows Lois singing a cabaret act with "Don't Rain On My Parade"—originally sung by Streisand in Funny Girl—only slowed down and jazzier, as an act of defiance to Peter. In another episode, Peter received life insurance after Lois died and claimed that he has more money than Streisand. This was followed by a cut scene showing Streisand and her husband in their home. The husband asked for money and Streisand pressed one nostril of her nose and dollar bills came out the other nostril.
Streisand is referenced frequently on the Fox TV musical series Glee. The character Rachel (Lea Michele) mentions that Streisand refused to alter her nose in order to become famous in the show's third episode Acafellas. Also, in the mid-season finale of Glee, Rachel sings the Streisand anthem "Don't Rain on My Parade". In the episode Hell-O, she says that she will be heartbroken for life, "Like Barbra in The Way We Were."
When Glee won the prize for "Best TV Series-Comedy Or Musical" at the 2010 Golden Globe Awards, creator Ryan Murphy quipped on stage, "Thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press and Miss Barbra Streisand", eliciting laughter from the audience.
[edit]On film
In movies, Streisand is remembered as the favorite of the character Howard Brackett, played by Kevin Kline, who finally admits to being gay while standing at the altar in the 1997 romantic comedy In & Out. His unfortunate bride-to-be, played by Joan Cusack, cries out in frustration to family and friends present, "Does anybody here KNOW how many times I've had to sit through Funny Lady?" In an earlier scene, Howard is taunted by a friend during an argument at a bar with a jeering, "The studio thought that Barbra was too ol-l-ld to play Yentl." Barbra's signature tune, "People", is played by a school orchestra in honor of teacher Howard as the story wraps at the end of the credits. This and similar references refer to her popularity among gay men.
In the 1980 musical film Fame, one of the characters announces that Barbra Streisand did not have to change her name to get to the top.
In the 1988 comedy, BIG, Tom Hanks goes home and to prove to his mother that he is her "little" boy he sings the first line of her favorite song, "Memories, light the corner of mine..." from "The Way We Were."
In the 1993 romantic comedy Mrs. Doubtfire, Robin Williams, while trying different looks to apply to the Mrs. Doubtfire character that he portrays, uses a wig "a la Streisand" and sings some lines from "Don't Rain On My Parade".
In the 1996 comedy "The Associate", Whoopi Goldberg plays a business woman, Laurel Ayers, who creates a business associate, Robert S. Cutty, who is said to have known and dated Streisand. In addition to having an autographed picture of Streisand in her office, Ayers also has a cross-dressing friend who dresses up to resemble Streisand throughout the film.
In the 1998 film adaptation of the novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas a teenage runaway played by Christina Ricci paints images of Streisand while being administered large amounts of LSD by Hunter Thompson's Samoan attorney.
In the 1999 film South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut based on the TV series, Cartman shouted out Barbra Streisand's name and shot electricity out of his hands. She is also mentioned in a relationship conversation between the characters of Satan and Saddam Hussein.
In the 2000 remake of the comedy Bedazzled, the Devil (Elizabeth Hurley) tells Elliot (Brendan Fraser): "It's not easy being the Barbra Streisand of evil, you know."
The characters Carla and Connie, as aspiring song-and-dance acts in the 2004 comedy Connie and Carla, include four Streisand references. They sing "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" and "Memory" at an airport lounge and "Don't Rain on My Parade" onstage in a gay bar, and talk about the plot of Yentl at the climax of the film after they ask how many in their audience have seen the movie (everyone raised their hands).
In the 2005 animated feature Chicken Little, Chicken's best friend Runt's mom says, after she thinks he is lying about seeing an alien spaceship, "Don't make me take away your Streisand collection!" and Runt returns with, "Mother, you leave Barbra out of this!"
In music
Sound clips of Streisand's heated exchange with a supporter of former U.S. president George W. Bush were sampled in the 2009 Lucian Piane dance song "Bale Out", making it sound as if she were arguing with actor Christian Bale (whose recorded outbursts during the filming of Terminator Salvation were the centerpiece of the song).
On stage
Daniel Stern's 2003 Off-Broadway play Barbra's Wedding was set against the backdrop of Streisand's 1998 wedding to James Brolin. The 2005 Broadway musical Spamalot carries the song "You won't succeed on Broadway" which references lines from "People" and "Papa, Can You Hear Me?".
Appearances
Broadway performances
Year Title Notes
1961–1963 I Can Get It for You Wholesale Nominated—Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
1964–1965 Funny Girl Nominated—Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical
[edit]West End performances
Year Title Notes
1966 Funny Girl April 13, 1966 – July 16, 1966 at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London.
[edit]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'
1986 Putting it Together: The Making of The Broadway Album
1987 One Voice
1994 Barbra Streisand: The Concert Also producer and director
2001 Barbra Streisand: Timeless Aired on FOX TV February 14, 2001 (1 hour edited version)
2009 Streisand: Live in Concert Aired on CBS April 25, 2009 (Filmed in Florida in 2006)
2009 Friday Night with Streisand and Ross First Ever UK Performance
Discography
Tours and live performances
Main article: List of Barbra Streisand tours and live performances
Year Title Continents Box-Office Benefits Total Audience
1966 An Evening with Barbra Streisand (Tour) North America $480,000 60,000
1994 Barbra Streisand: The Concert Tour North America and Europe $50 million 400,000
2000 Timeless Live In Concert Tour North America and Oceania $70 million 200,000
2006–2007 Streisand: The Tour North America and Europe $119.5 million 425,000
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1968 Funny Girl Fanny Brice Academy Award for Best Actress Tied with Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter
David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress Tied with Mia Farrow for Rosemary's Baby
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role also for Hello, Dolly!
1969 Hello, Dolly! Dolly Levi Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role also for Funny Girl
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1970 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever Daisy Gamble / Melinda Tentres
The Owl and the Pussycat Doris Wilgus/Wadsworth/Wellington/Waverly Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1972 What's Up, Doc? Judy Maxwell
Up the Sandbox Margaret Reynolds
1973 The Way We Were Katie Morosky David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress Tied with Tatum O'Neal for Paper Moon
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1974 For Pete's Sake Henrietta 'Henry' Robbins
1975 Funny Lady Fanny Brice Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1976 A Star Is Born Esther Hoffman Howard Academy Award for Best Original Song Shared with Paul Williams (lyrics) for the song "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)"
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song Shared with Paul Williams (lyrics) for the song "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)"
Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Film Music Shared with Paul Williams, Kenny Ascher, Rupert Holmes, Leon Russell, Kenny Loggins, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Donna Weiss
1979 The Main Event Hillary Kramer
1981 All Night Long Cheryl Gibbons
1983 Yentl Yentl/Anshel (also director and producer)
Golden Globe Award for Best Director
Nastro d'Argento for Best New Foreign Director
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1987 Nuts Claudia Faith Draper Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1991 The Prince of Tides Dr. Susan Lowenstein (also director and producer)
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Picture Shared with Andrew S. Karsch
Nominated—Directors Guild of America Award
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Director
1996 The Mirror Has Two Faces Rose Morgan (also director and producer)
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Original Song Shared with Marvin Hamlisch, Robert John Lange and Bryan Adams for the song "I Finally Found Someone"
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song Shared with Marvin Hamlisch, Robert John Lange and Bryan Adams for the song "I Finally Found Someone"
2004 Meet the Fockers Roz Focker
2010 Little Fockers Roz Focker
Source:wikipedia
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