117 Facts About Barbara Streisand

Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand is an American singer and actress.

Barbara Streisand is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Barbara Streisand starred in the critically acclaimed Funny Girl, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Barbara Streisand won a second Academy Award for writing the love theme from A Star Is Born, the first woman to be honored as a composer.

Barbara Streisand received the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, becoming the first woman to win that award.

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Barbara Streisand later directed The Prince of Tides and The Mirror Has Two Faces.

Barbara Streisand's accolades include two Academy Awards, 10 Grammy Awards including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Grammy Legend Award, five Emmy Awards, four Peabody Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and nine Golden Globes.

Barbara Streisand was born on April 24,1942, in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of Diana Ida and Emanuel Barbara Streisand.

Barbara Streisand's mother had been a soprano in her youth and considered a career in music, but later became a school secretary.

Barbara Streisand's father was a high school teacher at the same school, where they first met.

Barbara Streisand recalls that her mother had a "great voice" and sang semi-professionally on occasion.

That session was the first time Barbara Streisand ever asserted herself as an artist, which became her "first moment of inspiration".

Barbara Streisand has an older brother, Sheldon, and a half-sister, singer Roslyn Kind, from her mother's remarriage to Louis Kind in 1950.

Barbara Streisand began her education at the Jewish Orthodox Yeshiva of Brooklyn when she was five.

Barbara Streisand was considered bright and inquisitive about everything; however, she lacked discipline, often shouting answers to questions out of turn.

Barbara Streisand next entered Public School 89 in Brooklyn, and during those early school years began watching television and going to movies.

Barbara Streisand became known by others in the neighborhood for her voice.

Barbara Streisand made her singing debut at a PTA assembly, where she became a hit to everyone but her mother, who was mostly critical of her daughter.

Barbara Streisand was invited to sing at weddings and summer camp, along with having an unsuccessful audition at MGM records when she was nine.

Barbara Streisand began spending her spare time in the library, studying the biographies of various stage actresses such as Eleanora Duse and Sarah Bernhardt.

Barbara Streisand attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn in 1956 where she became an honor student in modern history, English, and Spanish.

Barbara Streisand joined the Freshman Chorus and Choral Club, where she sang with another choir member and classmate, Neil Diamond.

Barbara Streisand graduated, aged 16, from Erasmus Hall in January 1959, 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.

Barbara Streisand took a job as an usher at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater for The Sound of Music early in 1960.

Barbara Streisand asked her boyfriend, Barry Dennen, to tape her singing, copies of which she could then give out to possible employers.

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Barbara Streisand performed two songs, after which there was a "stunned silence" from the audience, followed by "thunderous applause" when she was pronounced the winner.

Barbara Streisand was invited back and sang at the club for several weeks.

Barbara Streisand was next asked to audition at the Bon Soir nightclub, after which she was signed up at $125 a week.

Barbara Streisand realized she could still become an actress by first gaining recognition as a singer.

Barbara Streisand improved her stage presence when speaking to the audience between songs.

Barbara Streisand discovered that her Brooklyn-bred style of humor was received favorably.

Barbara Streisand is 20 years old, she has a three-octave promiscuity of range, she packs more personal dynamic power than anybody I can recall since Libby Holman or Helen Morgan.

Barbara Streisand can sing as loud as Ethel Merman and as persuasively as Lena or Ella, or as brassy as a Sophie Tucker.

Barbara Streisand accepted her first role on the New York stage in Another Evening with Harry Stoones, a satirical comedy play in which she acted and sang two solos.

Barbara Streisand once told Jimmy Fallon, with whom she sang a duet, on the Tonight Show, that Erlichman was a "fantastic manager" and still managed her career after 50 years.

Barbara Streisand got the part of secretary to the lead actor businessman, played by then unknown Elliott Gould.

Barbara Streisand received a Tony Award nomination and New York Drama Critic's prize for Best Supporting Actress.

Barbara Streisand was seen during an April 1961 episode on which Orson Bean substituted for Paar.

In May 1962, Barbara Streisand appeared on The Garry Moore Show where she sang "Happy Days Are Here Again" for the first time.

Barbara Streisand did three or four songs, and she was beyond brilliant – so amazing.

Barbara Streisand was later a cohost on the Mike Douglas Show, and made an impact on a number of Bob Hope specials.

When she was 21, Barbara Streisand signed a contract with Columbia Records that gave her full creative control, in exchange for less money.

Barbara Streisand took advantage of this several times during her career.

Barbara Streisand returned to Broadway in 1964 with an acclaimed performance as entertainer Fanny Brice in Funny Girl at the Winter Garden Theatre.

Barbara Streisand has recorded 50 studio albums, almost all with Columbia Records.

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Barbara Streisand performed this in a duet with Judy Garland on The Judy Garland Show.

Columbia records objected that the songs she wanted to sing were not pop songs, but Barbara Streisand asserted the full creative control her contract gave her—'I've always had the right to sing what I want'— with 1985's The Broadway Album, which was unexpectedly successful, holding the coveted No 1 Billboard position for three straight weeks, and being certified quadruple platinum.

Barbara Streisand was not happy with the direction of the project and it was scrapped.

At the beginning of the 1990s, Barbara Streisand started focusing on her film directorial efforts and became almost inactive in the recording studio.

In 1993, The New York Times music critic Stephen Holden wrote that Barbara Streisand "enjoys a cultural status that only one other American entertainer, Frank Sinatra, has achieved in the last half century".

In September 1993, Barbara Streisand announced her first public concert appearances in 27 years.

Barbara Streisand appeared on the covers of major magazines in anticipation of what Time magazine named "The Music Event of the Century".

In 1996, Barbara Streisand released "I Finally Found Someone" as a duet with Canadian singer and songwriter Bryan Adams.

On New Year's Eve 1999, Barbara Streisand returned to the concert stage, selling out in the first few hours, eight months before her return.

Barbara Streisand performed versions of the Timeless concert in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, in early 2000.

In February 2006, Barbara Streisand recorded the song "Smile" alongside Tony Bennett at Barbara Streisand's Malibu home.

Barbara Streisand 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.

Barbara Streisand set the second-place record at MGM Grand Garden Arena, with her December 31,1999, show being the house record and highest-grossing concert of all time.

On November 17,2008, Barbara Streisand returned to the studio to begin recording what would be her 63rd album and it was announced that Diana Krall was producing the album.

Barbara Streisand is one of the recipients of the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors.

On September 26,2009, Barbara Streisand performed a one-night-only show at the Village Vanguard in New York City's Greenwich Village.

On October 2,2009, Barbara Streisand made her British television performance debut with an interview on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross to promote the album.

On February 1,2010, Barbara Streisand joined over 80 other artists in recording a new version of the 1985 charity single "We Are the World".

Barbara Streisand was honored as MusiCares Person of the Year on February 11,2011, two days prior to the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

That same year Barbara Streisand sang "Somewhere" from the Broadway musical West Side Story, with child prodigy Jackie Evancho, on Evancho's album Dream with Me.

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On October 11,2012, Barbara Streisand gave a three-hour concert performance before a crowd of 18,000 as part of the ongoing inaugural events of Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Barbara Streisand was joined onstage by trumpeter Chris Botti, Italian operatic trio Il Volo, and her son Jason Gould.

Barbara Streisand is one of many singers who use teleprompters during their live performances.

Barbara Streisand has defended her choice in using teleprompters to display lyrics and, sometimes, banter.

In May 2016, Barbara Streisand announced the upcoming album Encore: 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.

In June 2018, Barbara Streisand confirmed she was working on the new studio album Walls, released November 2,2018, just prior to the US midterm election.

Barbara Streisand's first film was a reprise of her Broadway hit, Funny Girl, an artistic and commercial success directed by Hollywood veteran William Wyler.

Barbara Streisand won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actress for the role, sharing it with Katharine Hepburn, the only time there has been a tie in this Oscar category.

Barbara Streisand earned her second Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Evergreen", from A Star Is Born in 1976, in which she starred.

From 1969 to 1980, Barbara Streisand appeared in Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll, 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.

Barbara Streisand is one of the great actresses and she hasn't been well used.

Barbara Streisand produced a number of her own films, setting up Barwood Films in 1972.

Barbara Streisand co-scripted Yentl, something for which she is not always given credit.

In 2004, Barbara Streisand made a return to film acting after an eight-year hiatus, in the comedy Meet the Fockers, playing opposite Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, Blythe Danner and Robert De Niro.

In December 2010, Barbara Streisand appeared in Little Fockers, the third film from the Meet the Parents trilogy.

Barbara Streisand reprised the role of Roz Focker alongside Dustin Hoffman.

Barbara Streisand possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range, which Howard Cohen of the Miami Herald describes as "peerless".

Barbara Streisand hears a melody and takes it in, learning it quickly.

Barbara Streisand is the godmother of his daughters, Caleigh Peters and Skye Peters.

From November 1983 to October 1987, Barbara Streisand lived with Baskin-Robbins ice cream heir Richard Baskin, who wrote the lyrics to "Here We Are At Last" on her 1984 album Emotion.

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Barbara Streisand dated actor Don Johnson from December 1987 through at least September 1988.

In 1983 and 1989, respectively, Barbara Streisand briefly dated actors Richard Gere and Clint Eastwood.

Barbara Streisand dated tennis champion Andre Agassi from 1992 to 1993.

Barbara Streisand is the owner of multiple dogs, and she loved her dog Samantha so much, that she had her cloned.

In March 2019, Barbara Streisand apologized for her controversial statements about Michael Jackson's accusers.

Barbara Streisand has been an active supporter of the Democratic Party and many of its causes.

Barbara Streisand was among the celebrities on President Richard Nixon's 1971 list of political enemies.

The next year, in association with liberal activist Stanley Sheinbaum and the American Civil Liberties Union, Barbara Streisand performed a benefit at the mansion of film mogul Jennings Lang to pay for the legal defense of Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame.

In 1984, Barbara Streisand joined Jane Fonda and ten other television and film industry notables to establish the activist group Hollywood Women's Political Committee, the membership eventually growing to 300.

In 1995 Streisand spoke at Harvard's John F Kennedy School of Government about the role of the artist as citizen, in support of arts programs and funding.

Barbara Streisand is a supporter of LGBT rights and backed the "No on 8" campaign in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat California Proposition 8 of 2008.

Barbara Streisand performed at two other concerts in Tel Aviv that same week, part of her first concert tour of Israel.

In 1984, Barbara Streisand donated the Emanuel Barbara Streisand Building for Jewish Studies to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in the Mount Scopus campus, in memory of her father, an educator and scholar who died when she was young.

Barbara Streisand is regarded as the "Queen of the Divas" by various media outlets.

Barbara Streisand was presented Distinguished Merit Award by Mademoiselle in 1964, and selected as Miss Ziegfeld in 1965.

In 1984, Barbara Streisand was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.

Barbara Streisand received the Woman of Courage Award by the National Organization for Women, the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Scopus Award by American Friends of The Hebrew University.

Barbara Streisand received Breakthrough Awards for "making films that portray women with serious complexity" at the Women, Men and Media symposium in 1991.

Barbara Streisand was honored with the Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award from the ASCAP in 1994 and the Peabody Award in 1995, the same year she was accorded an Honorary Doctorate in Arts and Humanities by Brandeis University.

Barbara Streisand was awarded Filmmaker of the Year Award for "lifetime achievement in filmmaking" by ShowEast and Peabody Award in 1996, Christopher Award in 1998.

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Barbara Streisand received the L'Oreal Paris Legend Award in 18th Elle Magazine Women in Hollywood.

Barbara Streisand was accorded an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2013.

In 2014, Barbara Streisand was on one of eight different New York Magazine covers celebrating the magazine's "100 Years, 100 Songs, 100 Nights: A Century of Pop Music in New York".

Barbara Streisand received the American Society of Cinematographers Board of Governors Award, the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at The Hollywood Reporter's annual Women in Entertainment Breakfast, and came first in the 1010 Wins Iconic Celebrity Poll by CBS in 2015.

In November 2015, President Barack Obama announced that Barbara Streisand would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States.

Barbara Streisand was inducted into and Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1976, Goldmine Hall of Fame in 2002, Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2007, the Hit Parade Hall of Fame in 2009, National Museum of American Jewish History and California Hall of Fame in 2010.

In 2006, Barbara Streisand was one of honorees at Oprah Winfrey's white-tie Legends Ball.

Barbara Streisand was recognized as one of the top gay icons of the past three decades by Gay Times.

The term Barbara Streisand effect was coined to refer to an attempt to censor information which unintentionally publicizes that information.

Barbara Streisand has been nominated 43 times for a Grammy Award, winning eight.

Barbara Streisand has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame four times.

Barbara Streisand has stated she is writing her autobiography but has stopped and started at various points.