My Name is Barbra
Barbra Streisand – Babs to her fans – has a new and provocative memoir coming out. The EGOT winner – someone who hit the grand slam by winning one of America’s four most prestigious awards for entertainment, an Oscar, Emmy, Tony and a Gammy – has a new book called “My Name Is Barbra.”
My Name is Barbra was also the title of an album Barbra Streisand released in 1965.
One of the book’s biggest revelations was how Robert Redford – who went on to win an Oscar as a director – at first was not interested in starring in the 1973 hit “The Way We Were,” the movie which sealed both Redford and Barbra Streisand’s respective statuses as American icons.
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Apparently, Robert Redford did not think the character he was to play had enough depth. “Who is this guy? He’s just an object,’ Redford said, according to Streisand. “He doesn’t want anything. What does this guy want?”
“In Bob’s opinion, he was shallow and one-dimensional,” wrote Streisand.” “Not very real. ‘A pin-up girl in reverse.’”
So the character was rewritten and the rest is history.
Two Time Oscar winning actor Marlon Brando once tried hitting on Barbra Streisand but was crude about it. Apparently, at a party, Brando simply came out and told Barbra Streisand that he “wanted to fuck” her.
Barbra Streisand said she never really had a rivalry with Judy Garland, writing, “People were looking for some sort of rivalry between us. And when they couldn’t find anything, they made it up. I found Judy to be completely generous. We sang a medley of songs, taking turns, and she wasn’t just focused on herself. She watched me and responded to me. She would reach out and brush back a strand of my hair, like a mother.”
“Judy and I became friends. We spoke on the phone, and she came to one of the rare parties I gave at my New York apartment,” Barbra Streisand added. “I think she arrived late. And I remember her saying something I never quite understood: ‘Don’t let them do to you what they did to me.’ I should have asked her what she meant, but I didn’t want to appear too nosy.”
Barbra Streisand also said that Mandy Patinkin, who was married at the time, thought that the two would have an affair when filming the stinker “Yentl.” Streisand also said that Patinkin was not so nice to his co-star Amy Irving.
There is a whole lot more in the book about Barbra Streisand’s singing career and relationships over the years. At 992 pages long, the book certainly has enough room for all the stories.
Barbra Streisand was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Diana and Emanuel Streisand. She began singing and acting at a young age, and by her teenage years, she was performing in nightclubs and on television. In 1962, she signed a recording contract with Columbia Records, and her debut album, “The Barbra Streisand Album,” was released the following year. The album was a critical and commercial success, and Streisand quickly became one of the most popular singers in the world.
