Barbra Streisand has had an amazing career, both for her successes and its longevity. Growing up in the projects in Brooklyn, she spent time at the local public library reading biographies of famous actresses like Sarah Bernhardt. Her father tragically died of a seizure and head injury when Barbra was sixteen months old. He was a man dedicated to his education career as a high school teacher, and left behind books that she cherishes. It is clear that much of her life was spent trying to fill this gap, longing for a father who would understand her and emotionally support her. Her mother, stressed to suddenly have two children to support, at a time when a woman often depended on a husband to carry the financial burden, did not give much time or attention to Barbra; in fact, Streisand describes her mother as consistently, harshly critical and negative. Barbra attributes her own perfectionism and self-critical nature to this. Largely unsupervised, Barbra travelled into Manhattan regularly, taking walk-on roles in theater productions as a teenager, before landing a small speaking role in a midtown theater production the summer before senior year. Her mother, who had a wonderful singing voice, took Barbra to a studio where she had a coupon that allowed them both to cut a record for cheap. At thirteen, Streisand got positive feedback for her performance. She makes it clear that her great desire was to be an actress, but if the singing helps open doors, fine. Graduating high school at sixteen, Streisand starts trying to figure out how to break into theater, while taking whatever menial job to pay for room and board.

The book goes through her entire career in great detail, which will be a delight to fans. Beware: this is a long book, I mean really long. The print book is 920 pages, but I recommend the audiobook, read by Streisand. She often cuts to archival recordings at various points in her career, and they are all a real treat. Coming in at just over 48 hours (!) it is one long commitment. Streisand covers her time spent signing at night clubs, her early theater roles and Broadway debut in I Can Get It for You Wholesale, her early appearances on The Tonight Show, The Gary Moore Show, The Judy Garland Show, Ed Sullivan, Mike Douglas, leading to the recording of her first two albums, and her legendary role of Fanny Brice in the Broadway production of Funny Girl, catapulting her to stardom at twenty-two. She met actor Elliott Gould during the run of Wholesale, in which he starred; she was a featured part, but often stopped the show with her singing performance. In 1963, at age twenty-one, she and Gould married. They divorced in 1969, and had one son, Jason.

In summary, Streisand appeared or starred in nineteen films, across genres of musical, drama, and comedy. Of those she produced five, directed three, and co-wrote one, Yentl. For Boomers and Gen X, her best known performances are probably Funny Girl, Hello, Dolly!, A Star Is Born, and The Way We Were. She only appeared on Broadway twice, Wholesale and Funny Girl. She put together and starred in seventeen television specials, some of which were recordings of live performances, such as a live concert in Central Park in 1968. As of this writing, she has had six concert tours, four worldwide. Streisand has recorded 36 albums, dating from 1963 to 2018. It is noteworthy that she suffered from stage fright after her run of Funny Girl, and refused to sing live until 1993. She has won eight Grammys (with 43 nominations), plus two special Grammys, the Legend and Lifetime Achievement awards. the Star of the Decade Tony Award, five Emmy awards, the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award, the Kennedy Center Honors (awarded by President George W. Bush), 3 Peabody Awards, the National Medal of Arts (awarded by President Bill Clinton), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (awarded by President Barack Obama), and countless others. One nomination and award that eluded Streisand was an Academy recognition for directing. This omission was somewhat recognized in 2009 when she presented the Academy Award for Best Director to Katherine Bigelow for The Hurt Locker, the first woman to win for directing.

You will read about the list of men she dated, including Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, hair dresser/producer Jon Peters, composer Richard Baskin, actors Don Johnson, Richard Gere, Clint Eastwood, Liam Neeson, Jon Voight, newscaster Peter Jennings, tennis champion Andre Agassi; before marrying actor James Brolin in 1998. Her later years are devoted to raising money for her favorite political causes. Streisand is a devoted Democrat, a huge supporter of Clinton and Obama. She has also been a big supporter of Israel, fund raising for the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), and funding the Streisand Building at Hebrew University, named in honor of her father.

While my politics are mostly quite different from hers, I found this a fascinating read in most other respects. Getting the inside view of acting, writing, and directing films, learning what goes into creating an album, producing a television or live show, were all very interesting. She was a star on my TV screen when I was growing up, and on the movie screen during my young adult years. She has occupied a special place in the public eye for nearly 65 years. Streisand’s voice is undoubtedly one of the best in the business, ever. I recommend one of my favorite performances, when she appeared with Judy Garland on Garland’s show, singing a duet of Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy, best known songs at that time for Streisand and Garland, respectively. Streisand was twenty-one, Garland was forty-one. Garland would die less than six years later, at forty-six. They both sound fantastic, and you can sense Streisand’s great respect, and Garland’s motherly affection for the talented up-and-comer. Check it out on YouTube. You’ll read Streisand’s take on memorable cinematic moments. Tough out the 48 hours for these special observations.