Barbra Streisand, 2024 Life Achievement Honoree of the Screen Actors Guild

 

[I saw the Barbra Streisand première of Broadway’s Funny Girl (26 March 1964-1 July 1967).  I don’t remember when in Streisand’s run I saw that show—she left the production in December 1965 and I saw the original cast—but I suspect it was relatively early, though after it’d been declared a hit.  (Given the dates, it’d have to have fbeen either in the spring of ’64, when I was 17, or the fall of ’65, when I was 18.)  Her performance as Fanny Brice was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

[I know a thing or two about awesome performances, having caught the end of Broadway’s Golden Age (which I extend into the ’60s and the early ’70s).  Just among the musicals—I saw some astounding acting in straight plays, too, of course—a few of what I can compare Streisand’s Fanny Brice to include Tom Bosley in Fiorello! (1959), Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1959), Mary Martin in The Sound of Music (1959), Andrews, Richard Burton, and Roddy McDowall in Camelot (1960), Robert Morse and Charles Nelson Reilly in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961), Jerry Orbach and Kaye Ballard in Carnival! (1961), Zero Mostel and Jack Gilford in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Beatrice Lillie in High Spirits (1964), Gwen Verdon in Sweet Charity (1966) and then in Chicago (1975), Ben Vereen in Pippin (1972), Virginia Capers in Raisin (1973), and several others.

[(The gap between 1966 and 1972 is largely from my army service from December 1969 and February 1974.  I actually saw Pippin in ’74—the dates I use above are the years in which the productions premièred—when Vereen returned to the show for several months.  During my army service, I never got closer to New York than four months in 1971 in Baltimore—and half my service was in West Berlin.)

[I can say without hesitation that Streisand’s performance in only her second Broadway outing (I didn’t see I Can Get It For You Wholesale in 1962—I was in prep school in New Jersey) easily stood up next to any of the work of these stage vets.  It was, indeed, something I have carried with me in memory for almost 60 years.

[Both the profile of Barbra Streisand (b. 1942 in Brooklyn, New York City) and the transcript of the interview of the actress by Fran Drescher (b. 1957 in Queens, New York City; elected President of SAG-AFTRA in 2021) ran in the Spring 2024 issue of SAG-AFTRA (volume 13, number 2).  SAG-AFTRA is the official publication of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.  

[Known as SAG-AFTRA, this is the union that represents film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, recording artists, singers, voice actors, and other media professionals worldwide.  The organization was formed in 2012 following the merger of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG, created in 1933) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (created in 1937 as the American Federation of Radio Artists [AFRA], becoming AFTRA in 1952 after merger with the Television Authority). 

[(Actors’ Equity Association, the union for theatrical performers and stage managers formed in 1913, is still a separate organization.)

[As you will see, the SAG Life Achievement Award retains the name under which it was established in 1962.  It’s awarded for “outstanding achievement in fostering the finest ideals of the acting profession.”]

“HER NAME IS BARBRA”

Celebrating SAG Life Achievement Award Recipient BARBRA STREISAND

There’s always been something about Barbra Streisand. For over six decades, she has defied and redefined expectations as a singer, actor, producer and director. She has received awards and accolades from numerous industry institutions, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award [1994], Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award [2000], a special Tony Award [Star of the Decade, 1970], the Presidential Medal of Freedom [2015] and many others. The SAG Life Achievement Award ceremony, held during the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Feb. 24, was preceded by many who praised Streisand for her talent, unequivocal work ethic and lifelong accomplishments.

But when it comes to Barbra Streisand, there’s always more to be said.

Streisand got her start on Broadway, performing in productions such as I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962), but with the release of her debut album, The Barbra Streisand Album (1963), she became known to the world as a singer. Still, even with music as her medium, it was clear to listeners and concertgoers that her vocal performances were rooted in acting. As Maestro actor Bradley Cooper said when presenting her award, “Acting is the lens that Barbra has always seen performance [through] . . . She never just sings a song; she tells a story. So while it may seem that Barbra began as a singer, she’s been acting all along.”

Her on-screen acting debut came in 1968 with the musical film Funny Girl, in which Streisand reprised her Broadway role as Fanny Brice, and later received the Academy Award for Best Actress. Other roles through the ’60s and ’70s included Hello, Dolly! (1969), What’s Up, Doc? (1972), The Way We Were (1973) and A Star Is Born (1976).

However, the heights Streisand reached in those early years did not come without strife. In her memoir, My Name Is Barbra (2023), she describes feeling “absolutely powerless” in steering films towards her creative vision. She was particularly against The Way We Were director Sydney Pollack’s [1934-2008] decision to cut key scenes between her and co-star Robert Redford.

The drive she felt to bring her imagination to life on the screen is what ultimately led her to transition into directing and her career-defining project Yentl (1983), the story in which its eponymous character, played by Streisand, disguises herself as a man for the opportunity to study Talmudic law. [Study of Talmud was forbidden to women by the custom of Yentl’s community, a shtetl—a small town with a predominantly Jewish population in Eastern Europe before World War II—in Poland in 1904.] The production, which took 15 years to greenlight, was not only the first time Streisand served as director, star, co-writer and co-producer, but the first time any woman had undertaken all four roles concurrently in a major studio film. In his review, the late film critic Roger Ebert [1942-2013] wrote [in the Chicago Sun-Times, 9 Dec. 1983] that the romantic musical “treats its romances with the respect due to genuine emotion, and its performances are so good that, yes, I really did care.” During the 1984 awards season, Streisand became the first woman to receive the Golden Globe for Best Director, and remained the only woman to win the award for nearly four decades.

[The Hebrew term Talmud (literally ‘study,’ ‘teaching,’ or ‘learning’) refers to a compilation of ancient teachings regarded as sacred and normative by Jews from the time it was compiled until today.  It’s still regarded in this light by traditional religious Jews. The Talmud is the primary source of Jewish religious law (halakha) and Jewish theology.

[The compilation of the Talmud started with Ezra the Scribe (Book of Ezra) in the 5th century BCE.  It was first published in 1523-24 in Venice, Italy, with later editions following. From the time of its completion, the Talmud became integral to Jewish scholarship.

[During the 15th and 16th centuries, an intense form of textual analysis in Talmud study called pilpul (Hebrew, loosely meaning ‘sharp analysis’), arose. In the 19th century, modern methods of textual and historical analysis were applied to the Talmud.

[The study of Talmud and halakha Rabbinic literature traditionally takes place in a yeshiva (from the Hebrew for 'sitting' or ‘meeting’), a Jewish educational institution. Historically, yeshivas were for men only, but today, non-Orthodox yeshivas are open to women. (New York City’s Yeshiva University began as a traditional yeshiva in 1886, but in 1928 began granting a bachelor’s degree and took its current name in 1945.  It still offers Torah and Talmud study, but enrolls many non-religious, even non-Jewish students.)]

Despite this accolade and many others for her subsequent projects, The Prince of Tides (1991) and The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), Streisand never received an Oscar nomination in the directorial categories. Even in the face of what many attribute to sexism within the industry, Streisand’s spirit is one of perseverance. Today, she is seen as a pioneering figure among female directors, and, in the end, her longtime advocacy for The Way We Were’s original scenes resulted in a re-cut of the movie’s ending — just in time for its 50th anniversary release in 2023.

[As director Pollack had died in 2008, the new “Director’s Cut” of The Way We Were for its 50th anniversary was edited by Streisand, who restored two scenes cut from the original theatrical version. Streisand had kept clips in her private archive of the deleted scenes, which had explained why her character and Redford’s had divorced, and she had them restored for the 2023 re-release. The new DVD included both the 1973 and 2023 versions of the film.]

But her enduring work hasn’t just been limited to Hollywood. The Streisand Foundation, established in 1986, has provided funding for numerous organizations that support women’s rights, civil liberties and the environment, among other causes. In 2021, she endowed the Barbra Streisand Institute at UCLA, and since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2022, has served as a UNITED24 ambassador, helping to raise funds for humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

[UNITED24 is a Ukrainian government-run platform launched in May 2022 to raise money for Ukraine’s war efforts. Its “ambassadors” are prominent people, both Ukrainian and international figures, who promote the cause of Ukraine around the globe and raise money for Ukraine’s defense and other wartime needs.]

With such a stellar career, an incomparable body of work and countless moments of personal triumph and professional perseverance, it was impossible to guess what Streisand would say when she took to the stage to accept her honor. In the end, her acceptance speech was so quintessentially her: self-reflective, rich with stories about lifelong friends, mentors and colleagues, and full of heartfelt gratitude towards actors and the influence acting has played throughout her life and career.

“I always thought acting was my education: trying to understand the character, having to do research, and immersing [myself] into the period,” she said. “It is really a privilege to be part of this profession. For a couple of hours, people can sit in a theater and escape their own troubles — what an idea!

“To my fellow actors and directors, I’ve loved working with you, playing with you and inhabiting that magical world of the movies with you. Most of all I want to thank you for giving me so much joy [by] just watching you on the screen! Thank you for that.”

Nominated and voted on by the SAG-AFTRA National Honors and Tributes Committee, the SAG Life Achievement Award is bestowed to those who have contributed to improving the image of the acting profession and have a history of active involvement in public service endeavors. Streisand is the awards’ 59th recipient.

*  *  *  *
“ACTOR TO ACTOR: FRAN DRESCHER INTERVIEWS BARBRA STREISAND” 

With a decades-spanning career in music and film and a lifelong commitment to numerous philanthropic causes, Barbra Streisand is beloved by fans around the world. Among them is SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, The Nanny star [CBS-TV sitcom, 1993-99] whose character, Fran Fine, never missed a moment to fangirl over her favorite performer.

In the days leading up to the 30th Annual SAG Awards, Streisand and Drescher sat down for an Actor to Actor interview, discussing Streisand’s career on the stage, behind the camera and beyond. What follows is an edited version of their conversation.  [“Actor to Actor” is a continuing feature of SAG-AFTRA magazine.]

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher: You’re getting the SAG Life Achievement Award. Now, this is the highest honor that your union can give anyone. Congratulations on the award, because it’s a big deal, and it’s so well deserved.

Barbra Streisand: Thank you.

Fran: You’ve been a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and now SAG-AFTRA, since 1961. What is the single most valuable acting lesson that you’ve learned in your career?

Barbra: A great actor has to rely on the truth. . . . The audience can feel that. They know when you’re telling the truth. Like, I’m making a new record now — which I can’t talk about — but I have my conductor that breathes with me. He sees me in my booth singing and he’s out there with the orchestra, but he can tell, because I don’t sing the song the same twice.

Fran: Do you watch any of those singing competition shows on TV? The coaches, who are professional, very accomplished singers, are always trying to train these amateur performers to feel what they’re saying. “Tell the story, don’t just do acrobatics with your voice.”

Barbra: Exactly. Why do you go high sometimes? It’s only because the character is feeling great love at that moment. That’s why you go high. It’s like, sometimes when I sing it . . . I’m not feeling so much love for this character, I may not go for that high note. You have to be in the moment.

Fran: Have you ever, though, had to work with an actor that doesn’t listen, but is just waiting to say his next line?

Barbra: Yes, as a matter of fact, it’s somebody I did a movie with, and I put something in that wasn’t in the script, and the guy wouldn’t look because it was his wrong side; something like that. That’s not being in the moment.

Fran: No, it’s not organic.

Barbra: I was doing a movie with Bob Redford, The Way We Were; we had to be very observant. Sometimes I smiled when I said something, sometimes he laughed. We both had to react in the moment. You have a preconception always about how you’re going to play something, but then, life intrudes. And life is spectacular, right?

Fran: I want to talk a little bit about Yentl because that was an unbelievable achievement on so many different levels. First of all, you wore so many hats in the movie. You got the Golden Globe for Best Director.

Barbra: Which I was very shocked to get because I was up against great directors, I mean, really wonderful directors.

Fran: And you said it took you 15 years to get that movie made.

Barbra: Yeah. Because who wanted to do a movie about, you know, a Jewish girl who wanted to study Talmud, and she had to dress as a man in order to get into school?

Fran: You were breaking the ceiling in filmmaking for women by having the tenacity to say, “I can do more than just be in front of the camera.”

Barbra: Exactly.

Fran: So did you realize in the moment that you were doing something that was even bigger than the sum of its parts? Because you were leading women and girls into a future that looked different than the one that you came out of.

Barbra: I think it has nothing to do with male or female. If you have a vision, it’s a complete vision. That’s why I had to do all those jobs. I had a responsibility; I had that on my shoulders.

Fran: To women and girls, or just to the movie?

Barbra: No, to women and girls and the movie. It’s all one thing. In other words, I have a vision, and people are frightened that I can’t control financial things. I enjoyed that position: having to say, “Okay, if we shoot today and it’s gray out, but I want lights on the water, I want the sun to be shining, to give us a hopeful feeling when Yentl is crossing that little river to go to her school,” I have to weigh that. I’m weighing; tell me the cost. I’m capable of, you know, handling finances.

What will it cost if I put it off till tomorrow and wait for the sun? In other words, I loved balancing the reality of the budget to the aesthetic. That’s just a grown-up [thing]. I’ve noticed — because [I] watch a lot of films, and there are so many more women directing now. It’s like, it used to be such a shock, “directed by a woman,” but in the last few years, many women have been directing movies.

Fran: And I think television opened that up first. There are a lot of women directors that are in television, both in one-hour and multi-cam, which is what I did, and I directed some of those.

Barbra: You know, I made a documentary about the first women in film [Reel Models: The First Women of Film; TV Short produced by Barwood Films (formed by Streisand in 1972) and AMC Productions; 30 May 2000 on American Movie Classics; 2001 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Special]. When I was making Yentl, I did research about these women. And even [though] D. W. Griffith [1875-1948] is called the father of film, these women were making films in 1916, before he made his great film [probably a reference to 1915’s The Birth of a Nation].

Fran: That’s why they call it his-story, not her-story.

Barbra: That’s right; very good point.

Fran: So you’ve done TV, you’ve done Broadway and, of course, you’ve done film and you’ve done them all well. But is there something that you like the best? 

Barbra: Well, I love film, but when I was in Funny Girl [onstage] — oh, my god! I love the experimental part of the job, meaning —

Fran: “Putting it together,” like Sondheim said.

Barbra: Yes, putting it together. We had 41 different last scenes for Funny Girl. Opening night was the 42nd — good number too, by the way — that we’d closed the show with that. You know, the 42nd version. I loved the different versions. I loved experimenting! [Streisand was in Funny Girl at the Winter Garden Theatre from March 1964 to December 1965. She was nominated for a 1964 Best Actress in a Musical for her performance, but did not win.]

Fran: Of course, it speaks volumes for you as a director. . . . So you started in comedy and then you transitioned into drama. They say that comic actors make the best dramatic actors. What do you have to say to all that?

Barbra: Life is both. Life is funny at times and life is sad at times, and the most interesting comedies have something serious at the core. Tragedy sometimes starts with a clown, right?

Fran: Needless to say, especially in our industry, there are a lot of people that carry the burden of insecurities. How do you leverage your own insecurities as a help rather than a hindrance?

Barbra: I would be suspicious of any actor who wasn’t, somewhere, insecure. It’s part of the game, because the actor has to expose his inner self, his soul, his secrets. And that makes him very vulnerable, which is great, allowing that. Now, I mean, I can be both things: I can be very confident — well, no, I’ve never gone on stage [confidently]. When a new concert comes up, I always think, “Well, they won’t come,” or “They’ll walk out.” I have that [insecurity], but I also know that there is strength and confidence in even being insecure. And having the confidence to be insecure as well.

Fran: Right. Have the confidence to be vulnerable and own it. It’s trying to mask it or be afraid of it happening that’s the torture.

Barbra: I mean, I’m confident in my singing a song about vulnerability, but I have to be open to that part of me that is singing . . . Nobody’s just insecure or nobody’s that confident. Except assholes. . . . Confidence, such total confidence, is kind of a turnoff. Do you know what I mean?

Fran: Definitely.

Barbra: You know what I would suggest to anybody? Examine your dreams. [They are] the key to your unconscious before you are ready for it to be conscious . . .

Fran: You love working with actors. What is your process to get [your vision] out of them?

Barbra: Well, I’ll give you an example. When I was doing The Mirror Has Two Faces, [with] Lauren Bacall [1924-2014] . . . It’s a scene where she is up all night; I’m her daughter. It was the night before she had to film it, and I came in to just rehearse it with her. And she was using a toothpick, and she didn’t know her lines very well. . . . I said to her, “Forget the lines. You don’t even have to know the lines. Just tell me what you feel about this. What do you feel about how you’ve spent your life and what you didn’t do? What you didn’t get done? What are your regrets, in a sense?” She spoke from her heart. She spoke from her truth. Her memories of what she was like as a younger actress in the movies. I got the performance that I wanted, [and] we didn’t have to shoot it in the morning. Another moment I wanted where she said something, “It’s wonderful, it’s wonderful,” but her reaction when we were filming was [flatly], “It’s wonderful. It’s wonderful.” And I said, “Turn off the cameras.” . . . [And then I asked her] “When you were in those movies, like when you first met Humphrey Bogart [1899-1957] and he became your husband [1945] and stuff, and you were just wanted by everybody and every director, what was that like?” She had to think about it, and very quietly, she said . . . [emotionally] “It was wonderful.”

Fran: And that’s what we see in that movie.

Barbra: That’s in the movie, and in [another] scene as well. And she was nominated, and she got the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. I had to get to understand her, to know her, to love her . . . Do you know what I mean?

Fran: As a director, you have to be a little parental, right?

Barbra: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have to be loving; you have to love them in a way.

Fran: You’ve made three movies, you’ve received 14 Academy Award nominations. Many of the actors achieved some of the best performances that you got out of them. What would you like to be remembered for?

Barbra: Well, I would say my films, my records, my book now and my philanthropy. Philanthropy is very, very important in my life. 

Fran: I’m so glad you brought that up because that was an area that we never got to. 

Barbra: Yeah, it’s important. I was able to start my foundation . . .

Fran: The Streisand Foundation.

Barbra: . . . in 1986, when I was horrified by what happened at Chernobyl. And that’s why I agreed to sing again: to raise money for five Democratic senators that took over the Senate. We became Democratic. I knew that [they] shared my values, and [were] against nuclear proliferation. It was for women’s rights. It was for protection of the environment because I was scared in 1986 about what was happening to the earth. . . . What struck me and made me very happy was George Shultz, who was Reagan’s secretary of state, came up to me and said, “Thank you.” And I said, “For what?” You know, I thought he liked my singing or my acting or my movies, whatever. He said to me, “No, for what your foundation funded to fight against nuclear proliferation.” Now that is something that I’m very proud of. Do you see what I mean, like — just trying to save the fucking world.

[The worst nuclear disaster in history, and the costliest disaster in human history, the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat in northern Ukraine occurred on 26 April 1986. The consensus is that approximately 30 people died from the immediate blast and radiation poisoning after the disaster, with 60 in total in the decades since. There are varying estimates of increased mortality since 1986, ranging from 4,000 to 16,000, with some figures as high as 60,000. The response to the accident has had an estimated cost of $700 billion.]

Fran: Yes. You’re a very special woman: very dear, very intelligent and I’m wildly impressed by you.

Barbra: [laughs] Well, I’m impressed by you, too. We’ll meet again, I’m sure.

Fran: I hope so.

[Many of Barbra Streisand’s credits for the stage, film, and publishing are named in the two SAG-AFTRA articles republished above.  Most of them are dated; for the rest, I’ve inserted dates; and for a few, I’ve added additional identifying information. 

[I think it would be informative or, at least, interesting for ROTters to have more information about these achievements, so I’ve compiled a list of the works named above, in the order they appear in the text, with exact dates, theaters for plays, studio names for films, and some important personnel, and so on.

I Can Get It for You Wholesale – stage musical; Streisand’s stage début; Shubert Theatre/Broadway Theatre; 22 March-8 December 1962 (2 previews, 300 regular performances); book by Jerome Weidman (1913-98), music and lyrics by Harold Rome (1908-93); based on the 1937 novel I Can Get It for You Wholesale by Weidman; directed by Arthur Laurents (1917-2011), musical staging by Herbert Ross, scenic and lighting designed by Will Steven Armstrong, costumes designed by Theoni V. Aldredge (1922-2011); principal cast: Elliott Gould as Harry Bogen, Streisand as Miss Marmelstein, Lillian Roth (1910-80) as Mrs. Bogen, Marillyn Cooper (1934-2009) as Ruthie Rivkin; 1 Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Barbra Streisand); cast album released by Columbia Records, April 1962.

The Barbra Streisand Album – début album; recorded on 23-25 January 1963, released by Columbia Records on 25 February 1963; nominated for 5 1963 Grammy Awards, won for Album of the Year and Best Female Vocal Performance; reached #9 on the Billboard Top LPs; certified a gold album (500,000 U.S. sales), sold 1 million copies worldwide by 1966; inducted into Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006.

Funny Girl – film adaptation of the 1964 stage musical (see below); Columbia Pictures with Rastar Productions; filmed from August to December 1967 (after rehearsals which started in July), released in the U.S. (New York City) on 18 September 1968 (première); produced by Ray Stark (1916-2004), founder of Rastar and the son-in-law of Fanny Brice (1891-1951), the character played by Barbra Streisand and on whose life the play and movie is based; screenplay by Isobel Lennart (1915-71); directed by William Wyler (1902-81), score by Jule Styne (1905-94) and Walter Scharf (1910-2003); production design by Gene Callahan, costume design by Irene Sharaff (1910-93); principal cast: Streisand as Fanny Brice, Omar Sharif (1932-2015) as Nicky Arnstein, Kay Medford (1909-1980) as Rose Brice (Fanny’s mother); nominated for 8 1969 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Score of a Musical Picture – Original or Adaptation, winning 1 for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Streisand, in a tie with Katherine Hepburn for A Lion in Winter); Streisand also won the 1969 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy; Funny Girl was the highest-grossing film of 1968 in the U.S., having earned $24.9 million; Funny Girl was declared “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress in 2016 and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. .

Hello, Dolly! – film adaptation of the 1964 stage musical; Chenault Productions and 20th Century Fox; production from September 1967 to August 1968, released in the U.S. on 6 December 1969; produced by Ernest Lehman; screenplay by Ernest Lehman and Michael Stewart; based on the play The Matchmaker (1954) by Thornton Wilder (1897-1975); directed by Gene Kelly (1912-96), score by Jerry Herman (1931-2019), and Lionel Newman (1916-89), costume design by Irene Sharaff, art direction by Harman A. Blumenthal and Jack Martin Smith; principal cast: Streisand as Dolly Levi, Walter Matthau (1920-2000) as Horace Vandergelder, and Michael Crawford as Cornelius Hackl, and featuring Louis Armstrong (1901-71) as the Orchestra Leader; nominated for 7 1970 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, winning 3 (Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Sound, Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture); also 5 Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture, Best Actress – Comedy or Musical (Streisand), no wins.

What’s Up, Doc? – screwball comedy film; Saticoy Productions and Warner Bros., filming from August to November 1971, released 9 March 1972 (New York City); produced by Peter Bogdonovich (1939-2022); screenplay by Buck Henry (1930-2020), David Newman, and Robert Benton; directed by Bogdonovich, production and costume design by Polly Platt; principal cast: Streisand as Judy Maxwell, Ryan O’Neal (1941-2023) as Howard Bannister, and Madeline Kahn (1942-99) as Eunice Burns; 1 1973 Golden Globe nomination: Most Promising Newcomer – Female (Kahn); won the Writers Guild of America 1973 Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen award for the screenwriters; was the highest-grossing film of 1972 in the U.S.

The Way We Were – film romance; Rastar Productions and Columbia Pictures, filming from September to December 1972, released in the U.S. on 19 October 1973; produced by Ray Stark; screenplay by Arthur Laurents, Francis Ford Coppola, Paddy Chayefsky (1923-88); based on Laurents’s autobiographical novel The Way We Were (1972); directed by Sydney Pollack, score by Marvin Hamlisch (1944-2012), production design by Stephen B. Grimes, costume design by Dorothy Jeakins and Moss Mabry; principal cast: Streisand as Katie Morosky, Robert Redford as Hubbell Gardiner, and Bradford Dillman (1930-2018) as J. J.; 6 1974 Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress in a Leading Role (Streisand) with 2 wins for Best Original Song (“The Way We Were,” Hamlisch) and Best Original Dramatic Score (Hamlisch); 2 1974 Golden Globe nominations, including Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama (Streisand), no wins; considered one of the best romantic films; soundtrack album was a gold record and so was the single “The Way We Were,” which sold 2 million copies and was named the #1 pop hit of 1974 by Billboard magazine; the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.

A Star Is Born – remake of 1937 film starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March; Barwood Films (formed by Streisand in 1972), First Artists, and Warner Bros.; released on 17 December 1976 in the U.S.; produced by Jon Peters with Streisand as executive producer; screenplay by John Gregory Dunne, Joan Didion (1934-2021), and Frank Pierson; directed by Pierson, production design by Polly Platt, costumes designed by Seth Banks and Shirlee Strahm; principal cast: Streisand as Esther Hoffman, Kris Kristofferson as John Norman Howard, and Gary Busey as Bobby Ritchie; 4 1977 Academy Award nominations, including 1 win for Best Original Song (“Evergreen” by Streisand and Paul Williams); 5 1977 Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical (Kristofferson), Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical (Streisand), Best Original Score (Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher), and Best Original Song (“Evergreen,” Streisand and Williams); second-highest grossing movie of 1976; soundtrack album was Grammy-nominated in 1977.

My Name Is Barbra (2023) – memoir/autobiography; hardcover: Viking Press, E-book: Kindle Edition (Viking Press; with additional photos). audiobook: Penguin Audio (narrated by Streisand, who relates some anecdotes not included in print edition; takes ca. 48+ hours to listen to); released on 7 November 2023 (all versions); bestseller, sold 55,000 copies in first week.

Yentl – romantic musical film adaptation of the 1962 short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991), “Yentl the Yeshiva Boy”; United Artists, Barwood Films, and Ladbroke Entertainment; production from April to October 1982, released in the U.S. on 6 January 1984; produced by Rusty Lemorande and Streisand; screenplay by Jack Rosenthal, Streisand, and Singer; directed by Streisand (her directorial début), score by Michel Legrand (French; 1932-2019), production design by Ray Walker, costumes designed by Judy Moorcroft; principal cast: Streisand as Yentl, Amy Irving as Hadass, Mandy Patinkin as Avigdor; 6 1984 Academy Award nominations, including 1 win for Best Original Score (Legrand, Alan Bergman, and Marilyn Bergman); 6 1984 Golden Globe nominations, including Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical (Streisand) and 2 wins: Best Director – Motion Picture (Streisand) and Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical; Streisand was the first woman to be nominated for a best-directing Golden Globe (though she did not then receive an Oscar nomination as a director).

The Prince of Tides – romantic drama film; Columbia Pictures, Barwood Films, and Longfellow Pictures; production from January to October 1990, released in the U.S. on 25 December 1991; produced by Andrew S. Karsch and Streisand; screenplay by Pat Conroy (1945-2016) and Becky Johnston; based on Conroy’s 1986 novel; directed by Streisand, score by James Newton Howard, production design by Paul Sylbert, costumes designed by Ruth Morely; principal cast: Streisand as Susan Lowenstein, Nick Nolte as Tom Wingo, Blythe Danner as Sally Wingo; 7 1992 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Nolte), Best Writing (Conroy and Johnston), Best Original Score (Howard), no wins; 3 1992 Golden Globe nominations, with 1 win for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Nolte) – other nominations were for Best Director – Motion Picture (Streisand) and Best Motion Picture – Drama.

The Mirror Has Two Faces – romantic comedy-drama film; TriStar Pictures, Phoenix Pictures, and Barwood Films; filming from October 1995 to May 1996, released in the U.S. on 15 November 1996; produced by Arnon Milchan and Streisand; screenplay by Richard LaGravenese; based on the 1958 French movie Le Miroir à deux faces written by André Cayatte (1909-89) and Gérard Oury (1919-2000); directed by Streisand, score Marvin Hamlisch, production design by Tom H. John, costumes designed by Theoni V. Aldredge; principal cast: Streisand as Rose Morgan, Jeff Bridges as Gregory Larkin, and Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) as Hannah Morgan; 2 1997 Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Song (“I’ve Finally Found Someone,” Streisand, Hamlisch, and Bryan Adams), no wins; 4 1997 Golden Globe nominations, including 1 win for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical (Bacall) – other nominations were for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical (Streisand), Best Original Song – Motion Picture (“I’ve Finally Found Someone,” Streisand, Hamlisch, and Adams); 1 SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Bacall).

Reel Models: The First Women of Film – TV documentary short produced by Barwood Films and AMC Productions; produced by Jessica Falcon; written by Christopher Koch and Susan Koch; directed by Susan Koch; aired 30 May 2000 on American Movie Classics (AMC); 1 2001 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Special.

Funny Girl – stage musical, Winter Garden Theatre/Majestic Theatre/Broadway Theatre; 26 March 1964-1 July 1967 (17 previews, 1,348 regular performances); book by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill (1921-98); produced by Ray Stark (see note above in film adaptation); based on incidents in the life of Fanny Brice; directed by Garson Kanin (1912-99), dance arrangements by Luther Henderson, production supervised by Jerome Robbins (1918-98), vocal arranger assisted by Marvin Hamlisch, scenic and lighting designed by Robert Randolph; costume designed by Irene Sharaff; principal cast: Sydney Chaplin (1926-2009) as Nicky Arnstein, Streisand as Fanny Brice, Kay Medford as Mrs. Brice, and featuring Jean Stapleton (1923-2013) as Mrs. Strakosh and Lainie Kazan as Vera/standby for Fanny Brice; 8 1964 Tony nominations, including Best Musical, Bes Producer (Musical) (Stark), Best Actress in a Musical (Streisand), Best Actor in a Musical (Chaplin), and Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Medford), no wins.

[Of course, Streisand has accomplished more in her career so far than is mentioned in the articles above or listed here.  This is by no means a complete catalogue, and I leave it to readers to look up any other achievements in which they may be interested.]