Do you think Barbra’s book will do well? Chapter Two

I prefer free snow.

I enjoyed it, OP.

She does not mention that Robert Blake was considered to play Billy Rose in “Funny Lady” before James Caan was cast.

Blake was summoned to her house for a reading of the complete script and he left thinking he had the role.

When Caan was cast, Blake went on the Tonight Show and berated Streisand to the delight of Johnny Carson and the audience.

From the audio book, c'mon, she's tells the story of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" came about and how "a disc jockey in Louisville, Kentucky" cut together her new version and Neil Diamond's. It was a smash, they got together and recorded a real duet, went to the Grammys and won best duo. Would it have killed her to actually name the DJ? A three second google reveals his name. They even play an audio clip. This seems so selfish.

She reveals an affair with Peter Matz when both were between marriages.

Who knew?

Really Big Yawn.

I find all the recurring digs at her mother unnecessary.

Okay, so she never told her she loved her and said she wasn’t pretty enough to be a successful actress.

Big deal.

Her idolization of Virginia Clinton Kelly over her own mother is almost silly. She only knew Virginia for a very short time, yet she thinks of her as the mother she wishes she had.

Not reading Barbra’s memoir…it’s sort of what we have instead of God.

Actually surprised she doesn't have a kind thing to say about Jon Peters or Sue Mengers.

The Guardian

Jon Peters a year ago.

The life of the most successful and talented entertainer of her generation, and her relationships with the great talents, artists, technicians and friends who she collaborated with interests a lot of people and will do so for decades to come.

But not you OP- that’s all.

It’s a great read if you are interested in theatre, film, and the music industry. She also by virtue of her intelligence and social responsibility has been one of the most significant influencers of her time long before that word was coined.

But it does not interest you OP.

Free rain?

It’s number 2 on NYT but down to Number 11 on Amazon. Flop

Flop at number 2? I guess you’re kinda dumb!

Does she discuss her transition to the west coast? She seems so Californian through and through while so many native New Yorkers can't bear the thought of living in L.A.

She says she moved to LA because two co-op boards rejected her because she was in show business.

R16, But, she owns a NYC co-op and has for years.

OK someone help me, she goes into minute details about the most mundane stuff but she'll throw off things like Sondheim changed the lyrics for her show (more than once) or the Bergman's said they would help with a project. Yet she doesn't explain, do they get paid? She makes it sound like all these pros just work for her as favors.

R18, Do you honestly believe Sondheim sent her an invoice?

She bought the first major apt she previously rented on Central Park West in the Ardsley, and over the years bought more coop shares to enlarge it and I believe house her mom in another apt. She sold all of it about 15 or 20 years ago. She did in fact make all her immediate family financially secure and well habituated- mother, Roz and Jason of course.

R5, both Peters and Mengers burned just about every bridge in the business and as such became pretty much locked out. Her explanations of her relative estrangement from both are pretty understandable and not harsh.

R11 - when did Jon Peters turn into Kenny Rogers?

R21. Tell me (us) more regarding Sue Mengers. Saw the bette bway show about her & read a bio.

[quote]Do you honestly believe Sondheim sent her an invoice?

No, but she had budgets for her projects and maybe his business manager did. It wasn't just a one time thing and then those revisions were recorded.

Spoiler Alert!....her father died when she was an infant. She talks about it in chapters 1 thru 59.

Why the ambiguous dedication that takes a swipe at her deceased mother?

Is she so sure Jason is going to keep quiet after she dies?

[quote]Why the ambiguous dedication that takes a swipe at her deceased mother?

When she showed her Mother "Yentl" and the dedication to her father rolled by she asked her, why did you dedicate it to your Father and not me? I'm still alive.

Amazon is offering a Get 3 for a price of 2 promotion on select items, and this book is included in the promotion if anyone is interested.

Displayed prominently at Costco.

R26, because she believes without her mother’s criticism and discouragement in her career- along with life long criticism- gave her the drive to achieve her success.

I had a mother who was a problem for me my entire life- very much molded who I am, which took me a lot of time to appreciate.

[wuote] Flop at number 2? I guess you’re kinda dumb!

No, they’re not. #2 for a Barbra Streisand book, decades in the making is a huge bomb.

[quote] They gave her free rain

I hope they also gave her an umbrella.

Does Barbara know that her book is being discounted for various promotions? I need to know in advance if she is going to enter a violent rage. She’s already upset that she’s not #1.

Amazon has raised the price of the Audiobook version from $56.00 to $61.25.

[quote]Her idolization of Virginia Clinton Kelly over her own mother is almost silly.

Had to finally skip the rest of that chapter.

How many pages did she spend on Virginia Clinton? My memory of VC is of an effusive, almost OTT southern granny with a fondness for gambling on the river boats. Almost polar opposite of Barbra's emotionally stingy mother.

Does she tell the story in the book she told on the Hillary podcast? When they posed for pictures at her concert, Virginia held her hand but Diana did NOT.

Barbra claims her father never spoke to her but she has also told the story that he did say to her once. Why can't you be quiet like your friend? I think this occurred in a car. she said he was color-blind and Barbra would make comments like Isn't that a pretty green light?

step-father, that is.

I have a summary of the book:

Me, Myself and I. Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, ME. The biggest names in the industry WORSHIP ME. My horrible mother didn't love ME enough - the stupid old bitch couldn't see how awesome I AM. My daddy, who never really knew me, would have ADORED ME, because I AM awesome. My horrible mother never mentioned how irresistibly gorgeous I AM, even though my husband James Brolin says that I am perfect every time I pay his bills and give him his allowance. Have I already mentioned that my daddy ADORED ME because I AM awesome? He died when I was a baby, but I was clearly his favorite.

Oh, by the way: I love fabrics, luxury and certain colors. I also yak a lot about decoration and I have an underground mall where I keep MY hoard, because when I was a little girl we were poor! BOOHOO! Poor little ME! Never mind that I've been a famous multi-millionaire for 90% of my life - I wasn't the center of the universe for a few years, and that is A TRAGEDY. By the way, have I mentioned that I AM irresistibly gorgeous and everybody ADORES ME because I AM awesome? Maybe I have, but you needed to hear it once again from ME.

That's just chapter one R40.

OK is it me? I'm going by the audio book, but when she was going on about the making of "Hello Dolly", Matthau hated me, Gene Kelly didn't get me, all the talk of costumes and yet she never even mentions her co-stars including a young Michael Crawford who went on to international fame as "The Phantom Of The Opera"?

Is it on sale at her shopping mall yet?

OK. Enough about me. What do you think about me?

Can we label this book a camp classic yet?

R36, Virginia was in the habit of parading around in just a bra and shorts when young Bill would bring his friends home after school.

She was an anesthesiologist who was involved in the deaths of a couple of patients and her license was revoked.

R43, she has already stocked her shopping mall's bookstore with a million copies of it. Surprisingly enough, sales are sluggish. 😅

Oh well, she'll have to force her slaves... I mean, employees, to buy them all. Queen Barbra says: if they buy less than 10 copies, have them sent to the colonies!

[quote]From the audio book, c'mon, she's tells the story of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" came about and how "a disc jockey in Louisville, Kentucky" cut together her new version and Neil Diamond's. It was a smash, they got together and recorded a real duet, went to the Grammys and won best duo. Would it have killed her to actually name the DJ? A three second google reveals his name. They even play an audio clip. This seems so selfish.

And so typical.

[quote]OK is it me? I'm going by the audio book, but when she was going on about the making of "Hello Dolly", Matthau hated me, Gene Kelly didn't get me, all the talk of costumes and yet she never even mentions her co-stars including a young Michael Crawford who went on to international fame as "The Phantom Of The Opera"?

Again, typical. And of course, years later, she and Crawford recorded a duet version of "Music of the Night" for one of Barbra's albums, so I guess she made nice with him then.

[quote]OK someone help me, she goes into minute details about the most mundane stuff but she'll throw off things like Sondheim changed the lyrics for her show (more than once) or the Bergman's said they would help with a project. Yet she doesn't explain, do they get paid? She makes it sound like all these pros just work for her as favors.

I have a huge aversion to BS's personality, but come now. I think in this case the reader can assume that Sondheim and the Bergmans were paid for their efforts without BS actually coming out and stating that, or telling us how much they were paid!

I find it pathetic that an 81-year-old woman finds it necessary to publicly disparage her deceased mother’s memory.

I have to wonder how Sheldon and Roslyn feel about her doing this to their mother.

A very off-putting moment occurs at one point early on in the video of Streisand's first big comeback concert (I forget if it was in Vegas or L.A.). BS introduces her mother in the audience, and at first it seems like it's going to be a very sweet and pleasant moment ("Where's Mothuh?)". But then, after mom stands up, Barbra says "I'm very happy you're here" in a voice and with an expression dripping with icy cold subtext.

I felt the way some of you did re: Barbra's constant comments about her mother. Until I read the book. She's not bitter or angry, she's not holding a grudge. But there's a lingering sadness there. She provides a lot of examples that illuminate their dynamic, and justify her feelings. No matter how old we get, we will always be our mother's child. And this is her bio, after all. Love and affection withheld during childhood set the stage for the rest of a person's life.

[quote] Love and affection withheld during childhood set the stage for the rest of a person's life.

And that would go a long way toward explaining BS's awful personality. Of course, she has a right to go into all that and even belabor it in her own memoir, but people are entitled to their opinion that it's unseemly for her to do so.

I wonder if it even occurs to BS that all of that stuff makes her book come across as a psychological case history? I mean, it's such a cliche -- a woman (or man) who has love withheld and is told they're unattractive in childhood learns to overcompensate for the rest of their lives, but even great success in career and love life is never enough to make them really happy.

I will always hold “children will glisten” against Streisand AND Sondheim.

R53, Love and affection can be expressed in different ways. My parents were not effusive people, but I have never felt that they did not love me and my brothers.

Yes, R55, I forgot about that one. On the other hand, I like the addition of "I feel the drumming" to "Something's Coming."

Down to #15 on Amazon. Gird your loins.

You’re kinda dumb aren’t you R40. Autobiography? And have you read it so you might know that she included the criticisms of her work and huge detail on collaborators including acknowledging their role in her projects.

Trollin, Trollin… but nice try.

[quote]And have you read it so you might know that she included the criticisms of her work and huge detail on collaborators including acknowledging their role in her projects.

The other poster wasn't suggesting that she didn't mention ANY of her collaborators on ANY of her projects, just that there were some very notable omissions.

And P.S., since this book apparently currently BS's entire life and career, I don't think it's terribly inaccurate to call it an autobiography, though I would say "memoir(s)" is more accurate.

One point she makes over and over again-- she open the book with it-- is that she values the "truth" and hates gossip, rumors, lies, etc. etc. It's the reason she wrote the book. That, combined with the fact that she's an artist, says that above almost all else, Barbra wants to be understood. There's no better way of understanding a person and their motives than to know the circumstances of their childhood. She might provide a few too many examples (but if not now, when?), but I don't begrudge her taking the opportunity to bring to light what have been secrets for 80+ years.

Coming home from work as a child, Barbra realized she forgot her key at home. She rang the bell, knocked and knocked, no answer. She walked back to work where she kept a spare and, letting herself in and making her presence known, walked in on her mother and stepfather having sex. She stood in the doorway and they continued doing what they were doing and didn't acknowledge her. Barbra said that was when she vowed to herself that she wouldn't be ignored ever again.

It's not just that her mother was not the effusive, affectionate type. This is a woman who, due to her own circumstances and trauma, was unable to care for her child and totally abandoned her emotionally. Barbra doesn't condemn her mother, she actually goes to lengths to explain why she was the way she was, but it doesn't wipe the slate clean and it doesn't get rid of the feeling that she was unworthy of the love of her family, no matter how many years of therapy she had or the number of standing ovations she received. It's a fascinating psychological study of the grist it takes to inspire a person to be a success.

[quote]I wonder if it even occurs to BS that all of that stuff makes her book come across as a psychological case history? I

She's a big fan and advocated for therapy all thru it.

[quote]One point she makes over and over again-- she open the book with it-- is that she values the "truth" and hates gossip, rumors, lies, etc. etc. It's the reason she wrote the book.

The word "truth" should only be used in referring to facts. When a person speaks about "my truth," they really mean their own interpretation of what factually happened. So, for example, BS's "truth" about whether or not she has been a controlling micromanager throughout her career and has not always valued her colleagues as much as she should have may differ greatly from the "truth" of some of the people who worked with her.

Of course, I'm sure there have been many actual lies printed and spoken about her over the decades, and this is a perfect opportunity for her to name them as such. But it seems a far larger percentage of the book is devoted to giving her own opinions and interpretations of things that happened throughout her life and career, which is not the same as "truth."

[QUOTE]I wonder if it even occurs to BS that all of that stuff makes her book come across as a psychological case history?

I haven't read the book, but I've read all the threads about it her and I think that's actually her intent. Because,

[QUOTE]above almost all else, Barbra wants to be understood.

Thanks for stealing my thunder, r61! This. I grew up with a heavily emotionally abusive mother who, unlike Barbra's mother, was never functionally supportive. The exact opposite -- hateful and mean -- think crazy lady in the neighborhood, which I later found out she was. When the (ostensibly) most important figure in a child's life negates the child's existence for reasons unexplained to him/her, the child needs others to understand how/why things are the way they are.

She originally wanted Richard Gere for "Yentl" but he turned it down because she was starring and directing it and thought she should concentrate on one or the other.

R65, Sondheim later denied her Gypsy for the same reason.

Kristofferson wanted to do the bathtub scene in “A Star is Born” naked, but Jon Peters demanded that he put on underwear.

When Jon Peters first met both Ray Stark and Barry Diller, he physically manhandled them in public.

When did her and Jon Peters officially break up? Was it before or after Yentl?

R69 . . .

“Eventually, when Streisand was starting work on her directorial debut, Yentl, in 1982, she had to leave for Europe. Peters had been getting frustrated with her dedication to the project and felt neglected. The two decided to separate. Even after their separation, the pair have remained lifelong friends.“

More on Jon Peters . . .

[quote]When did her and Jon Peters officially break up?

Oh dear, dear, dear, dear dear!

[quote]But it seems a far larger percentage of the book is devoted to giving her own opinions and interpretations of things that happened throughout her life and career, which is not the same as "truth."

Read the book and find out.

The index with lot of samples!

Love of food | 7, 15, 23, 27, 29, 34, 35, 42, 43, 44, 54, 61, 65, 67, 68, 77, 80, 84, 90, 98, 99, 107, 108, 142, 144, 151, 155, 176, 187, 194, 204, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 248, 256, 273, 274, 295, 296, 307, 308, 309, 315, 321, 322, 324, 351, 375, 407, 423, 430, 448, 482, 501-502, 520, 523-524, 537-538, 542, 550, 557, 561-562, 578, 591, 596, 602, 682, 720, 722, 740, 757, 779, 789, 791, 815-816, 824, 827, 833-834, 868, 873-874, 879, 882, 884, 909, 917, 929, 944, 953, 962, 963, 965

“My best memory of that time is lying on my bed, reading movie magazines and eating Breyer’s coffee ice cream. It came in a square box, divided into sections like Neapolian, except it was coffee on each side with a slab of cherry vanilla in the middle… I would eat that first and save my favorite flavor, coffee, for last. I wanted that to be the taste that lingered in my mouth. (I used to eat a pint of coffee ice cream whenever I could and still stay skinny as a rail. Why couldn’t that be true now?)”

I knew before reading the book that her mom said she didn't encourage Barbra because she didn't want her to be disappointed if she didn't make it in show business or "make [her] feel bigheaded" if she did, but I didn't know about her psychotic rages fueled by envy of her daughter's success. Diana was seriously disturbed; the book doesn't mention if she ever sought medical help for her behavioral issues, but she should have.

Why do you think Barbra wanted to do Rose?

[quote]It seems a far larger percentage of the book is devoted to giving her own opinions and interpretations of things that happened throughout her life and career, which is not the same as "truth."

[quote]Read the book and find out.

I don't need to read the book to know that my statement is accurate. Of course the book is going to be filled with BS's opinions and interpretations of things that happened in her life, as anyone's memoir would be. The facts of her life are pretty well known already, so there would be no need for her to spend a lot of time correcting information that's factually incorrect.

[quote]I don't need to read the book to know that my statement is accurate

Of course you don't, r77.

Unless you're making the ridiculous statement that Streisand's book is NOT filled with her opinions and interpretations of things that happened in her life -- which OF COURSE it would be -- please stop arguing with me.

Sorry, r79, was it "not good form"? Was I being "unseemly"? How old *are* you?

R63, 61 here I agree with you that "truth" is a loaded term and entirely subjective, I actually rolled my eyes when I was listening to her say how much she loves the truth and facts, but we as the reader can still accept that this is Barbra's opportunity to tell her version of the truth as she sees it, and we are free to draw our own conclusions.

Nuts is not in the Interview magazine index.

[QUOTE]She originally wanted Richard Gere for "Yentl"

Seriously? He's uniquely bland and, truth br told, not that attractive and actually kind of ugly, not even Jolie Laide like others. . What did he have over them?

[quote]He's uniquely bland and, truth br told, not that attractive and actually kind of ugly, not even Jolie Laide like others.

You're aware that you're in a very slim minority, r83, aren't you?

To each his own, but to me, this ain't ugly.

Thanks, R81. To repeat, of course Streisand is entitled to her own interpretations and opinions of the events and other aspects of her life, but that's not "truth." As I haven't yet read the book more than a few excerpts of the book, does she at least refer to what she writes as "my truth," which at least would imply subjectivity? Or does she continually refer to it as "THE truth," which would be extremely obnoxious?

Some posters here simply cannot seem to understand the difference between facts and opinions/interpretation. Either that, or they are so in thrall to BS that they can't stand anyone being in any way critical of her or her writing.

I always get a chuckle when anonymous posters refer to people who are or were once considered major sex symbols as "not that attractive and actually kind of ugly." One can only imagine what their damage is.

Why is it people who ask for the truth never believe if when they hear it?

[quote]Why is it people who ask for the truth never believe if when they hear it?

They can't handle the truth!

Give it a rest, r86.

[quote]I was thinking of Richard Gere. I wanted a face that was both masculine and feminine... playing again with the idea of androgyny... he radiated this potent sexuality.

Rest in peace, R90.

Has interest in the book peaked?

I was in a taxi the other day and the driver had NPR on. I could only hear it a bit but every answer to each question seemed to be about how she wanted control. She seemed clueless that she was and is thought of as a control freak.

She is very much aware of the control freak image. She has grown to be unapologetic about it and in the context of her generation ,understandably so.

On the other hand it has been confirmed by people who very much like and respect her that-yes- she can be an extreme case in that regard.

Was she therefore more unpleasent to work with than other producers/directors of the 80ies and 90ies? I have my doubts.

How well will the films she directed hold up?

[quote]They gave her free rain and she took it and ran.

It's raining, it's pouring,

My lovelife is boring me to tears . . .

I don’t think her films hold up at all. You have to be a real fan to endure two hours of her “acting.”

R86, you were doing fine until those last sentences.

Were you that exhausted by almost getting the previous part right. But that reversion to fallacies!

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

What does she say about Teri Garr? Pages 589 and 849?

[quote]How well will the films she directed hold up?

I don't think they will hold up well, because they all have major flaws. And as I recall, THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES was not very well received when it first opened. I remember one reviewer commenting derisively that, after the transformation of Barbra's character in the movie, she looked like a Las Vegas hooker.

Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer of "Yentl the Yeshiva Boy", the short story first published in English in 1983, said of Barbra Streisand's film adaptation: "I did not find artistic merit neither in the adaptation, nor in the directing."

The final cut of "The Way We Were" was a great source of controversy with Redford and the director on one side and Streisand and the screenwriter on the other. Redford and director Sydney Pollack eventually had their final say and the final cut makes it look like Redford has left Streisand for another woman. The version as originally written was supposed to have Streisand leave Redford due to his lack of political conviction during the McCarthy trials. Streisand was nominated for Best Actress for the film (Redford was nominated as Best Actor but not for this film but instead for “The Sting.”) This was perhaps the beginning of Streisand’s troubles with the Academy. Not only did she refuse to sing the nominated title song on the telecast she refused to sit in the audience as the nominee’s names for Best Actress were read. Instead she waited backstage only to appear if her name was called as the winner. (It wasn’t. Glenda Jackson won for “A Touch of Class.”) From then on out it was never smooth sailing between Streisand and the Academy.

R103, She had second thoughts about singing The Way We Were on the Oscars, but the Academy went with Peggy Lee and Streisand was fine with that.

She made sure to sing Evergreen three years later on the Oscars, believing she might win, which she did.

[quote]The final cut of "The Way We Were" was a great source of controversy with Redford and the director on one side and Streisand and the screenwriter on the other. Redford and director Sydney Pollack eventually had their final say and the final cut makes it look like Redford has left Streisand for another woman. The version as originally written was supposed to have Streisand leave Redford due to his lack of political conviction during the McCarthy trials. Streisand was nominated for Best Actress for the film (Redford was nominated as Best Actor but not for this film but instead for “The Sting.”) This was perhaps the beginning of Streisand’s troubles with the Academy.

But WHY did her troubles with the Academy begin then? What does everything you mentioned above have to do with her dispute with Redford and Pollack?

Can’t you read? The author suggests her troubles with the Academy arose because of her behavior at the Oscar ceremony.

They snubbed her twice for directing for Yentl and Prince of Tides.

Do those two films hold up?

Nope

the dj of Jasons bar mitzvah has very fond memories of her

R108 Prince of Tides is a convoluted mess in which Streisand's fingernails have a large supporting role

Teri Garr is just mentioned in passing: 1) She and George Segal presented a Golden Globe to Barbra, and 2) She participated in a reading of an early version of Richard LaGravanese's script for "The Mirror Has Two Faces." No details, no dish.

TV Guide Magazine Prince of Tides

As star, director and co-producer, Streisand shifts the book's focus from the Wingo past to the Tom-Susan love affair. This could have worked had Streisand directed herself better--if, indeed, she had directed herself at all. Instead of a performance, we get smirks, poses, campy shots that linger on her outrageously long manicured fingernails, and radiant, cloying smiles. Streisand's inadequacies, though, are more than compensated for by Nolte's compelling Tom. He brings conviction and depth to the role, treading a fine line between self-pity and self-respect and exposing his frailties with a rare sensitivity.

I guess that Teri read the Brenda Vaccaro part.

Of all the stories she could have told and didn't was when she went to an anniversary screening of "Capricorn One" starring her two husbands Elliott Gould and James Brolin. How many people can say that?

She strongly hints but does not confirm that she and Sydney Chaplin were fucking, even though it was an open secret among the Funny Girl cast and crew at the time.

His onstage treatment of her after she broke off their affair would not have been that intense unless there had been a deep physical relationship between them.

Thanks for that review quote, R13. It comports with my memory that Nolte received praise for his performance but Streisand was criticized for both her direction and her performance, especially the latter. Oh, and no one has mentioned yet that many people felt Jason Gould was (ironically) miscast as Barbra's son, even if they thought his acting was okay.

You really have to read the book, at least in part, to understand her- speculating from posts on this thread is silly. She is clearly challenging to work with because essentially she works harder than anyone- and never stops questioning- including of herself. She’s quite self deprecating and as for the difficult and controlling memes, she has done nothing that many males haven’t done, and the same cinematographers, designers, technicians and musicians have continuously worked with her for decades. She is responsible to the bottom line and true to her word. That said she is clearly exhausting to work with- she exhaust herself and those she collaborates with- but they almost all return for more and remain friends. So…

That she's had only two long-lasting personal assistants in a 60 year career says something about her as an employer.

Already down to #20 on Amazon. I am sure the book publisher is disappointed it’s not a hit.

R118, that's your interpretation of what's in the book, and of course you're entitled to it.

[quote] Instead of a performance, we get smirks, poses, campy shots that linger on her outrageously long manicured fingernails, and radiant, cloying smiles.

She says she regrets not cutting her nails for it. But then again a rich Park Avenue shrink probably would have long manicured nails.

She admits to a love affair with Anthony Newley in 1969.

R119, And one manager since the 1960s.

So, she reveals previously unreported affairs with Anthony Newley and Peter Matz.

Any others?

I love Peter Matz!

Did Barbra ever talk about “her truth”? She stated facts and drew her own interpretations from them. It’s hardly Mia Farrow.

[quote] It comports with my memory that Nolte received praise for his performance but Streisand was criticized for both her direction and her performance, especially the latter

I recently watched TPOT, I liked her performance. Smart, bruised, diligent, wilful, vulnerable.

Unfortunately the vanity about her nails and legs shows less that she wants us to find her beautiful (she does), that she she didn’t have faith in the audience to understand why needy Nick Nolte’s character would be attracted to her as Dr Lowenstein. The strength of the story and his performance was enough.

It’s a shame her insecurity as a woman opened her up to even worse in The Mirror Has Two Faces (primarily in her scenes as a wisecracking English professor).

It’s a good thing she wasn’t allowed to direct Gypsy.

A film personality and director whom I can only think of who reminds me of her creativity, honest, eccentricity and controversy — albeit diffeeent personality, gender and genre — was Alfred Hitchcock. But I think it’s true that while his penchant for directorial, filmmaking and casting exactness was probably admired and fascination for the most part, hers as the female counterpart would continue interpreted as being pushy, bitchy, self-centered, difficult. Can’t win. :(

You can't seriously be comparing Hitchcock to Babs, r129.

I agree that the "truth" is largely subjective and non-absolute. Some things are factual and quantifiable, like what year it is, how many ounces are in a pound, etc.

At her age, Barbra should know that her version of the truth is not "setting the facts straight."

She should just say, "I'm a control freak. So what."

[QUOTE]She should just say, "I'm a control freak. So what."

Isn't this THE WHOLE POINT of her autobiography? Doesn't she say as much?

R129 Babs is not in the same league as Hitch.

Future generations will look at footage of BS and ask themselves how she was ever famous for anything besides being a giant pain in the ass.

[quote]A film personality and director whom I can only think of who reminds me of her creativity, honest, eccentricity and controversy — albeit diffeeent personality, gender and genre — was Alfred Hitchcock. But I think it’s true that while his penchant for directorial, filmmaking and casting exactness was probably admired and fascination for the most part, hers as the female counterpart would continue interpreted as being pushy, bitchy, self-centered, difficult. Can’t win. :(

Aside from everything else, a major difference was that Barbra started being a control freak early on, when she was not calling the shots on her projects. Or, at least, not officially. I'm sure you all know the famous quote by William Wyler during the filming of FUNNY GIRL. Some of the crew were complaining about Barbra's control-freak nature, and Wyler supposedly told them, "You shouldn't be so hard on her. After all, this is the first picture she's ever directed."

And I HATE it when women excuse their bad behavior by saying it would be acceptable from men. Bad behavior is bad behavior, regardless of the sex of the person exhibiting the behavior. P.S. This is exactly what Lea Michele did when she finally addressed the behavior that almost had her "canceled."

Why did she never direct a film without her as the star?

I can see wanting to direct and star (if you're passionate about something). Clint Eastwood does it. But Clint Eastwood is also known for beginning and ending shooting on time. His set sounds like a low-drama situation, compared to Barbra.

Well she obviously isn't interested in directing for directing's sake.

[quote]Why did she never direct a film without her as the star?

I think it may be one of two reasons, or bothr: (1) the studios wanted her as a star because of her popularity at the box office, and they were only willing to let her direct if she also starred; and/or (2) her ego wouldn't allow her to let anyone else play a role she was remotely right for. I know many people who feel that both THE PRINCE OF TIDES and THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES would have been far better films if everything were the same except that someone else had played Streisand's roles in those pics.

She wanted to direct a film and not be in it because she said she hates being fussed over with costume fittings and makeup.

But then also said: I do my OWN makeup and my costumes are from my wardrobe.

R140, Interesting to learn that the clothes she wore in her television specials were either her own or they were purchased in bargain basement stores.

Why does she reference the movie Airplane!? Page 656. It is because of Leslie Nielsen?

R142, She wanted to do the Ethel Merman cameo.

I wonder if some Barbra Streisand super fan has started indexing the book. It's bound to happen.

[quote]Why does she reference the movie Airplane!? Page 656. It is because of Leslie Nielsen?

Yes, he was he the victim in "Nutz".

Babs isn’t as talented as she thinks she is. This is an emperor has no clothes moment for her. There’s no there there.

Babs after Matt Drudge made her a laughing stock via her retarded online letter.

R144, It has been done.

[quote]Babs isn’t as talented as she thinks she is. This is an emperor has no clothes moment for her. There’s no there there.

Golly gee, can you imagine the career she could have had if she was really talented?

R149 i get the snark - but come on - her films age badly. (Nuts anyone? )Her voice is one of a kind - her music is mostly pop junk.

[quote]Interesting to learn that the clothes she wore in her television specials were either her own or they were purchased in bargain basement stores.

That isn't true.

I actually like "Nuts". Saw in the theater and since. That cast, Streisand, Dreyfuss, Maureen Stapleton, Karl Malden, Eli Wallach, James Whitmore doing what they do best.

R152 Babs as a high class escort.

Uh, no...

This hat was a Halston creation.

She miscast herself in both films:

Yentl was supposed to be about a young girl. Barbara was in her 40's

Prince of Tides is so awful with the therapist having sex with a patient (his sister started as a patient, and then Barbara started therapizing him. It crosses all kinds of ethical boundaries). But I found her very unconvincing with the long nails and slit skirts). She's a mess with how she sees herself.

[quote]Prince of Tides is so awful with the therapist having sex with a patient (his sister started as a patient, and then Barbara started therapizing him.

She insists in the book Tom is never her patient, only the brother of one.

She's full of shit. Therapists don't sleep with a sibling of a patient who committed suicide. Plus there are scenes of her with Nick Nolte in the movie that are very much her acting as a therapist to him, leading to him confessing his own abuse and her comforting him. It's very unethical to then have sex with that person.

R25, cute but tragic

Women get to date and marry hit daddies like James broken and it’s ok

Gay boys whose dads die lose out forever - unless they’re cute

[quote]She's full of shit. Therapists don't sleep with a sibling of a patient who committed suicide.

Pssssssst, it's a movie.

“Women get to date and marry hit daddies like James broken and it’s ok“

Try typing and not dictating.

"I'm gonna direct 'The Mirror Has Two Faces.' It's about an ugly duckling who turns into a beautiful swan and is wanted by every man in New York. Get that actress...what's her name...Brenda something? You know, that tampon woman. Get her on the phone. She's as big as a house these days and will make me look radiant when we share a two-shot."

[quote] Interesting to learn that the clothes she wore in her television specials were either her own or they were purchased in bargain basement stores.

Don't forget, Babs has her own basement full of clothes and accessories.

At Ye Olde Hag shop?

Vacarro, Brenda - pages 828, 852, 869

I'd be interested to read about her food experiences. Except that she's swooning over Breyer's coffee ice cream and I never thought that was a great brand of ice cream. Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream is very good, though.

R165, She mentions McConnell's Brazilian Coffee Ice Cream, which apparently is very hard to find.

When her craving for it manifests, she and Jim jump in his truck and drive to Santa Barbara to indulge and bring some home.

Her gardener gave her an entire tub of it as a gift and she ate it all herself.

Coffee ice cream. Without chocolate chips!

Meals and snacks, described in detail - pages 6-975

How could someone recall in explicit detail a chicken sandwich Mrs. Jule Styne made for her in 1963?

R74 Chris O'D. is mentioned but not Rosie O'Donnell her biggest fan evah!

R170, Neither is Barbara Walters, who interviewed her numerous times since the 1970s.

Brenda Vaccaro on her friend Babs

[quote]She’s my friend. We grew up together. She was in I Can Get It For You Wholesale, I was in Cactus Flower. We were across the street from each other [on Broadway] and she has been one of my best friends for years,” the 79-year-old beauty exclusively gushed to Closer Weekly, noting that she and Barbra, 77, got along thanks to their similar personalities. “I love her. I never have any trouble with her because I’m a straight shooter like she is, so we just say it the way it is. She’s just really honest and so am I.

[quote]She’s specific and that means she thinks things out and she’s a great artist because you can’t be unless you think in details, specifics. What do you want to say? Who are you? Is that color right?” she noted. “I think she’s a great artist, that’s why people who are not great artists are going to stand around and talk badly about people who are.

R150, you really are an idiot- her recorded music and concerts comprise the songbook of the great American writers of the last 100 years. Yes there is pop music and disco in there but Gershwin, Arlen, Porter, Styne, Bernstein, Berlin, Cander and Ebb, Sonheim, Legrand, Bachrach, Rogers, and a slew of the great pop rock of her generation and half a dozen classical composers; and some of her own. It’s easily the greatest catalogue of music by any singer, ever. I guess that slipped by you!

R172, Wholesale was 1962, Cactus Flower was 1965.

And and and and and she would have made a better Wonder Woman than Lynda Carter and and and and she wore a fro and and and and

[quote] How could someone recall in explicit detail a chicken sandwich Mrs. Jule Styne made for her in 1963?

Babs probably kept journals.

Brenda and Barbra should head back to Broadway together in a glammed up production of "The Whales of August."

R174

Oh ok. Maybe Brenda has a slightly clouded memory?

Fact is these two old broads are friends,which is nice to know.

"60 years later, and Barbra can still get it for me wholesale -- only now it's at her exclusive mall, bitches!" -- Brenda

[quote] How could someone recall in explicit detail a chicken sandwich Mrs. Jule Styne made for her in 1963?

[quote] Babs probably kept journals.

She clearly states she was a big journalist and even says, "let me read what I wrote" telling certain stories in the audio book.

Maybe Brenda means she was in The Affair at the same time as Barbra was in Wholesale. The Affair ran at Henry Miller's Theatre Sep 20, 1962 - Dec 29, 1962. Wholesale ran at Shubert Theatre Mar 22, 1962 - Sep 29, 1962 and the Broadway Theatre Oct 01, 1962 - Dec 08, 1962.

Barbara’s book down to #46 on Amazon. Oh the inhumanity.

I enjoy Barbra although I am not a fanatic. However, I have little interest in reading the book but might peruse it someday. I know a lot of real Barbra fans who are skipping it because it is "too much". A nice 400-500 book about her life and career priced at $ 29.95 with some rare photos would probably have been a huge hit. However, for some it is too late. Had it been written in the 90's, right after she married Jim, and coming off of the success of "Princess of Tides" and her return to concerts, it would have topped the best-selling book lists for months. There was still a real interest in her. Not so much now.

R183, Has Rosie O’Donnell commented on the book yet?

R183, Jackie O approached her in 1984. She invited Jackie to her NYC apartment for tea and a discussion, but in the end Babs thought 42 was too young to write her autobiography.

(r185) I agree totally. However, 15 years later - after "Tides" and the record concerts, would have been perfect.

The concluding chapters, where she licks the rectums of both Clintons, bashes Trump endlessly and lectures us on climate change do not belong in an autobiography.

(r187) You are right, it does not belong in there and will certainly alienate some potential readers. I respect her passion for certain things, and I am glad she speaks out in the appropriate forum; however, it backfires in this book. I am surprised she doesn't let us know that she and Bill Clinton slept together.

R182 it’s #4 but do go on.

No, it's way, way down the list.

As of 12 noon (EST) (November 24) on Amazon's top 100 books, it is number 46.

Hey R191 do you really pay attention to Amazon's book list? Really?

As previously stated, her idolatry of Virginia Clinton Kelly and writing that she was like the mother she never had is absurd and cruel to Diana Kind.

Compared to her mother, she barely knew Virginia.

Does anyone believe Streisand was not a handful to raise?

I bet she’s upset it’s a FLOP

How can a 992 page book be a stocking stuffer?

The paperback version will look like a loaf of bread.

[quote]The concluding chapters, where she licks the rectums of both Clintons, bashes Trump endlessly and lectures us on climate change do not belong in an autobiography.

Personally I enjoy endless Trump bashing.

[quote]is absurd and cruel to Diana Kind

Lol, who the fuck cares?

(r192) Only when the topic of book sales becomes part of the discussion or when perusing it to see how one of my three books was doing.

R197 is a thoughtless, heartless cunt.

Queer allyship figures prominently in Streisand memoir

In “My Name Is Barbra,” Streisand doesn’t explicitly call herself a queer icon. But her connection and allyship with the LGBTQ community are a through line in the memoir.

Streisand notes that queer people were the first to see her when she first performed at the Lion, a gay bar, and the Bon Soir, a small club in the Wet Village in New York.

“I believe we all have certain needs in common,” Streisand writes, “we want to be happy, we want to be loved, we want to be respected, no matter what our sexual orientation…No one should have to live a lie.”

Streisand was an executive producer of “Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story,” a 1995 TV movie about an Army nurse who was discharged because she was queer.

Sometimes, Streisand has had arguments with other LGBTQ legends. She wanted to make a movie of Larry Kramer’s iconic play “The Normal Heart.” But she and Kramer had different views of how the film should be made. Kramer, Streisand writes, wanted more explicit sex scenes, than she did in the movie. She feared that if it was too graphic, the film might turn off the mainstream audience.

She was disappointed that she couldn’t film Kramer’s play. “There are some love affairs you never quite get over,” Streisand writes, “I fell in love with a play…pursued it, won it, lost it.”

Streisand, Jewish, female, creative, assertive, born poor in Brooklyn, refusing to have a nose job, is the ultimate outsider in a culture that prefers women to be docile, middle-class and to conform to cookie-cutter beauty standards. Is it any wonder that queers are drawn to her?

Whether you’re queer, hetero, an outsider or insider, you’ll be riveted by “My Name Is Barbra.”

[quote]Streisand was an executive producer of “Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story,” a 1995 TV movie about an Army nurse who was discharged because she was queer.

Actually, r200, she was a lesbian.

Glenn gives a nod to Barbra.

I have been a big Streisand fan and read this book which I found to be ponderous. Enough is enough. I can understand why those who are not rabid fans would either skip it, take it out from a library or if given it as a gift, merely browse it. It is just not that interesting.

Diana was an egomaniac or, possibly, just a maniac. At one gala award ceremony for Barbra, Diana was in the ladies' room screaming, "Why are they honoring HER? Why aren't they honoring ME?" I guess she didn't have the perspective to ask herself what anyone could possibly be honoring her for...

[quote]I have been a big Streisand fan and read this book which I found to be ponderous. Enough is enough.

Great song! Great Scavullo cover and great story in the book.

[quote]Queer allyship figures prominently in Streisand memoir

Perhaps the fact that her only child is gay had something to do with it.

Wasn't she an ally before Jason came out to her?

As much as I dislike those '70s perms at r205, it frames her face nicely and is very flattering.

R206, It was widely rumored years ago that Jason was HIV+.

I laughed out loud when she said on the Audiobook that Jon Peters had a problem telling the truth, rather than calling him a liar.

Peters was extremely jealous of her working with both Kristofferson and Ryan O’Neal, knowing she had fucked them in the past.

She's godmother to two daughters from one of his subsequent marriages, so it makes sense.

Is Peter's the HW producer who was revealed to have never learned to read? He had a rough background so it makes some sense to lie and burnish himself in the HW atmosphere.

Jon has had 5 wives and a relationship with Barbra.

R208 He was outed by Larry Kramer

[quote]Barbra Streisand cares about gay rights as much as I care about spending a zillion dollars decorating a colony of houses in Malibu. As the mother of a son who is not only gay but hiv positive, she should be ashamed of herself.

[quote] It’s easily the greatest catalogue of music by any singer

MARY! And definitely not true. Not by a longshot. Take your nose out of this woman's ass already R173.

“She's godmother to two daughters from one of his subsequent marriages, so it makes sense.“

Whose daughters?

Oy!

Jon Peters', r213.

[quote]She had second thoughts about singing The Way We Were on the Oscars, but the Academy went with Peggy Lee and Streisand was fine with that.

No mention that Peggy Lee absolutely HATED Streisand since she played the main room and Peggy was stuck in the lounge at the beginning of the INTERNATIONALE hotel in Las Vegas, 1969.

Nobody gives a flying fuck

[quote]Great Scavullo cover and great story in the book.

Do you not get the lesbionic overtones, nude shoulders and all? That usually kills the joy for Dataloungers.

[quote]It’s easily the greatest catalogue of music by any singer

That's because all you people know is Dionne Warwick and Whitney Houston. Never heard of Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald.

[quote]It was widely rumored years ago that Jason was HIV+.

I thought it was more than a rumor, and I remember reading somewhere that Barbra collapsed when Jason told her he was HIV+. I have no idea how much of that if any is true, but I did read it somewhere.

Really R213, who has recorded more of the breadth of American composers? Who? Not Rondstat, Not Franklin. Not Dion or Whitney by a long shot. Not Ella, Not Garland. Not Sinatra, Not King Cole….

R221, Ethel Merman

Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, Stein, Sondheim, etc.

[quote]But no, she chose to go off and make such vitally important and classic movies as Nuts and The Mirror Has Two Faces.

Says the man who wrote....

Elliott Gould must be hung since Barbra seemed to be a size queen - Don Johnson, Jon Peters, James Brolin.

R224, Don’t forget Ryan O’Neal.

Her admitted affair with Anthony Newley was in 1969, same year he made this movie.

[quote]Elliott Gould must be hung since Barbra seemed to be a size queen - Don Johnson, Jon Peters, James Brolin.

Please, not only did Don Johnson do a full frontal early in his career, he even called bullshit on Pamela DeBarres

From Page Six

Don Johnson admits he is not the well-endowed male that put the “Johnson in Johnson.” While former flame Pamela De Barres wrote about Don’s physical prowess in her 1987 book, “I’m With the Band,” the “Miami Vice” and “Django Unchained” star told Rolling Stone: “Look, I’ve seen guys with a lot bigger than me. One time, I was in the Celtics locker room talking to Larry Bird and Kevin McHale . . . and there’s Dennis Johnson coming out of the showers and, dude, that’s who put the Johnson in Johnson. I mean, it must have shown on my face, because when I turned back to Larry, he looked at me and said, ‘I know, huh?’ and I was like, ‘Dude, that’s a weapon.’ ”

Better title for this book: I WAS RIGHT.

R224 = Datalounge fantasy

R227 Pamela DeBarres must have only slept with micro-dicked guys, because Don Johnson is far from hung.

R222, Merman does not remotely have the catalogue of recorded breast of Streisand.

Correction, R221

I think Ethel's recorded breast is larger than Barbra's.

[quote]......recorded breast of Streisand

Well, this one takes the take.

I just watched the recent Gayle King interview with Babs, and Brolin pops in for a minute. Damn, that’s one sexy senior! He looks great.

I feel snotty for the long suffering Renata. She’s her personal asst for 50 years AND the cook! Her entire life revolves around Babs. I hope she gets a hefty chunk in her will. I’d say Babs has 10 to 15 years left…hope Renata can wait that long.

SORRY, not snotty. iPhone has ideas of its own.

R236 - But she forgot to pull apart the Sara Lee pull-aparts served to Mandy Patinkin. I bet she got in trouble for that.

She was drunk, R238.

[quote]But she forgot to pull apart the Sara Lee pull-aparts served to Mandy Patinkin. I bet she got in trouble for that.

Omigod, I first heard that story from a very reliable second-hand source about 30 years ago!

R23 [quote]“It’s no secret that there’s no love lost between Streisand and her former agent/friend Sue Mengers, whose breakup has been thoroughly documented. In her book, Streisand notes that Mengers became the kind of agent who would speak on her behalf on matters she didn’t quite find appropriate: “This is the kind of thing that drives me crazy. It happens when an artist’s representative starts to think they are the artist, and can speak for the artist, and have the same power as the artist.”

[quote]Streisand adds that she’s not even sure how Mengers came to represent her, noting that she’d started out as her ex Elliott Gould’s rep—and that back then, “it was clear to both of us that Sue was using him in an effort to get close to me.” As Streisand recalls, “Sue was very entertaining and could turn anything into a great story… but I could never quite trust her.”

[quote]Streisand claims that it was Mengers who tipped the gossip press off that she’d briefly begun seeing someone else during her relationship with hairdresser Jon Peters (with his knowledge, she writes)—and that Mengers admitted as much after denying it for years, saying, “I’ve always hated Jon.”

[quote]Ultimately, Streisand recalls that their relationship became too “symbiotic” for her liking and that she was “furious to find out that she had turned down projects without even showing me the scripts.” When she told Mengers that they had different tastes and that she wanted to end their professional relationship but stay friends, Streisand writes, Mengers replied, “If I’m not your agent, I won’t be your friend.”

Once Babs got one of these anonymous phone calls where a guy just kept breathing heavily. She handed the phone to Sue and said "It´s for you"

She walked in on JFK, Jr. and one of her consultants, Ken Sunshine, skinny dipping in her Malibu pool when they flew to California to photograph her for the cover of George Magazine.

There is credible information indicating that the real Renata died in 1992 in a laboratory accident, and that the "current" Renata is a clone.

No, R243, it was a kitchen accident. The original was not a cook.

I found a site for a free listen of the audio book so I have started. Fave story so far:

The Uncle who took out his dentures to scare her. Biting humor, no doubt.

Like the story of how she had to do a love scene in acting class with a boy she didn't find attractive so she put a piece of chocolate cake in her eye line to help .

Soooooo many men she didn't find "attractive" ; )

Diana probably saw how Rose Kennedy was practically deified for being the mother of a President and thought she should be treated equally as the mother of Barbra Streisand.

I had a mother like hers. Not easy and a lot of therapy and forgiveness (always working it) helped me not act out from the abuse.

I don’t think some of you realize how extraordinary it is to be one of the most celebrated entertainers on the planet for decades and keep your head on including those falling over backwards for a piece of you- and yes absolutely men falling all over you.

Imagine being an 18 years old from a lower middle class highly dysfunctional family to a star at the top of every media in show business by age 26, and staying there for decades-

"It was a SEQUEL! She was UNDER CONTRACT!"

Is Rosario from will and grace based on the long suffering Renata?

[quote] "They gave her free rain"

Everyone gets that, OP.

That's it???

Amazon has reduced the Audiobook from $61.25 to $39.38.

I just listened to the Sydney Chaplin saga. Barbra makes it sound like it was such an ordeal.

R255, Where are the diamond and emerald earrings that Sydney gave her that she never wore?

R255 it was an ordeal if that’s what caused her stage fright that lasted her entire career.

Not going to spoil it for others, but I thought I heard all the stories but have to admit I was surprised by a few things that involved Matthau, Patinkin and Chaplin. Has anyone beside Patti Lupone ever said anything good about him? How the hell has he had a career?

The audio book isn’t a bad listen. Her ad libs make it seem like she’s just chatting.

But only an hour or so at a time.

AD LIBS? Is that what all of the parenthesis stuff in the book is? Jeez. I could do without the toddler-like "yuck" exclamations all over the book too.

R258, The friction with Matthau has been well covered for years.

Colbert gave her an opportunity to walk back the Patinkin salvos, but she wouldn’t.

Patti LuPone has continued to work with Mandy Patinkin -- they've hauled their duo evening all over the place. Amazing that one stage can handle that much ego and high-maintenance affect.

I like her comment to Princess Margaret at the London Funny Girl performance - You should come on a night when you're not here!

R263, Princess Margaret was a known anti-Semite.

I finished the book tonight, and I’m in awe. I don’t know how anyone could read this book and not be blown away by her achievements, intellect, and life story. There will never be anyone who even comes close to her multi-disciplinary success ever again. I know… Mary!

^that makes the "you look like a Jewish manicurist" insult from Snowden even funnier. I didn't know Margaret was an anti-semite.

In 1966, the Broadway and Hollywood director Joshua Logan threw a star-studded bash in Manhattan for Princess Margaret. Streisand arrived late and when asked why she said: ""I got fucked up." Every guest was expected to do a party piece. Every guest complied; except one.

Streisand: "" She´s not MY princess. I came here to eat, not to sing.""

[quote]The friction with Matthau has been well covered for years.

Yeah, but never the reason why, which was surprising. She complimented and liked Matthau's wife.

R268, I’ve been hearing that “I have more talent in my farts than you have in your entire body” remark for decades.

What was really surprising in the Dolly chapter was her low opinion of Gene Kelly’s direction.

Streisand saw Ruth Gordon struggling with a large package one day at the hotel they were both staying in during the Boston tryouts of Funny Girl.

Ruth told her it was her and Garson Kanin’s laundry. Rather than having their laundry done by the hotel, they were sending it to their residence to be laundered and returned.

Barbra has never criticized ore given any details about difficult co-workers in her 60 year career-in puplic i mean.

She defended herself against the A Star Is Born "director" in the 1977 Playboy interview. She hinted when pressed by Larry King that working with Nolte was not always hahaha-fun but taking on such a difficult role with a female director was a challenging task for him. A couple of years ago she gave Robert Rodriguez the full story about Nolte and the cameraman being assholes to her, but that was after Nolte gave his side of the story in his book.

Kinda classy.

Julia and Nick was not a match made in heaven.

[quote]It was an ordeal if that’s what caused her stage fright that lasted her entire career.

Sorry, I can't understand how being treated very badly by ONE of her co-stars could give BS a lifelong case of stage fright. I mean, shouldn't she have been fine onstage thereafter in any show that didn't have him in it?

The theory I had heard for her stage fright actually makes a lot more sense: That she got death threats before her concert in Central Park, with the implication that someone would actually take a shot at her during the concert, which would have been very difficult if not impossible to guard against.

[quote]Barbra has never criticized or given any details about difficult co-workers in her 60 year career-in public.

That's simply not true. And even if it were, which it isn't, she certainly has made up for it now.

So whom of her directors,producers ore co-workers has she called out in puplic before?

Got a laugh when she apologizes for the Belle of 14th Street TV special: I was under contract! That concert in the show is one of my faves.

R46

She was a nurse anesthetist. An anesthesiologist is a physician. And I couldn’t find anything about her losing her nursing license.

Has anyone done both the audio and hardback versions? Would you recommend one over the other? Can you skip chapters in audio? (Never listened to an audio version)

R276

Same here. "I let them all figure it out and just showed up to get it in the can". Very un-Babs.

The concert is indeed great! Also intresting for those folks who like to study her voice (changes). After having a ceceran she had trouble using her voice as before and had to develope some new techniques .On top of that she had a cold.

R278 the audiobook has song samples to illustrate a point she is making.

That analysis of the Sidney Lumet script for Funny Girl is hilarious. My father was in vaudeville!

Yes but your father was not a star!!

R273 She came to realize during Wholesale and more so Funny Girl that she was not made for theater after all. The repetition bored her and once films were a possibility she never had any intention to return to the stage anyway. I´m no professional but i guess her approach to vary a role daily with the/her truth/mood of the moment can be considered borderline unprofessional .(That´s fishing for WWs by La Lawson and LaLu Pone,sorry Barbra)

Chaplin hit her two main childhood traumas-being ignored and bullied and she found out that despite being the star she had nobody to protect her from that. Still she had all the responsibilities to deliver as great a performance as the critics said she did.Being very young that all probably threw her for major loop.

One of the things Chaplin whisperd into her ear during love scenes was "nose,nose" p.e., Can you imagine Ramin Karimloo whispering "fat nepo,fat nepo" to La Feldstein nowadays and she would have to soldier on for a year. So kudoos to Babs.

Central Park was the final nail in the coffin, i guess

[QUOTE]ceceran

I had to Google this obscure "word" to figure out it meant Cesarean. I thought it was a reference to CeCe Winans at first (Wowza, right?!) or some obscure procedure to her👃 or adenoids.

Sorry, that was a typo. It should have read cesarean birth delivery

R267, that’s an old story too, in a magazine article THEN. And she said “I got screwed up,” not fucked up. People didn’t use crude language like that much then, especially women.

Funny lines about Hello, Dolly! :

Dolly was extremely good at manipulating people. If I had half her skill, maybe I could have figured out how to get out of the film.

[quote]She came to realize during Wholesale and more so Funny Girl that she was not made for theater after all. The repetition bored her and once films were a possibility she never had any intention to return to the stage anyway. I´m no professional but i guess her approach to vary a role daily with the/her truth/mood of the moment can be considered borderline unprofessional .(

Right, but all of that is a separate issue from stage fright. I still don't understand why ONE actor (Sydney Chaplin) being a beast to BS onstage would have given her a lifelong case of stage fright.

R287, She has said in interview after interview that her stage fright stemmed from fear of not remembering the lyrics, after doing so during her Central Park concert.

R287, She will not confirm in the book that she and Sydney had an ongoing physical relationship, even though it was widely known by cast and crew.

By not admitting it in print, she depicts herself as a totally blameless victim.

Thanks, R288. But again, I have also heard and read that Streisand received death threats prior to the Central Park concert, which would certainly be a very good explanation for stage fright. Whatever, all I'm saying is that I don't understand why her stage fright would have been caused by Sydney Chaplin treating her badly on stage, which is what others are insisting here.

Sydney made her feel vulnerable onstage for the first time. By whispering nasty things, he got in her head and introduced her to the idea that it was possible to be thrown, vulnerable in front of an audience where before it had been her safe space and source of her confidence. Not such a stretch of the imagination to connect Sydney with her fear of forgetting lyrics, I think.

R290, that's an old story, it goes back as far as I can remember, and I never believed it. So many excuses for not being able to handle various things. Does she ever listen to herself? And being "bored" in the theater, that was her JOB, and there are ways of learning how to handle it. Work is not instant gratification "whatever I feel" is the way it is.

I love this clip. It’s a rare glimpse of seeing Barbra not in total control and being put on the spot. You can just feel how uncomfortable she is. She can’t BELIEVE someone is asking her (a singer) to sing a few notes for the audience. Like it’s some kind of humiliation. And then pretending like she doesn’t know the words to any of her own songs. Please! Like R292 says, she has excuse after excuse for why she can’t handle certain things - like singing, the only thing she’s truly great at.

R291, Ethel Merman had a similar problem with Fernando Lamas during the Broadway run of Happy Hunting.

He would upstage her, not look at her directly, wipe his mouth after kissing her in full view of the audience and he wore tighter and tighter pants onstage to display his ample assets.

The Merm put up with him, but would not speak to him offstage.

She says what happened with Chaplin took all the fun out of acting on stage. She got through the limited London engagement of Funny Girl with no reported problems with Michael Craig.

[quote]And being "bored" in the theater, that was her JOB, and there are ways of learning how to handle it.

She was just being honest. But doing the same thing over and over for two years is boring. Ever hear Rosie, she was obsessed with theater. jumping on the Long Island Rail Road as soon as she could to see shows. A when her dream came true and she finally got to do with "Grease" she was shocked how boring the other side of the stage could be.

Streisand's constant defense of her rudeness and tactlessness wears very thin. I’m “honest” and “truthful” is entitled movie star bullshit. Adults LEARN to be tactful, that is unless they feel entitled to be children for the rest of their lives.

[quote]Sydney made her feel vulnerable onstage for the first time. By whispering nasty things, he got in her head and introduced her to the idea that it was possible to be thrown, vulnerable in front of an audience where before it had been her safe space and source of her confidence. Not such a stretch of the imagination to connect Sydney with her fear of forgetting lyrics, I think.

Her reaction to what Chaplin did was her reaction, whatever it was. But while his behavior (if it was as described) was horrendous, your explanation still doesn't make me understand why it would cause her to develop stage fright or to suddenly start worrying about forgetting lyrics.

Also...if Chaplin did in fact behave abominably onstage as she described, did she not go to the stage manager and/or Actors' Equity to have someone tell him he had to stop such behavior immediately or he would be fired or suffer some other grave consequences? Does she say in the book what, if anything, she did to address the situation?

[quote]She says what happened with Chaplin took all the fun out of acting on stage.

To me, that seems completely irrational, or just plain bullshit. I mean, what are the chances that anyone else would ever behave that way towards her onstage again? And as per my post above, if Chaplin did indeed behave horribly towards her onstage as she claims, I can't imagine why she let him get away with it. I mean, he really wasn't that big a star, and I would think the stage manager and Equity and everyone else would have supported Streisand fully and made it clear to Chaplin in no uncertain terms that he had to stop that nonsense immediately. Again, that is, IF what Streisand has written about his behavior is true.

New for me - she didn't like Chaplin's replacement, Johnny Desmond. I thought he was a cooperative benign replacement. But Streisand claims he played it like a nightclub MC. Clapping on stage after she sang People (or something) like he was cuing the audience to applaud...like he was Georgie Jessel or someone.

Must be hard for some of you youngsters to follow along here, how many know George Jessel?

R300, George Jessel was known as The Toastmaster General.

R299, She says in the book that she went to Ray Stark and others about Chaplin and they spoke with him.

He blamed his behavior on being unhappy with the show and his role in particular.

Ray Stark was the letches’ leach. He probably sided with Chaplain when trying to get a piece.

They did file a complaint against Chaplin but according to the book the all-male Equity council was charmed by him and declined to take any action.

I nearly skipped over the chapter on Pierre Trudeau. Next chapter is more interesting talking about making new albums, Ingmar Bergman, What's Up Doc, and Sue Mengers.

I think Chaplin revealed himself to be a nutter to Ray Stark when he yelled something like "My father is Charlie Chaplin and I have $500, 000 in the bank!"

Barbra is very funny when she does her impression of someone else's anger. As when she does Walter Matthau - Who the hell does she think she is?! She's made one film that hasn't even been released and now she's directing?!

[quote]She says in the book that she went to Ray Stark and others about Chaplin and they spoke with him.

So, when they "spoke with him," did they make it clear that he had to stop the nonsense immediately if he wanted to keep his job? And did he stop?

[quote]They did file a complaint against Chaplin but according to the book the all-male Equity council was charmed by him and declined to take any action.

Sorry, but that sounds like utter bullshit. Equity declining to take any action would mean they disbelieved the people involved in the production who filed the complaint. If the production reported that Chaplin was behaving so unprofessionally onstage, he should not have been able to "charm" his way out of it.

Wouldn't there have been an 'ol boy network in place in 1964 that favored and protected me?

^ MeN not me!

You underestimate men closing ranks- think Anita Hill. And it was 1962 (or 3)?

Barbra Streisand is a woman, but most of the creatives and producers of FUNNY GIRL were men. So if a complaint about Sydney Chaplin's onstage behavior was made to Equity by the production, the comment that nothing was done about it because of the existence of an "ol' boys' network" doesn't make sense to me. Streisand was of course and needless to say the show's biggest asset by far, and I can't understand why Chaplin would no have been made to cease his behavior immediately or otherwise have been fired.

Aren't the producers management? Why would management be bringing this up to the union? Wouldn't it be the union rep/shop Stewart's job to bring the complaint to Equity?

FUN FACT

Barbra attended the Funny Girl opening night party wearing a Don Loper dress she purchased in his Los Angeles store.

[quote]If the production reported that Chaplin was behaving so unprofessionally onstage, he should not have been able to "charm" his way out of it.

I'm not going to spoil it, but get to the "Hello Dolly" chapter and find out why Matthau was so hostile to her.

R315, There was nothing new about the Matthau/Hello, Dolly! “revelations”.

Who is this clown who just can’t believe Chaplin was allowed to act like a dick? Are you new to Earth?

[quote]There was nothing new about the Matthau/Hello, Dolly! “revelations”.

The reason why he was nasty to her was.

Funnily enough Barbra does not mention the Betty Hutton reference Matthau supposedly made. Look what happened to Betty Hutton!

I like her quote when she confronts Chaplin. Just shut up and say your lines!

She mentions the Anne Francis allegations and denies them.

She said Anne later issued a public apology for saying on the Tonight Show that Streisand had her role in Funny Girl cut.

Has anyone ever seen/read the public apology?

R318, No, it wasn’t.

R298 I don't know how to make it make sense to you, but it makes sense to me. If a confident driver gets into a car accident, it would stand to reason that he may hesitate before getting behind the wheel again, and furthermore never regain the confidence he once had before he'd experienced how illusory his safety was in the first place. Barbra strikes me as a very sensitive person, and a perfectionist, of course. Sharing the stage with someone who she was not only unable to trust but was actively working to sabatoge her must have really done a number on her psyche. It's not a stretch of the imagination to assume that once the illusion of safety has been taken away, it can never be replaced as totally as it was when she was operating as a young prodigy.

As others mentioned, Barbra attempted to talk to Sydney privately several times before getting the producer and Actors' Equity involved. Her anxiety over performing with Sydney made her queasy, and the fear of getting sick on stage only exacerbated the issue. It got to the point where she timed her distance to the bathroom from the stage.

R322 is definitely overthinking this.

Barbra Streisand is a very strong person and was even at the age of 22.

She entered into a physical relationship with an older married man, panicked when she realized he was wanting more, she broke it off and he did not take her rejection well.

I know a girl who sat down and read the whole book in 24 hours. AND THEN SHE DIED!

The chapter on The Way We Were is so emotional. Maybe my reaction is from listening to her talking it rather than reading it. Plus she includes music excerpts on the audiobook.

[quote]Aren't the producers management? Why would management be bringing this up to the union? Wouldn't it be the union rep/shop steward's job to bring the complaint to Equity?

I don't know the direct line of command when a complaint like this needs to be made, but my point is that the producers certainly had a large stake in stopping Sycney Chaplin's destructive, non-professional behavior on stage.

R326, his contract was not renewed- and he was replaced for the run of the show.

I just want to correct the autocorrect Steward's not Stewart's.

R323 Strong yes, but also sensitive. That dichotomy of confidence and insecurity is a big part of what's fascinated audiences for 60 years.

R32, yes, I know. But I would hope the producers, director, and stage management were also able to immediately stop Chaplin's onstage behavior while he was still in the show. They had no say outside of the theater and outside of working hours, but his behavior onstage and backstage was certainly within their purview.

SYDNEY CHAPLAIN GOT REJECTED, that’s why he acted like an asshole. End if story.

R331, Amen.

I just noticed The Way We Were is Chapter 24 and 24 is Barbra's lucky number. No wonder it's such a good chapter.

Funny line she said to Jon Peters after he demonstrated how to sing a get-down song - "I think you have a disconnect between your brain and your mouth."

I've admired Barbra Streisand's work for years and have been enjoying the audiobook. Her talent is immense and I loved all of her early albums and movies and most of the later ones, too. She's eccentric, that's for sure, and manages to be so detailed that it's boring and fascinating at once somehow. I happen to like her politics and admire her for being brave enough to speak her mind. Like everyone, she's flawed - she can be obsessive, but she's good-hearted and generous and always does her best. I'm glad she's been around all my life.

I concur

Where does Babs go from here? The book bombed. What a sad way to go out.

I think the chapter on a Star is Born gets bogged down in the sound mix details but then she jumps back with the Frank Pierson article. I didn't realize this film is her most profitable but I guess it makes sense.

Elliott formed a production company years ago and their only hit movie was Woody Allen’s “Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex”.

Elliott asked her to invest in their company to get it started and she agreed.

To this day, she still receives checks for the Woody Allen movie, larger checks than she receives for “Funny Girl”.

[quote]Where does Babs go from here? The book bombed. What a sad way to go out.

How is it a bomb? You realize every library in the world has bought the book. The Free Library of Philadelphia has 34 copies of the book and 38 copies of the audio book alone. It's number 3 right now on the NY Times Bestseller because Matthew Perry's book took off again, because he kicked the bucket.

She writes that she had major reservations about becoming involved with Jon Peters, but he won her over.

What she fails to mention is how much a factor in their relationship was his beer can cock.

R340, Many will be purchasing the book for Christmas presents.

Jon Peters did NOT do her perm.

R343, Correct. But he did tell her at their first meeting that she had a great ass.

She tells how Howard Zieff on The Main Event was another non-collaborator. When she got a good idea for the film's end from the sound man, Zieff tells her, "You want me to listen to the sound man?!" Barbra notes how Zieff ate lunch alone, just like Frank Pierson.

R341, you get a lot a mileage with that dumb line, eh?

"Being with Jon was exhausting. I'd prefer to have all this drama in my movies, not in my life."

R346, Confirmed by none other than Pamela Anderson, who only plays with the well endowed.

Donna Summer - "You're Barbra Streisand and you're asking me how to sing?"

When Elliott Gould had his meltdown during filming of “A Glimpse of Tiger” and as co-producer fired director Anthony Harvey, Streisand stepped in and agreed to take over the lead once it evolved into “What’s Up Doc?”.

Ironically, Anthony Harvey was the man who escorted her to the stage when she won her Oscar for “Funny Girl” since he was accepting for Katharine Hepburn.

Is there any info on what A Glimpse of Tiger was about?

R351, Why, yes there is.

Co-star Kim Darby said Gould attacked her during the Glimpse of Tiger shoot.

R353, She was petrified of him, afraid to even come to the set.

Streisand does not name her in the book, just refers to her as “his co-star”.

[quote]Jon Peters did NOT do her perm

But he did style her in "For Pete's Sake" but they were wigs which she sold at auction for her charity.

R355, But when her wig fell into the bath water during filming and they sent for him to restyle it, he admitted that he had lied and had no history of working with wigs.

[quote]When Elliott Gould had his meltdown during filming of “A Glimpse of Tiger” and as co-producer fired director Anthony Harvey, Streisand stepped in and agreed to take over the lead once it evolved into “What’s Up Doc?”.

I had never heard of A GLIMPSE OF TIGER, but I just looked it up at the link R352 provided, and that story has absolutely nothing to do with WHAT'S UP, DOC? So what do you mean when you say that one movie "evolved" into the other?

R357, She explains in the book that she agreed to step in for Elliott and eventually Bogdanovich was involved and it became “What’s Up Doc?” after various incarnations.

But again, R358, the stories apparently have nothing to do with each other. So I would say Bogdanovich gave up one project for an entirely different one, not that A GLIMPSE OF TIGER "evolved" into WHAT'S UP, DOC? If Barbra phrases it that way in her book, it seems she's very confused about what happened.

R359, it’s clearly explained in the book. Your speculation is kind of idiotic when it ain’t hard to know what went down.

R359, The “project” eventually became “What’s Up Doc?”, not the story or the script.

She said she stepped in because Elliott was her child’s father and she was concerned for him.

[quote]Your speculation is kind of idiotic when it ain’t hard to know what went down.

What "speculation?" If Elliot Gould signed on as star and co-producer of a film version of A GLIMPSE OF TIGER to be directed by Anthony Harvey, based on the novel of the same title, and then Gould fired Harvey before leaving the project himself, and then Peter Bogdanovich wound up directing and co-writing WHAT'S UP, DOC?, a movie with a completely different plot inspired by the old "screwball" movie comedies, with Streisand starring, I would say those were too entirely different projects, rather than one "evolving" into the other. You may say it's semantics, but I don't understand why anyone would use the word "evolving" in this context.

R362, Glimpse of Tiger was totally scrapped once Bogdanovich became involved with the project. What's up Doc was something he came up because he didn't like Tiger. Robert Benton and David Newman wrote a script in two weeks heavily based on Bringing up Baby and The Lady Eve. Later Buck Henry punched it up. Nothing "morphed" into the other. Ryan O'Neal tagged along because he and Streisand were going out at the time and too had Sue Mengers as an agent.

Streisand HATED those old screwball comedies - David Newman said they screened some of them in her house, and she was not pleased. Upon seeing the finished What's up Doc script, she had to be talked into it by Mengers. All during filming, Streisand told O'Neal that this was the worst movie they had ever made. Then she sold all of her points in the movie back to Warners, as detailed in her book. Btw, the reason Glimpse of Tiger became hers - she bought Gould out of his portion of his film Tiger.

They said I was a bankable star but they wouldn't take any money out of the bank to give me for Yentl.

She is funny doing impressions of the studio executives reacting to her pitch for Yentl. Huh? What?!

R348, Pamela Anderson is a trainwreck, Volatile dead music exec Walter Yetnikoff * wrote in his autobiography that Peters bragged about his oral skills, and Yetnicoff concluded that is what made Streisand stay with him. That's debatable too, but much more likely.

* Walter Yetnikoff, who led CBS Records during the boom years of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album and lived the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll life more indulgently than many of his stars did. (NYT Obituary)

Oh. Muy. Gawd! Barbra: Back to Brooklyn is on my PBS station!!! I am so verklempt! Oh muy Gawd, Oh muy Gawd, Oh muy Gawd, Oh muy Gawd, Oh muy Gawd, Oh muy Gawd, Oh muy Gawd, Oh muy Gawd,

She's singing something from the show G did years ago.... but with different lyrics?

Re Mandy Patinkin in Yentl. She cut the sex scene between them saying she couldn't bear the idea of playing it. I'm not that good an actress.

R165, she likes Baskin-Robbins coffee ice cream. She dated Richard Baskin in the 1980s.

It’s sad that she didn’t make more films.

Really, R370? ( ;

Eldergay here, age 60.

Seeing a Streisand film, in a movie theatre was surreal. There were only two types of audiences. They were gay men and middle class, straight women, who literally dragged their husbands to the theatre. Almost everyone was well dressed; it was akin to attending a church or temple. The women even made sure their husbands wore suits and ties. I’m not joking. Being gay myself, it was such a nice experience. People dress like slobs, ordinarily.

Through “Nuts”, “The Prince of Tides” and “The Mirror has Two Faces”, the audiences never varied. I thought it was hilariously campy.

R369, Not anymore.

Her vocal impression of Isaac Bashevis Singer is funny.

R362- you still don’t have it straight as she described her reason for doing the pic- even though a different film. Hint: has to do with protecting Gould. Did you read the book?

That certainly wasn't my experience, r372.

It took me 15 years to make Yentl and you want me to direct again? Let me have a rest.

No, R375, I haven't read the book, but whatever is in it doesn't and can't change my point that the A GLIMPSE OF TIGER project did not "evolve" into WHAT'S UP, DOC? Whatever happened, that's not what "evolve" means.

R378 is the definition of insufferable.

For R346 . . .

Thanks R380! Beer can memories light the corners of my mind!!!

I love this world's weird co-incidences. While preparing "Yentl" she went to her father's grave for the first time with her brother. She asked her Mother why she never talked about him to her and her answer was she didn't want Barbara to miss him. She was a piece of work. At the cemetery she had her brother take a photo of her and the grave and right next to his was one for a man named Anchel the name Yentl takes.

R376, I’m just curious. What was your experience regarding Streisand’s audience, in a movie theater? I’m not asking about her live performances.

R378 see R363

Thanks, R384. I have read R363, and that's exactly what I mean: "A GLIMPSE OF TIGER was totally scrapped when Bogdanovich became involved with the project." So it didn't "evolve" into WHAT'S UP, DOC?, which was a completely different project.

“It has been claimed that Warner Bros. reworked the idea into the film What's Up, Doc?, changing the lead from a male to a female and casting Barbra Streisand (Gould's ex-wife) and Ryan O'Neal. The film's director Peter Bogdanovich has minimized this, saying, "The only thing we took from A Glimpse of Tiger—and I don’t remember it very well—was the idea that the leading character had been to a lot of different colleges. He or she is very well-educated in a lot of different areas. And we put that into Barbra’s character."“

Thanks, R386. So that's the source of the confusion. Apparently, the two movies had that one small thing in common, but from the description, A GLIMPSE OF TIGER would have born no resemblance at all to a screwball comedy.

Laughed at her story about catching a plane to meet Don Johnson in New York. The stewardess tells her it is the pilot's first flight and Barbra says, "Why would you tell me that?!" This is funny because Barbra hates flying.

R372 is making up bullshit. Suits and ties….

She didn't like this ad campaign for "Up The Sandbox". It has a gorgeous portrait by Richard Amsel.

Has anyone asked what show R372 is describing? This was the 3PM showing that seniors went to. Then dinner at 5:30, in bed by 9PM.

R390, that campaign was cancelled after lawsuit threats from Time Magazine. The one AFTER that, the one used everywhere, was dreck. I agree with Babs.

THE BAD ONE:

R390, She also was not happy with this poster.

Try this.

R372 What? Bullshit to the fashion memories. That is sooo gay!! Yes to gays, gals & dragged along husbands.

R372 here.

R391, it was the Friday evening shows.

R372 here.

They were the Friday evening shows.

(Grammar corrected.)

She is on Colbert tonight and looks awful.

Thank you for that BREAKING NEWS, R398.

She uses two phrases a lot - I was taken aback, and Why would you do that?

Her 1969 affair with Anthony Newley ended abruptly when he did something that deeply hurt her and they did not speak for years.

She won’t say what it was, but Newley was a complicated man.

In his memoir, his and Joan Collins’ son labeled Newley a pedophile, which infuriated Joan.

Interesting she says she started directing because there were no offers to act. However she also says Sue Mengers angered her by turning offers down without consulting with her.

Mengers version is that she sent loads of stuff to Streisand which was turned down. Barbra was “lazy” and liked lots of down time in the 1970s. She admits being lazy in her book, but blames Mengers for not getting enough scripts? Ha ha ha!

R401, everybody, the reason she ended the affair with Anthony Newley -

"He did something that upset me" Then never spoke to him again.

Did Babs find out he was also dating a 14 year old? Newley was a womanizer and a bit of a perv, what was she expecting from him, true love and marriage? Barbra doesn't seem too bright.

R403, What she liked most of all during the 1970s was Jon Peters’ beer can cock.

I hear he’s free, R405. Why don’t you look him up?

[quote]Interesting she says she started directing because there were no offers to act. However she also says Sue Mengers angered her by turning offers down without consulting with her.

Typical. From BS's point of view, I'm sure it doesn't matter which version is true, because they both portray her underappreciated or as a victim in some way,

^ NAILED IT. Nailed the entire book.

Kinda cool she admits to not getting stuff. She didn't "get" Stoney End" & "What's Up Doc?" but still took other's advice and both ended up huge hits.

R409, agreed -- but it seems these were VERY rare instances of her trusting others rather than acting on her own instincts, which were often wrong.

"Free rain" is fucking hilarious.

I didn't know she was offered The Gauntlet by Clint Eastwood. Another prostitute role.

The film was originally set to star Marlon Brando and Barbra Streisand; Brando subsequently withdrew and was replaced by Steve McQueen. However, differences between McQueen and Streisand ultimately led to their joint departure in favor of Eastwood and Sandra Locke.

The Gauntlet trailer. She said it was too violent and she didn't want to spend time in a hot bus.

I read it. I liked it. She gets very defensive about her style of working, but she’s also very smart. And talented.

She didn’t mention the Streisand Effect until page 906.

Richard Harris was first choice for “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever”, but he turned it down.

Sinatra and Gregory Peck were considered, but Yves Montand was finally cast, who Streisand wasn’t pleased with.

Is she ever pleased?

[quote]Is she ever pleased?

If you were a twenty eight year old movie star would you want him as your romantic co-star?

BARBRA PLEASE!

R417, Are you kidding? Yves Montand was an extremely sexy man, even as he aged.

Maybe she wasn't pleased with Yves Montand because he sang like Elmer Fudd,

"This is a dweam, Mewinda. Just a mi-wahge, so they say . . . "

She says Carrie Fisher was in the reading for The Mirror Has Two Faces. What part would she have played?

R421 probably the sister. That part went to Mimi Rogers.

She had Gena Rowlands play the mother.

On Barbra's website, it says that Barbra was interested in Carrie working on the script for "Mirror," not acting in it:

[quote]In July 1994, when Streisand was back in Los Angeles for her concert tour, she met with Carrie Fisher about doing rewrites on the script. Fisher, a well-known “script doctor” in Hollywood, was probably called upon to add some of her zippy one-liners to punch up the film’s comedy — although it should be noted that TriStar went so far as to issue a press release saying that Fisher had no hand in writing the Mirror script.

Pity that they didn't in the end add some Carrie's zip to what turned out to be a schlocky cute rom-com ripoff of "Moonstruck."

Had a laugh how Barbra was impressed with Jim being able to fly a plane. She said if something went wrong with the pilot on a plane they were on, he could take over.

She says she wanted to play Yentel so badly because it gave her the opportunity to be a man. Something she wanted to explore later by way of permanent sex reassignment surgery.

I hope that's not why Calista married Harrison...

R426 is a trans troll.

Gena Rowlands…Lauren Bacall…same thing.

[quote]Gena Rowlands…Lauren Bacall…same thing.

Well they both did end up with honorary Oscars.

I don't think you could say that Gena was a great beauty when she was young. She was certainly not in Lauren's class.

The one I found surprising in the cast was Ray Liotta who I assume read the Jeff Bridges role.

To each his own, r431, but I think she was stunning.

I agree with R432. However, Gena’s nose job got in her way as she got older, it’s as obvious as Ellen Burstyn’s.

Love Gena Rowlands. And she's still with us at 93.

[quote]And she's still with us at 93.

Well...

It's funny how she always notices men's good teeth yet hers are like a shark.

Who knew Prince was a Barbra fan?

It makes sense r437 as he was a self-hating fag who spoke out against marriage equality.

[quote]It's funny how she always notices men's good teeth yet hers are like a shark.

Classic human nature. Admiring what you don't have.

The Streisand Effect

[quote]“Let me say this loud and clear. Contrary to the explanation on Wikipedia, I did not attempt to “suppress” a photograph of my house. My issue was never with the photo … it was only about the use of my name attached to the photo. To cut a long story short, when a wealthy businessman took it upon himself to photograph thousands of homes along the California coast and create a web- site in 2002, all the homes were identified only by longitude and latitude and not by the owners’ names . . . except for five celebrities, including me. Suddenly there was a photo on the internet with my house, my name, and the exact co- ordinates where I lived. That put the safety of my family and myself at risk. We had already experienced several incidents with intruders over the years. So I hope you can understand my concern.

And this is what every description of the “Streisand effect” gets wrong. I wasn’t trying to remove the photo. All I asked was that this man please just treat me like everyone else and remove my name, for security reasons. But he refused.”

I thought she was going to end in 1996 when she met Jim but she goes up to the present.

Regarding the quote at R440, the "Streisand Effect" still applies in that, by making an issue of the situation rather than ignoring it, BS called more attention to the fact that the exact location of her home (and the fact that Barbra Streisand lived there) was included on the website in question. Whether or not you think she was right to be upset about that -- and I certainly do -- it's still "the Streisand Effect" as I understand it.

It really should be two book but maybe she thinks she wouldn't have the energy to do the whole publicity thing again next year when they would have released part II. She'd be 83.

One of the many stories she tells of Jon Peters.

"But Jon didn’t seem to be afraid of anything, not the sea or sharks or snakes. Once, at a gas station, I got out of the car to stretch my legs while Jon was refilling the tank, and a man came up to me and asked, “Are you Barbra Streisand?” I said, “No.” (Sometimes I don’t want to be her.) But this guy wouldn’t let up. He followed me around, saying, “You look like her.” “Well, I’m not her.” I tried to get out of his way. And then he said, with a sneer, “I don’t like her anyway.” Suddenly Jon materialized at my side and laid into the guy for insulting me. Jon grabbed him by his necktie so hard that the guy’s shirt ripped down the back. (Must have been a very expensive shirt. The guy sued Jon and settled for seven thousand dollars.) I was upset. Why did Jon have to overreact like that and make a scene? But deep down, I was pleased. My brother would never come to my defense when I needed him. But Jon did."

R444, I would say that story is even more telling about BS than it is about Jon Peters.

Diana Kind reminds me of Sophia Petrillo who was always saying hurtful things to her daughter.

One thing that surprised me: her treatment of Omar Sharif in the book.

It's well known that they had an affair - it was all over the tabloids at the time, in several books, AND HE SAID SO - and she invited him to come to some of her concerts in Europe in the early 1990s (NYT), But instead of a photo of "Fanny and Nicky" in her book, instead of something sentimental about the experience with Sharif, it's all about "Barbra and William Wyler." Oh, yeah, you're a DIRECTOR, Babs.

Doesn't Barbra Streisand understand what the fucking movie was about and how to sell the experience? Many people go gaga over them as a couple in the movie, and she ruins it.

AND, Streisand denies an affair!

[QUOTE]instead of something sentimental about the experience with Sharif,

Maybe she doesn't have warm, sentimental feelings about him or is embarrassed about her involvement? He was a drinker, womanizer, and known to have a violent temper. Maybe he treated her badly. Some things are better left unsaid.

Maybe upthread or in the previous one, a poster criticized her for not mentioning Elliott Gould'ssecond wife because their children are Jason's half sibs. It was probably for the best because Gould and Jennifer Bogart had trouble with drugs (it stalled his career, nearly ended it). It was for the best not to relive that or mention too much.

She writes about all of James Brolin’s children and grandchildren except his son Jess.

R449, NO. Sharif was a smoker, not a drinker. And she had feelings for him. Going on to the 90s.

In his own words? See link in next post.

In his own words? See link in next post.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

She says at the end of the book she is going to step away from the limelight. despite also stating she would still like to direct one more film or star as Sarah Bernhardt. I also heard a report that she is going to record a new album next year.

[quote]I also heard a report that she is going to record a new album next year.

With whose voice?

Or maybe what she has to say about Sharif is the truth and the hot air blathering of posters is more or less just that!

Did she say anything about Sharif? Nothing sentimental, of course.

Daily Mail is as reliable as the National enquirer

[QUOTE]Daily Mail is as reliable as the National enquirer

It's always fun and *especially* reliable when it directly quotes from an actor's or VIP's AUTOBIOGRAPHY so you can accuse of lying or unreliability without any basis.

Do you wish to try again? Maybe Sharif gave the interview in ancient Amaraic and the mistranslation to English was a bust?

Keep trying, OK? We like entertainment from the undereducated masses Trump keeps vocally appreciating at his branded, Nuremberg-like rallies. Keep following the form

R458, She admitted in the book that they took many long drives together during the filming of “Funny Girl” and that they would “hold hands”.

So poetic.

I’ve always thought the relationship with Pierre Trudeau was nothing more than several dates, but she confirms in the book that it was much more serious than that.

How can she not remember whether or not Warren Beatty fucked her?

R438, being a self-hating gay person does not equate with being a Streisand fan.

Check yourself, please.

R463, she confirmed how serious it was 46 years ago in the Playboy interview.

R460, you’re taking this way too seriously. This book is a memoir of a singer/actress, not the Lord and Savior.

“she confirmed how serious it was 46 years ago in the Playboy interview.“

You’re obviously much older than the rest of us.

She said she would post the cloud pics of her dead dog on her website but I can't find them. Renata, please!

R467, Playboy interviews are available to read today, even for diaper wearing twelve year olds.

[quote]Who has recorded more of the breadth of American composers? Who? Not Rondstat, Not Franklin. Not Dion or Whitney by a long shot. Not Ella, Not Garland. Not Sinatra, Not King Cole….

Sinatra probably equals or surpasses Streisand in this way, although of course their careers were not completely analogous because Sinatra died in 1998. But he did live long enough to record at least two Sondheim-only songs, "Good Thing Going" and "Send in The Clowns."

R469, And that is your demographic.

R468, They’re included with the Kindle edition.

Sinatra recorded "Good Thing Going"? Gag... and "Send in the Clowns", while recorded by many as a single, never works when performed out side of A Little Night Music.

I remember Merv Griffin saluting legendary film director William Wellman on his talk show back in the 1970s.

The subject of the lack of female box office stars came up and Merv offered Barbra Streisand as the biggest at that time.

Wellman’s response was “Yeah, but who can look at her?”

R473, you might have taken the time to listen to Sinatra's recording of "Good Thing Going" before making a bitchy comment about it. Although the recording was made very late in his life and career, I think it's quite good. Here's a link to it, in case you want to take a few moments to listen to it so you can have an informed opinion, rather than an uninformed one.

As for your comment that "Send in the Clowns" never works out of context, Judy Collins (among others) might disagree with you. Or are you unaware of her recording of that song as well?

Despite what she infers, Barbra slept with several of her leading men, if not most. That was common practice on film sets back then, and still is.

Are there any good stories in the book about ASIB? That set was bonkers with Jon and Kris at their very worst. What does she say about Kris K. in the book?

Is this thread being replied to by one person/ Op???

[quote]Despite what she infers, Barbra slept with several of her leading men, if not most.

The speaker implies. The listener infers.

R476 . . .

"Kris knew this world from the inside too. The part of John Norman Howard seemed tailor-made for him. He almost didn’t have to act. He was a musician, a songwriter, a poet . . . with an aching vulnerability that showed in his eyes. God, he was attractive. I remember the first time we met, a few years before this project came along. Marty called and said, “Do you want to see this guy named Kris Kristofferson at the Troubadour? I hear he’s good.” So I went that night, and there he was onstage, so beautiful . . . with perfect white teeth . . . and barefoot. Incredibly sexy. I thought, Hmmm . . . We saw each other for a while after that . . . he and his Bull Durham cigarettes. He gave me hickeys on my neck. Thank God I had a two-piece bathing suit by Rudi Gernreich with a turtleneck top to hide them!"

Why would anyone at the beach care if Barbra had hickeys?

Could only find a one piece Rudi Gernreich bathing suit with a turtleneck.

[quote]Barbra slept with several of her leading men, if not most.

Ha ha ha, R476! She slept with THREE, two were before the film they co-starred in began: Omar Sharif, Ryan O'Neal, Kris Kristofferson

If you add theater, then Sydney Chaplin and Elliott Gould.

Those Streisand DID NOT sleep with are far more plentiful.

Barbra was particularly mad at Frank Pierson's article for calling Kris a drunk.

He was, R483.

R482, Are we certain there wasn’t at least a one timer with Redford?

R470, Sinatra in terms of breadth of recorded music is limited to standards mostly. Certainly he did not venture into pop rock, dance (disco), bossa nova or, classical. His repertoire was actually pretty narrow.

R482, HA HA HA. BA HAAAA!!!

Yes, R487, but I thought we were talking about American composers who can be taken seriously, not those people who wrote disposable pop and disco tunes. Streisand did record some Beatles songs. And for heaven's sake, Streisand recorded only one classical album, and I don't believe it was considered a success. (And those songs were not written by American composers.)

Sorry, my post above was supposed to read "Sinatra did record some Beatles songs." And I'm pretty sure he recorded some other songs that would have been considered "rock" in the early and mid '60s.

Can we please get back to ME?

Shouldn't you be busy teaching the refugees who landed on your beach how to pronounce "StreiSand" properly?

No, R485, a thousand times no.

R475, I won't post more than this regarding Frank and his version of "Good Thing going" - yes, i listened to what you posted and it's awful. Sinatra's too old to be laying down tracks behind a mic and the arrangement sounds like true elevator music. He can't convey emotion of the song because he can no longer sing.

As to "Send in the Clowns" - yes, many singers have had popular success with the song. It still does not make sense outside the musical. A pop or solo version never includes Frederik's dialogue that's integral to the song and Desiree's singing. Of course the piece is reprised at the end and the reprise makes the music light-hearted because Desiree and Frederik are reunited and know how foolish they have been.

You can have the last word here... any more posts and I'll be accused of hijacking the thread... but, does Babs discuss recording the Sondheim Album? Did he adore her like the other men in her orbit?

Darling, R493, who told you pop music has to make sense?

R493, I simply disagree with you on both points. Of course, Sinatra's voice was diminished by the time he recorded "Good Thing Going," but in my opinion, it's not accurate to say that he "can't convey the emotion of the song because he can no longer sing."

As for "Send in the Clowns" working or not working out of context, I think the lyrics make it clear that the singer is addressing a sometime lover with whom she is not in sync and who is not currently available to her. If anyone finds the phrase "send in the clowns" enigmatic, fair enough, but I don't think it's less enigmatic in the context of the show (because there's no point in the song or before it where Desiree says, "Hey, guys, it's a show business reference.")

On a related note, and to get back to the main topic: Regarding Sondheim writing new lyrics for Streisand, I realized there are a few more examples than the ones we've mentioned already. For example, there are some new lyrics at the end of Streisand's mashup of "Pretty Women" and "The Ladies Who Lunch."

Sinatra's dead.

I'm feeling much better. I think I'll go for a walk.

R493, of course she does. The Sondheim collaboration and indeed the whole THE BROADWAY ALBUM experience give her endless opportunities to say her favorite thing, which I continue to feel should have been the book's title: "I Was Right."

Although there were gossip column items throughout 1970 that Streisand and Gould might get back together, it didn't happen. One of the biographies even claimed she gave him an ultimatum that "this was it," and he refused. Some writers come up with stuff like they were a fly on the wall so I didn't take it too seriously.

The NEW INFO from the Streisand book is that she visited Elliott in Sweden when he was making a (horrible) film with Ingmar Bergman called The Touch in 1970. She reports that she stayed with Gould and slept in the same bed - I assume they were having an affair - and Gould didn't realize it was his last chance. This was during his relationship with his 18 year old girlfriend, who I must have stayed home in the US.

For those of you who love/adore/can't get enough of Le Nez, here's something a video of her performance in Central Park, 1967... I love the opening of the piece... I'm not a big Barbra Streisand fan. Most of her recordings lean heavy into the faux emotion of Broadway and cabaret with little or no swing or soul. But when Streisand aces a song, the sound of her voice is so instrumental, like a viola or cello, that the notes land on your heart. It can't be helped. For me, she has always been much more impressive visually than on vinyl.

So imagine my surprise when I came across a TV special of Streisand in Central Park in 1967 that I'm about to show you. She was all of 25 years old at the time, a superstar and the envy of her generation, before rock and soul stars came to dominate the musical landscape and shoved soundtrack pop out of the way.

Thanks, R500. But you write as if the video of Streisand's Central Park concert is a rarity, which it certainly is not.

The vast majority of what I posted R501 were the opening paragraphs from the Jazz Wax piece. Marc Myers wrote, "So imagine my surprise when I came across a TV special of Streisand in Central Park in 1967 that I'm about to show you. "

Not me.

[quote]Most of her recordings lean heavy into the faux emotion of Broadway and cabaret with little or no swing or soul.

Because she is a POP singer, a whole different genre from Swing and Soul. She isn't singing the songs as a character.

She’s ugly as sin.

I’m surprised that no one picked up on the Welcome to Hollywood party Babs describes on page 233. Ray stark planned it and invited a hundred people, he reeled off names of “every movie star you could think of…John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper….”

Gary Cooper had already been DEAD seven years.

I wish Barbra had detailed their conversation.

R499 - she is in a documentary on Bergman and talks about visiting him when he was making The Touch.

R505, She arrived over an hour late, pissing off hosts Ray and Fran Stark.

FUN FACT

Ray Stark purchased the Holmby Hills house where Bogart and Bacall lived in the 1950s.

{quote]"Send in the Clowns", while recorded by many as a single, never works when performed out side of A Little Night Music.

FUCK YOU.

But did she piss off the dead Gary Cooper, R507?

Here's the passage . . .

"Once again it was Elliott who found a place for us to live, this time while I’d be filming Funny Girl. The English country–style house came with a Hollywood pedigree. Garbo and Marlene Dietrich had both lived there, so that sounded good to me!

We had barely unpacked when Ray Stark called and said he was giving a big party to welcome me. He invited a few hundred people, and apparently they all said yes, because he reeled off the names of every movie star you could think of . . . John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Merle Oberon, Jennifer Jones, Rosalind Russell . . ."

She talks about doing the topless scene in "The Owl And The Pussycat". She didn't want to do but finally agreed if she could kill it if she didn't like it. She watched it and had it edited out and says she has the footage. BUT she doesn't talk about years later when High Society magazine published stills from the scene and she sued to get it off the news stand. She won and newsstand and magazine store owners had to actually rip the pages out. Wonder why she doesn't mention it, although you can see the whole scene on line now.

Yes, R511. But what did dead Gary Cooper say to her.???

R513, "Yup".

Barbra's use of exclamation marks to punctuate mundane sentences is most alarming!

r513, can you not read? She says it was Stark who said he would be there.

Try to concentrate, R516. The party guest list of stars should have included one of her delightful asides in parentheses, (Ray has been drinking and I didn’t have the heart to inform him that Cooper was dead as a door nail).

[quote]She arrived over an hour late, pissing off hosts Ray and Fran Stark.

She was not fond of him and probably did it on purpose.

Her movie career, which hadn’t yet started at that point, was dependent on Ray Stark, R518.

Ray Stark cheated her on “Funny Girl”

He originally offered her a percentage instead of a fixed amount and she agreed to that.

Then he abruptly changed his mind and gave her a flat $200K and no percentage.

If it was verbal and not in writing, R520, she was an idiot. She wasn’t “cheated,” she trusted a weasel and got screwed. How did she defend this in the book, as a victim again?

What do you mean, R521? I'm assuming R520 meant that Stark verbally offered Barbra a percentage of the movie but then, when it came time to actually write up and sign the contracts, he only offered her $200K and no percentage.

But of course I agree with you that BS very often portrays herself as a victim or potential victim, and as almost always being right when everyone else around her is wrong about everything.

[quote]She arrived over an hour late, pissing off hosts Ray and Fran Stark.

Does she talk about the London Funny Lady premiere with Queen Elizabeth? She hated the movie, and was nervous about meeting the Queen, so she locked herself in her hotel bathroom and refused to come out. A panicked Ray Stark called her suite, and Jon Peters told him that Barbra wouldn't unlock the door and said that she wasn't going. Stark told him that he had the Fucking Queen of England on the way and to break the fucking door down and get her to the theater.

Sydney Chaplin promoting Funny Girl on “Password” in 1964.

Wow Omar Shariff really looked like Chaplin.

R522 . . .

"And then there was the matter of salary. Marty said to Ray, “Just give her a dollar and ten percent of the gross.” That was typical of Marty . . . he was always thinking of the long term, rather than short-term gains. Ray wouldn’t do it. Instead he paid me $200,000, and the salaries for the additional three pictures would be in roughly the same range. Marty didn’t like that but he was forced to agree, although he did say, “If the picture works, we want a bonus.” Ray said, “Okay, I’ll give you five percent of the net or two hundred thousand dollars.” And I’m going to jump ahead for a moment and tell you what happened. When Funny Girl came out, I chose the 5 percent. But Ray said, “No, I’ve decided to give you the two hundred thousand dollars.” So how about that? I could never trust him to keep his word."

I can’t think of anything else I’d rather NOT read about than that overrated ugly bitch ass

You can never trust ANYONE’S WORD when it comes to money or contracts.

A passage regarding The Normal Heart . . .

"Larry had been talking to John Schlesinger about directing the movie before I got involved, so I said, “Why don’t you ask him if he wants to direct it now?” John was a wonderful director, and he was gay. (Larry had changed his mind and now thought that was an advantage.) I said, “If you can’t wait for me and you can raise the money now, get John to direct, and I’ll just produce it.” By the way, it was interesting to note that Schlesinger wanted $125,000 before he would even start to work. I was so naïve that I didn’t realize most directors got paid for developing scripts. And then Larry told me that he didn’t need me to produce it. I was deeply hurt, but I gave him what he asked for. I issued my own statement, which said, “I’m painfully aware of the ticking clock. Therefore, I am now stepping aside and will no longer be involved with the project. I wish Larry only success in getting The Normal Heart made. I personally have a strong commitment to projects that reflect and further the needs of the gay community.” My son is gay, which made my commitment doubly strong. Jason really wanted me to make this movie, and I was looking forward to working with him on the film in some capacity. It meant so much to me and now it was gone. I was polite in public. I never tried to embarrass Larry as he tried to embarrass me. In another interview for The Advocate, he even brought up my son’s sexuality, which was not his business. Jason was open about it, but he’s a very private person, and it should have been his choice when and where to discuss it in print. I did send Larry a fax after I put out my statement and told him exactly what I thought. I vividly remember one of the lines: “You are so self-destructive.”"

Has anyone ever said anything nice about Larry Kramer?

Barbra deserves a medal for putting up with the most difficult gay men in history--Kramer, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins, Cecil Beaton, Herbert Ross. I don't know how she survived it all.

^ Poor thing

R531, I really don't think Sondheim should be on that list. From everything I've read and heard, he was nowhere near as difficult in the same ways and to the great extent that all of the others were.

And she loved Jerome Robbins and was so glad when he came back to do Funny Girl.

From Variety:

“How long did you take to record the 48 hours? Did you do all of that in kind of a marathon?

It took me six weeks, I think, to do the audiobook. I was so sick of myself — can you imagine? I mean, you write a book for 10 years, then you’ve gotta say it out loud…

And then (for the print edition) you have to put the pictures in, and then you have to design the cover… Well, I did that first. I had the cover before the book. That’s like the way I do albums, actually. I see the cover, and then I fill it in with the songs that go with the cover. That’s how I did the one called “Wet” (from 1979, all songs involving a water theme), or there are several of them like that, you know. I just do it backwards.“

[quote]And then (for the print edition) you have to put the pictures in, and then you have to design the cover… Well, I did that first. I had the cover before the book. That’s like the way I do albums, actually. I see the cover, and then I fill it in with the songs that go with the cover. That’s how I did the one called “Wet” (from 1979, all songs involving a water theme), or there are several of them like that, you know. I just do it backwards.“

What a brilliant, genius, supremely creative woman she is!!!!!!!! No one else has EVER created an album in the same way!!!!!!!!!!

Did she write about her itchy cooter?

[quote] How is it a bomb? You realize every library in the world has bought the book.

Honey, you’re embarrassing yourself. Just stop.

Several times throughout the book, she praises Whoopi and refers to her as “dear Whoopi”, yet she did not appear on “The View” to promote the book.

She could have appeared remotely, as she did for Howard Stern.

[quote]Kramer, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins, Cecil Beaton, Herbert Ross.

You forgot that lying bitch Barry Dennen!

R540, And Garson Kanin.

Wait till I publisch my book. I prove I wash never married to Peter Allen. I wasch offered the lead in Dirty Danshin and Fatal Attracshon. but I deshided to do Rent !a Cop. I'm up to page 1059 and I'm shtill married to Jack Haley Jr. so I've got quite a waysh to go!

Will she be revising her book now to trash Ryan O'Neal now that he has passed?

Does she name the actor who was her first choice to play the lead in The Prince of Tides? I always assumed it was Kevin Costner, who she wanted to fuck.

It was Redford, R544.

Babs hardly mentions O’Neal in her book, R543. Not happy that the photo she chose of them was from The Main Event, not What’s up Doc. She really hates that movie.

R545, Not true. She wrote nothing but positive about him. She was attracted to his looks and his sense of humor. She insisted he be cast in “The Main Event”.

Yes, it is true, 546. Outside of casting him and the admission that they “dated” briefly, there are no personal reminiscences or details about him off screen.

OP, it’s likely got a lot less to do with the publisher willfully “giving her free rein” than that she’s taken 10 years to finish it and at this point the publisher NEEDS to put it out in order to recoup whatever they gave her for the advance. Especially because Babs isn’t getting any younger, nor are her dans who will buy it. So at some point I’m sure the higher-ups at the publishing house decided it no longer even matters if it’s crap or not. Her name is what’s going to sell it, not the reviews.

R545/R547, You need to go back and read the book again, or have your caregiver read it to you.

R549 = Ryan’s home health aide

R550, And I had his thick, cut. Irish cock all to myself for weeks.

Ryan’s home health aide, *now looking for work.*

Let's get this thread up to the 600 replies and closed before another one of her co-stars dies.

R553, I’ll second that.

[quote]Babs hardly mentions O’Neal in her book, [R543]. Not happy that the photo she chose of them was from The Main Event, not What’s up Doc. She really hates that movie.

And yet her remembrance of him yesterday, she includes a pic of them in "What Up Doc?". So there

Ryan had to DIE for recognition of his What’s up Doc performance by Barbra!

Her repeatedly saying that Virginia Clinton Kelly was the mother she never had is ridiculous.

A woman she knew for a matter of months versus the woman who gave birth to her, fed and clothed her and put a roof over her head for sixteen years?

So her mother told her she wasn’t pretty enough to be an actress and did not encourage her to enter show business.

Shouldn’t you have resolved those issues by the age of 81?

Is her friend Donna Karan a drunk? She's always posting nonsensical, drunk comments to Barbra's Instagram page. This is just one of them:

To a woman of the world from one to another Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg to @barbrastrisand your passion and compassion for our country our world and the voices of the world congragulation to your love of this world and your amazing husband Jim happy 25 anniversary my love ❤️❤️❤️

Going back to stage fright - her original story was that it around the was a time of unrest between Israel and Egypt, and she was afraid of being assassinated on stage. Streisand claimed she darted around the stage to avoid a bullet. Did she not realize the concert was RECORD ON VIDEO? Unless the darting around the stage parts were left on the cutting room floor, there is NO darting around the stage.

Barbra - get your fucking story straight

^ At the Happening in Central Park concert in 1967. Forgot to name it.

Her mother didn't change as she got older; in fact, she seemed to become increasingly unhinged. Sometimes relationship issues can't be resolved.

R561, But they do not need to be made public repeatedly, especially since her mother is deceased.

what was her statement about Ryan's death?

I rewatched What's Up Doc to tribute Ryan and I don't think Barbra commented in the chapter of her book as to why she and Ryan had tans.

R563, she said he was handsome and many people will remember a couple of his movies.

[quote]Going back to stage fright - her original story was that it around the was a time of unrest between Israel and Egypt, and she was afraid of being assassinated on stage.

I seem to remember reading or hearing that BS had received actual death threats before that Central Park concert. I wonder if that's true.

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Barbra Streisand, who shared a brief romance with the actor, wrote: “So sad to hear the news of Ryan O’Neal’s passing. We made two films together: What’s Up, Doc? and The Main Event. He was funny and charming, and he will be remembered.”

“I thought writing a book would be easier than making a movie, but boy, was I wrong,” she writes.

Variety interview.

Billboard interview

[quote]Going back to stage fright - her original story was that it around the was a time of unrest between Israel and Egypt, and she was afraid of being assassinated on stage. Streisand claimed she darted around the stage to avoid a bullet.

NEVER heard that. It always was she forgot lyrics in front of 100,000 people.

R566 - NO

It was 1967, was she getting death threats via Telegrams?

Back then, threats were called in to newspapers or TV stations, sometimes law enforcement.

R567 Wow. So moving. So personal. So heartfelt.

R574, She wrote that the 1967 death threats were prompted by the recent announcement that Omar Sharif had been cast in “Funny Girl”.

Her and Omar kissing onscreen was a big deal for a little while in Arab/Israeli relations. I take it their offscreen fucking wasn't widely known about?

Does anyone really believe Jim Brolin has been completely faithful since they’ve been together?

James Brolin is a very passive person, R578, just like Elliott Gould. Streisand’s type, she always gets the last word. Brolin admitted on one of the recent interviews that he was celibate for three years before he met Babs. Brolin is not a skirt chaser, and now he’s 83 years old.

R577, ALL the movie magazines has stories about the affair in 1967-68, and how Barbra was going to leave her husband for Sharif. The second part was movie magazine bullshit, but everyone knew there was something between them during the filming of Funny Girl. The kissing still that upset the Egyptians was a rehearsal. By the time the movie came out, it was old news and not mentioned.

Funny fact: Omar Sharif said in an interview decades later that they made him wear light makeup in Funny Girl because he was too dark.

R579, Brolin is on wife #3, so he is hardly “very passive”.

I’d like to know his definition of the word “celibate”.

Are we to believe that he was masturbating for three years? A great looking, straight actor in Hollywood who was then in his early 50s?

Has it ever occurred to you that Brolin was pursued by his wives rather than the other way around? His first wife, Jane, was a wild woman. For his masturbation schedule, I suggest you write him.

[quote]Brolin is on wife #3, so he is hardly “very passive”.

Why is one fact proof of the other?

R582, He met his first wife, Jane, when she was the assistant casting director for the television series “Batman”.

There was nothing “wild” about her.

See for yourself at 13:05.

She has a long history, R584. Someone here can get you caught up.

[quote]Are we to believe that he was masturbating for three years? A great looking, straight actor in Hollywood who was then in his early 50s?

So you live in a world of cliches? Maybe he had prostate trouble, maybe he was depressed or just felt like being alone for a while.

And maybe you’re a fucking moron, R586, which appears highly likely.

Why on earth are you so OBSESSED with this, R581/R584/R587? Start another thread about Brolin.

^Calm down, Mary.

Jim has been celibate for the last 24 years too. All golfing bromance, no Evergreen romance!!! For this I married a hunk who is aging like the finest wine??

The point is that celibate Jim should have looked up R578.

Prior to her autobiography, has Babs ever publicly confirmed that Jason is gay?

And pursuant to R592, have there ever been any reliable reports that Jason has been HIV-positive for years? Or is that all just rumor and hearsay?

She writes that 11yo Jason loved Donna Summer and played all her albums. He encouraged her to record the duet with her. That should’ve been clue number one for her…

R592 -

[QUOTE]In an interview with The Advocate published on August 17, 1999, Streisand said:[14] "I would never wish for my son to be anything but what he is. He is bright, kind, sensitive, caring, and a very conscientious and good person. He is a very gifted actor and filmmaker. What more could a parent ask for in their child? I have been truly blessed. Most parents feel that their child is particularly special, and I am no different. I have a wonderful son. My only wish for my son, Jason, is that he continues to experience a rich life of love, happiness, joy, and fulfillment, both creatively and personally.

[quote][R561], But they do not need to be made public repeatedly, especially since her mother is deceased.

There isn't a Jessica Walter eye roll big enough for you, r562.

Before this book, Barbra NEVER SAID Jason "is gay." See R585.

R596 is a thoughtless, uncaring human being who has no relationship with either parent.

r598 is a pretentious, holier-than-thou twit.

Barbra Joan Streisand