Streisand's Memoir - The FINAL THREAD

WELL?

I'm working on the first sequel, focusing on my golden years: what I ate, what I wore, and what I cloned!

"My Name is Barbra II: Geriatric Boogaloo"

1001 pages

Coming November 2030!!

First sequel is closed

Loved it. Finished it on Tuesday, but it has stayed with me. Enormous talent. I think when someone is talented, rich and famous we believe they're immune from character or personality flaws. Barbra is no different from any of us- was hurt badly in childhood which has, at times, resulted in less than ideal behavior. I was surprised by a few of the things she wrote about. Not that she did them, but that she admitted to them.

A few things she doesn't admit to outright, but if you read between the lines, its clear. For example, I think she makes it clear that ahe had sex with Bill Clinton early on in his first term. I think its clear without her saying it that she doesn't particularly like Obama. And I think Andre Agassi rocked her sexual world to its foundations.

Don Johnson is a real heel. And Mandy Patinkin is just a nasty piece of work. Ugh.

Why doesn’t Babs develop a project to direct her husband in? Has he EVER had a decent role?

"Brolin and Streisand"

When a chance encounter brought them together...

Babs has never worked with either husband, not counting I Can Get it for You Wholesale (Gould). The reason? They’re both lousy actors - worse than she is.

R8 I sure do not agree about Barbra. When she has a part that suits her, and a director who gets her, she is excellent up on that screen. A movie star. I would say Funny Girl, What's Up, Doc?, The Way We Were, A Star is Born, and Yentl best display her acting talent.

I was curious, so I looked up what Art Laurents had to say about directing her in I Can Get it For You Wholesale. She claimed that on opening night out of town in Philadelphia, whe went rogue and used her own staging of the Miss Marmelstein number. That the audience loved it, but Laurents dressed her down so badly the next day at the theater she fled in tears.

According to Laurents nothing like this happened. Herbert Ross was staging the musical numbers, and it was his staging, rolling around in a chair, that she used the whole time.

Reading her book, I actually came to believe that she doesn't knowingly lie about anything. I wonder what the case is here. I guess Elliott might know, but I doubt he'd contradict her at this point

You could say the same about Esther Williams, R9. She was an "actress" when everything in a movie suited her. I'll give you that Streisand was a movie star. But an actress? Like most movie stars, she didn't/couldn't perform outside her comfort zone.

Barbra’s “farm” is actually a Coton de Tulear puppy mill.

I agree that in the right part and with a strong director (Funny Girl, What’s Up Doc, The Way we Were) she’s both a very good actress and undeniably a movie star. When she directed herself (with the possible exception of Yentl) then not so much. But in some films she was pretty great. I think those three films I listed above are classics of their time.

I was given this clunker as a gift, and the audio is available on Spotify, but I still can't bring myself to crack it open. And I kind of like her.

What’s this strong director shit? Don’t you know Barbra Streisand co-directs every movie she’s in?

Wyler, Bogdanovich, Pollack were all strong directors. She may have WANTED to direct and edit those movies but luckily for us she couldn’t.

^ hasn't read her autobiography

^ Actually I have. Is there something here you disagree with?

Does she talk about her son’s condition?

R18 no.

[quote] I think she makes it clear that ahe had sex with Bill Clinton early on in his first term. I think its clear without her saying it that she doesn't particularly like Obama. And I think Andre Agassi rocked her sexual world to its foundations. Don Johnson is a real heel. And Mandy Patinkin is just a nasty piece of work. Ugh. Finally, a useful review of the book.

People forget that, when B. Clinton ran for POTUS, he was young and attractive.

Obama is known to hate fundraising. I’m guessing that he had an attitude with Babs. Who loves fundraising, but if you’re running for POTUS, you’ve got to bite the bullet.

Andre Agassi, I would not have guessed he was good in bed. But I defer to Babs’ judgment.

Don Johnson: what do you expect from someone who dated 14-year-old Melanie Griffith. He used Babs to try to create a singing career. I was in a car w/my mom when the Babs / D. Johnson song came on (Don singing flat and loud). My mom said: “Barbra Streisand is very good to her boyfriends.”

She trained Agassi, R20.

After listening to the audiobook version of her book, I listened to this one.

So many of the same stories/incidents are in each, but Anderson’s version contains a lot of information Streisand chose to omit.

In his version, we learn exactly how Chaplin tormented her onstage during Funny Girl, even what he said to her.

The relationship with Wyler was not as harmonious as Babs likes to convey. There’s much more to the Barry Dennen relationship than she wrote. She also failed to mention several celebrity lovers that are documented in the Anderson book.

I missed the last 575 posts on the last thread but just want to say;

I’ve returned to this audiobook after taking a break for several weeks - in my 1st stage of listening, I got up to The Way We Were - and this book and her reading of it is ABSOLUTE GOLD. Her remarks about Jon Peters are hilarious, just the tone of her voice, and now she’s talking about the lyrics to Woman In Love which didn’t make any sense to her (and they really don’t) and just says, “I just thought, fuck it, just do it.” This is the ULTIMATE fan companion, for anyone who’s enjoyed her decades-long career, this is indispensable. I was born in 1966, by the time I was conscious she was already a legendary star and by the mid-‘70s, she was my pop cultural icon. If she means nothing to you, move on. This isn’t the book for you. For the rest of us, I don’t think there’s ever been quite as generous a celebrity memoir as this. She has her say. And she’s inspirational and instructive, truthful, enlightening and hilarious. It’s not a story. It’s Barbra. Forty-eight hours worth. I feel like, finally, I can talk to someone who likes Barbra Streisand as much as I do! It’s funny and also incredibly honest: the biggest takeaway, especially if you look at her film career which started with such incredible promise and wondered what happened - she tells you, as a recurring theme throughout is one of missed opportunity. Imagine the Streisand who could’ve worked with Bergman and George Balanchine and made Klute, who continued on stage and did Shakespeare…she’s certainly never lacked the artistry, her tv specials, early recordings, Yentl, etc. prove that. Regardless of all the opportunities, there’s only so much you can do in one life. I think Streisand would say, take the risks. Be brave. Throughout her career, people imagined she was indomitable but she was always vulnerable, acting more from curiosity both in what she was capable of and what she could create with others. But perhaps most of all, and she still doesn’t get credit for it, she paved the way for other women. A path that is still being paved.

The book, especially the audiobook, is one for the ages. The definitive companion to her legendary career.

I'm not not a Barbraphile and only know the rough highlights of her life. Her father died young, she has a son, married that handsome guy who also has a son, and she has a mall in her basement. Oh, and the Streisand Effect, because I'm not completely under a rock.

I do love the clip of her singing with my love Judy Garland and find her to be somewhat intriguing.

Would you recommend this book to someone looking to learn more about her?

In case anyone needs a summary of the book, here it is: Barbra is perfect. Barbra is a goddess. Barbra is WHITE HOT. However, Barbra is misunderstood and everybody else is to blame for it - especially her horrible cunt of a mother, who refused to tell her that she was a perfect, white hot goddess... Oh my God, that evil bitch! That is why poor little Barbra was like Cinderella, crying herself to sleep by the fireplace! BOOHOO!!!!! Her father would have adored her as she deserves, but sadly he died. Still, she's still his favorite and he worships her as the goddess that she is, from the Afterlife.

Barbra suffered a little when she was a child, and that is THE GREATEST TRAGEDY OF ALL TIME. Now she has an underground mall were she has hoarded, among many other things, the many dolls that her mother couldn't afford to buy for her. Did I mention that Barbra suffered a little as a child, AND THAT IS A TRAGEDY? She's been a multimillionaire since her mid twenties, but she didn't always get EXACTLY what she wanted AND THAT IS A TRAGEDY!!!!

In 1969 Barbra wore a Chanel dress that had a train 7.15932 feet long,. It was made out of taffeta with a guipure overlay. It had exactly 2,344 sequins and two of them were not perfectly aligned. The dress was meant to be soft pink, but it somehow was 0.00621 whiter than pink on the chromatic scale. Barbra wore it during a concert that lasted 2 hours, 30 minutes, 12 seconds and 1475 microseconds. It was recorded and mastered by Who Gives A Fuck and it took him 25 minutes to get it right, because Barbra is PERFECT.

Are you still awake? Barbra is WHITE HOT. Barbra is a goddess. Barbra is perfect and all the guys want her. She is also the greatest actress of all time, but stupid audiences wanted her to sing, because they are misogynists...

Now, repeat all the previous paragraphs ad infinitum, in different contexts and concentrating on irrelevant minutiae while eschewing anything juicy that could potentially paint her in a negative light. You have the utter and complete waste of a book summarized in a few paragraphs. Now, go get a better book and stop wasting your time on that self-adoring, narcissistic old cow.

It helps to have a familiarity with her career.

Listen to her early recordings, watch old clips on YouTube; watch Funny Girl, What’s Up Doc?, The Way We Were, A Star Is Born, Yentl; listen to her Greatest Hits, both volumes, Guilty, The Broadway Album. Then you might be ready.

It’s not really for the casual fan. If you’re not familiar with most of her career, it won’t mean anything to you. The book makes one want to re-watch and re-listen, re-discover her work all over. It’s assumed the listener has a knowledge of this already, though the first third about how she got started would be interesting to anyone, really.

R25, no one believes fior a second that you actually read a 1,000 page book or listened to a 48 hour long audiobook when you clearly have so many better things to do with your time.

I'm enjoying it very much! R26 is correct. If you've been a fan for any amount of time, you'll love every page. I was a lapsed fan for quite awhile but this book has really made me really appreciate her again. R25 is hilarious! I don't agree with the review, but I get where you're coming from, there is a hint of truth and it is funny.

[quote] I actually came to believe that she doesn't knowingly lie about anything

I think some people just convince themselves of an alternate reality.

R25 no. She's pretty honest about her failings. This summation is wrong.

Love her and the book. But, boy, she would be so tiring to be around for a long time.

I HEARD THAT! (Barbra to Jim, R31)

The Yentl stuff surpasses self-indulgence. She goes on at such length about her own direction of the film, it’s almost as if the film itself doesn’t exist or like she’s describing it for blind people. A more confident artist wouidn’t be explaining their work at such length, 40 years later. It would be of interest for a budding filmmaker but feels really out of place in a mainstream title. Feels like “Barbra Streisand: On Directing” tucked into a commercial title. I can’t imagine even her most diehard fans are interested in all that detail about scouting Czech locations and light reflectors and stuff.

It's not that she isn't confident, R33, she thinks we're idiots. That's why she has to spend page after page "explaining" dialog and scenes because otherwise we won't get it. She also must justify shitty movies (The Main Event, Funny Lady) by explaining scenes - why it was worthwhile. Barbra even micromanages line readings of 50 year old movies, how they SHOULD have been read.

She should get an interest outside of show biz, food and decorating to occupy her time and obsessions in the years she has left on earth.

She does not mention in her memoir that she had a fling with Tommy Smothers, nor did she comment publicly on his recent death.

She vaguely owns up to having had a fling with Sydney Chaplin, when in fact it was a full blown affair, especially during the out of town tryouts.

She slept with most of her leading men, as did most of her peers. Barbra, Jane, Diane, Goldie and Julie Christie were fucking all of their leading men, and that includes the ones who were married. For some strange reason, it's considered a scandal for actors to sleep with each other while filming a movie.

Hugh Grant says film sets are ‘weird’ and ‘sad’ these days. “You know, in the old days, by the end of the second week, you were all getting drunk in the evening and having dinner and falling in love with each other and all that."

To be fair, I actually liked her brief commentary about how the relationship in Funny Lady mirrored her relationship with Jon Peters (whom she speaks of unsparingly throughout and never refers to their sex life or any sexual prowess on his part at all, which is hilarious, considering the smouldering details she provides about her affair with Peter Matz). I also liked her brief comments about Hilary Kramer in The Main Event which she never pretends is any kind of masterpiece; as a child of the ‘70s she definitely has a point and it makes you realise as well that however much she became a target, Streisand herself was always seen as a strong woman - it was absolutely part of her public persona that she was perceived as having power. She was the only woman amongst the group that formed First Artists - which included Newman, McQueen and Hoffman - and delivered their most successful film, A Star Is Born. Hearing her speak of that film, I wish she had directed it in full because she obviously needed that larger outlet to contain her passion and creativity, instead of the hybrid directorial effort it became. And it’s very much a sign of those times that she thought the best she could do was an unwritten backroom agreement that they would “co-direct,” which I absolutely believe. It demonstrates how the much the thought of a female director, especially on a studio film, was just anathema to the male-dominated industry. Her efforts there almost mirror Yentl’s own quest to study the Talmud - something agreed in secret and only done on the sly, for which Streisand paid a big price when Pierson took this revenge or “balanced the scales.” I remember: A Star Is Born was reviled by the media in favour of what was perceived as a better story, “Streisand’s ego.” But audiences LOVED it! It was a super sexy, entertaining adult drama that really seemed of its time, with box office favourite Streisand in peak vocal form. The sepia toned image of the two of them was EVERYWHERE, in the papers, in record stores, on posters, billboards - it was an immediately iconic image, probably sexier and more primal than anything in the actual film (which, admittedly, is kind of middling), that suggested an immediate intimacy between man and woman. With Evergreen. Streisand defined the moment, capturing a mood or zeitgeist that most singers are lucky to do once in their careers and she managed to do multiple times; the song was a sensual pop pleasure that was irresistible to listeners - at the time, there was Evergreen and whatever everybody else was doing, and it quickly climbed to the top of the charts, and won a slew of awards. (Probably more significant than even the Oscar, it won the Song of the Year Grammy which tells you the cultural impact it had. She doesn’t say it in her memoir but I remember on Oscar night she said to the press, “Who knows? Maybe next time I’ll win for Costume Design,” with a shrug, uninterested in boxing herself in as just a singer or an actress.) She always projected a power and wilfulness.

But what is interesting about the memoir of her career is how much of it - entire films and records - were made out of contractual obligation, and it makes you realise a career is what happens while an artist is waiting around for better things to happen and impacted more by missed or delayed opportunities than projects that are actually driven by heartfelt passion and intention, a need to communicate and tell a story. All of that is enlightening and, I can say with my own proximity to top-tiered talent - a lot of films and tv shows get made not because the creators are so passionate about them but because of their brand or previous success they can get them made (i.e., if a cartoon iteration of Mean Girls appears it won’t be because its creator somehow thinks that’s an edifying idea). Maybe that’s not Earth-shattering but it does explain a lot.

But the Yentl section really goes on (and I should talk!), it feels like a separate book, talking about lenses and filters, etc. Tbh, I wish she’d talk about Vincent Canby a bit more as he always seemed to have a begrudging respect for her talents but could only issue backhanded compliments to her (his reviews of her films are hilarious) and she was clearly aware and respectful of him. It would be fun to hear her talk about him.

I suspect the last 15 hours of the audiobook might be hard going, as I don’t really care for her latter films. I hope she goes on at length about Brolin, I could listen to that. :)

R38, She goes on at length about politics and climate change.

R37, have you ever heard of PARAGRAPHS?

Lovely passage from the book about Donna Summer and the recording of Enough is Enough.

Donna Summer was Jason’s favorite singer.

SECOND favorite singer.

R43 OMG I would love it so much if that was really her!

Sure, R41, but all of that has been in print for decades. Nothing new there.

Is the FINAL THREAD finished?

Finally.

[quote] He used Babs to try to create a singing career. I was in a car w/my mom when the Babs / D. Johnson song came on (Don singing flat and loud). My mom said: “Barbra Streisand is very good to her boyfriends.”

He already had a singing career before he hooked up with Streisand. He released a hit album/single the year prior to them getting together.

I'm about 200 pages in (JFK just got shot). It's interesting so far.

Did BJS shoot JFK?!

I LOVED the book. 48 hours of audiobook and I was sorry when it ended.

Mama Streisand was such a CUNT!!!!!

The final scene......MARY! 😭

Your girl’s lovely, Hubbell. I’m sure her clit is poifect.

There’s a Barbara Peterson listed in the credits as “Ash Blonde”… I wonder if she plays Hubbell’s wife.

She doesn’t have other credits - but that was probably a model in the role because they were looking for a stereotypically “pretty” look.

Summer and Streisand had a solid friendship (as Summer had described over the years). Summer was not in the 'Hollywood scene', very rarely went to parties, and mostly kept to herself and her family with a handful of 'Hollywood friends' she knew she could trust - Barbra was one of those people.

I think Barbra appreciated Summer's friendship, as she was an honest friend, with no BS between the two.

Enough is enough is enough is enough is ENOUGH

The more I read the more it's clear Mama Streisand is a solid competitor to Agnes Carpenter for Cunt Mother of the Century Award.

R58 I tend to agree. However, I wonder if Barbra is telling everything. Like that crazy episode where her mother freaked out and screamed "I'm that one that should be getting all the gifts!" I wonder if Barbra had done anything to promt that. VERY odd behavior on the mother's part if not.

So much of Barbra's complaints are repetitive. And all of this "truth" shit - EVERYBODY feels that way, she just doesn't know that, she doesn't know much about normal people.

An 81 year old woman bashing their deceased mother publicly is pathetic.

R61, Barbra is still a little girl and proud of it!

Liza Judy Barbra

I checked the e-book out of the library, promptly forgot about it for a week and a half and then started reading. I got to page 581 before I had to return it and am on the waiting list to re-check it out.

I thought I would be bored but I cannot believe how fascinating I find the minute details. I'm not sure I'm exactly interested in them, but from a psychological point of view, it's utterly fascinating. And I'm not shitting on her at all. I love the book. I cannot wait to jump back into it. I will say this- I'm in the 2nd third of the Yentl section and I'm way ready to move on from it- she went on much too long, but I still find it interesting.

Question- does she EVER mention Roslyn Kind? I think there was one tiny mention of a baby sister in the beginning and then... nothing. The brother got a bunch of mentions, but Roslyn... bupkis.

Family isn’t Barbra’s thing… B Movie husband and nepo baby aside.

[quote] I got to page 581 before I had to return it and am on the waiting list to re-check it out.

That's hilarious. How many damn pages are in this book? I can't believe you plowed through 580 pages and had to stop.

R64 she is briefly mentioned when BS talks about her new stepfather in the beginning and then.....many hundreds of pages until she is mentioned again near the end of the book, 40 pages before the end - and only after BS talks about her son Jason joining her on stage does she say "I asked my sister Rozzie to join the tour."

Just finished the book. I thought overall it was interesting, but more interesting in earlier chapters. She doesn't dig very deep into relationships - no answer as to why she stayed with a loser like Jon Peters for almost a decade.

It all starts going up its own ass in the 90s and then the story is just 200 or so pages of "I met this person and did this thing and wore that thing and blar blar blar, meow meow meow....."

She seems to be a connoisseur of good dick but doesn't get into the details on that, either.

There's a curious mention of Louis Kind (stepfather) right after a discussion of "Nuts" that made me wonder if she was insinuating that Louis may have assaulted/molested her. There's also a mention of someone she said she shared secrets with and she said they (he?) took "my secret" to their grave.

R68 I hope that isn't true. Though she definitely put hints of things in there. A chapter titled "what was I thinking?" which STARTS about high profile, later successful projects she turned down, quickly becomes about Jon Peters.

I believe in the audiobook she says "my secrets." And I think it was Brando she said it about.

Why should Roslyn Kind be mentioned more? They've never been close sisters. Add to that, Roz just isn't in Barbra's league on any level, especially socially. You actually think Roslyn asked sis before her one and only marriage to a gay casting director if she should do it?

R69 I hope not, as well. But I thought the mention of Louis Kind at precisely that moment was quite an unusual placement.

I didn't realize she wasted ten years on Jon Peters.

If Babs was molested by her stepfather, I don't see why she wouldn't blab about it now. If she can talk about her psychopath mother, why not a pedo stepfather. THAT might be one of the reasons she left home so early, it adds a lot to her story. Maybe she hides it because it would take away some of her idolization of her real father she never knew. He was so perfect, unlike Louis Kind.

She blabbed about how generally hateful Louis Kind was to her, for sure.

More like six-seven, R72. 1974 to 1981 at the very most.

R72, It’s not easy to walk away from a beer can thick cock.

R74, hateful, violent is okay. Sex isn't.

People who knew her said that Joan Crawford would be mortified if she knew that some of her same sex affairs would become public MORE than the abuse of her first group of adopted children.

She doesn't spell out the years but Wikipedia lists their time as partners as 1973 to 1982. So that was 9 years.

[quote]I didn't realize she wasted ten years on Jon Peters.

Whatever you think of Peters, he totally revived her career and turned her into THE superstar of the 1970s. He was responsible for A Star is Born and the Guilty album, her two biggest musical successes. Not to mention the success of The Main Event and other albums. He made her cool and relevant again.

R76 is that what Peters had? Well, being dickmatized is understandable.

Between loving good dick and having somewhat of a daddy complex with the men she was with, I kinda appreciate her more. I mean we have a lot in common! LOL

True, Streisand was more contemporary when she was being guided by Peters.

She kinda went back to Classic Babs after him, with the Broadway album, etc and really hasn't stayed contemporary since.

R80, According to Pamela Anderson, who fucked Peters on and off for years, he is hung huge.

[quote] Why should Roslyn Kind be mentioned more? They've never been close sisters. Add to that, Roz just isn't in Barbra's league on any level, especially socially.

Datalounge: Plumbing the Depths of Shallowness.

Straight male hairdresser seems like a unicorn.

. . .

Especially HUNG straight male hairdresser

Peters was with her for a decade - the last project he was involved with was her 1984 "Emotion" album. He is the one who suggested the Kim Carnes duet, and he is the one who contacted Carnes and made the offer to duet on the album with her early on in the planning stages.

Jon was hot in a sleazy way in the 70s.

R88, Peters was extremely cautious with Kristofferson during the ASIB filming, knowing he and Streisand had a sexual history.

Kris wanted to do the bathtub scene naked, but Peters insisted he wear underwear.

R78, you believe what Wikipedia says? It's written by fans like you and often wrong.

Peters was "with" Streisand into the 1990s because he gave her the go ahead on Prince of Tides, R87. He was head of Columbia Pictures. They hadn't been a couple for a decade. Do you understand that communicating, even working with someone, doesn't mean they were sleeping together? Streisand has them separating as a couple during her prep for Yentl, 1981 or 82.

I found it very odd that, if I remember the story correctly, she kept the jar of candy Louis Kind sent her after he saw her in Funny Girl on Broadway next to the tub for years.

Peters and the wife he married after the breakup with Streisand named her godmother to their daughter.

Peters wasn't "with" Streisand into the 90s. He was her manager (not sure if he was her romantic partner) until 1984. She then dropped him after "Emotion" (he was fundamental in getting Daltrey for the 'Emotion' video) , and signed up with Sandy Gallin as her manager in 1985, and she started romancing Baskin at that time, too. She stayed with Gallin for about a year, and then she resigned with Ehrlichman in 1986.

Doesn’t she realize that every time she shits on Lou Kind how Roslyn might feel?

Lou Kind???

[quote] That's hilarious. How many damn pages are in this book? I can't believe you plowed through 580 pages and had to stop.

900 and change! It's a pretty fast read once you get into it, but I knew I'd never make it through the whole thing. I honestly only started it because I figured I'd find it boring and bail on it. I never expected to be so fascinated. I will supposedly get it back in another 7 weeks, which is fine. I usually have 2-3 books going at one time, anyway. And the amount of books I've bought, both hard copy and Kindle, in the past few years is ridiculous. If I lived to 100 I'd never get through them.

I have about 100 pages to finish. I put it aside about a month ago, because it had become so boring at the end. It was really interesting until she got to the 1990s.

R95, Streisand is telling HER STORY, not Roslyn’s.

Maybe Roz hated him, too.

R99, He was Roslyn's father.

[quote]Kris wanted to do the bathtub scene naked, but Peters insisted he wear underwear.

It's been well-documented that Kris had an erection during the bathtub scene and Jon hit the roof. Kris was a mess during the ASIB filming, due to the drugs and booze. Rita Coolidge even called Jon and Barbra one night after Kris went on a bender and became violent. Jon raced over there and got Kris sobered up and Rita calmed down. What you saw onscreen in ASIB was happening in real life.

976 pages

oops, sorry. I stand corrected.

996 pages

Do Jason and Josh Brolin go on overnight camping 🏕️ trips?

[quote]What you saw onscreen in ASIB was happening in real life.

What I saw onscreen was rather boring - can it be they lived such boring lives in real life ?

She doesn’t bash her Mom. She describes their complex relationship and even credits her mother with her career. She does describe several pretty sad and even violent incidents involving her mother. I think she comes off as very honest and understanding of her mom and reconciled their relationship. Lord knows she took good care of her mom- and her sister- all her family in fact.

R92 that was a strange detail.

Sally Field got into much more depth about her relationship with her step father Jock Mahoney. She had a "consensual" sexual relationship with him.

To be honest, the scenes Sally describes when she sees him as an adult, after he's left her mother and taken up with another woman reminded me of the scene in Barbra's book where Lou Kind comes to see Funny Girl.

DUH , R101.

Sally Field needs therapy if she had a “consensual” sexual relationship with her step father.

Some interesting quotes from the book about Judy Garland:

Judy's own daughter, Liza Minnelli, says that her mother's first reaction on hearing me sing was to say, "I'm never going to open my mouth again." She was like that, very self deprecating. And deeply vulnerable.

That was a joke, R111.

You’re full of shit, R107.

She never misses an opportunity to malign her mother and reveals incidents bordering on the ridiculous.

Case in point, she offers a photograph of herself, her mother and Virginia Clinton Kelly posing during her comeback concert in the early 1990s.

Streisand is in the middle, Virginia on the left and her mother on the right, behind her.

To Streisand, the fact that Virginia is holding her hand and her mother isn’t, demonstrates that her mother was cold and aloof and Virginia was a much warmer and loving woman.

I was thinking...with all of this pastrami, ice cream and fatty crap she consumes, will Barbra Streisand live to be 85? (That's only three years, baby).

[quote]R107 Lord knows she took good care of her mom- and her sister- all her family in fact.

Her mother was shoved in some cramped, ratty condo forever. Roz had to work in a bakery.

I don't think Sally's sexual relationship with her stepfather was "consensual." I didn't get that at ALL from her book.

R116 there was a reason I put it in quotes. She was too young. But she did what she did willingly.

R113- which was quite accurate. You should also know that she flew her Mom out to Vegas to see her two shows and her mom was a no show for the first while Virginia came to both.

Many people are wounded by a parent and it stays with you life long. Streisand also provides numerous examples of her mother trying to communicate caring- in short- she understood and forgave her mom. It’s a pretty central thread throughout the memoire.

Barbra describes several occasions when her mother said (or shouted) that Barbra shouldn’t be getting an award; she (her mother) should be getting the award for being Barbra’s mother. I think that goes beyond parent-child envy and borders on Trumpian mental illness in which he believes only he can be the winner, and no one else can succeed without his influence. I think that’s part of why Barbra was so angry with her mother for so long. On the other hand, Barbra acknowledges that her mother’s attitude in part drove Barbra to succeed.

Most people should have told Barbra’s mother, “Diana, see you next Tuesday.”

R118 is a complete and utter moron.

If you in fact were raised by biological parents, I cringe to think how you must treat them.

Barbra barely knew Virginia Clinton Kelly at the time of her comeback concert, yet she compares their friendship to a lifelong relationship with her own mother and promotes a staged photograph as proof that her mother was distant and unloving?

We all know how difficult Streisand is. Do you believe she was any less difficult growing up?

It’s beyond tasteless for an extremely successful woman in her eighties to repeatedly chastise her deceased mother for all the world to read.

R121 is mentally ill. To blame a child for a parent's shortcomings is......truly psychotic.

Barbra, I was worried that you’d get a swelled head. Now cut your nails, meeskite.

Does she talk much about her relationship with Richard Baskin? She kept their relationship very private and not much is known about it.

[quote]An 81 year old woman bashing their deceased mother publicly is pathetic.

An 81 year old woman bashing HER deceased mother in public is pathetic.

R125, Either is acceptable.

R122, Every parent since Adam and Eve has had shortcomings.

Streisand has repeatedly disrespected her mother in interview after interview for decades and now in her memoir.

Nice going, Barbra.

Yes, R124, and there are oodles of photos of them together. Seems he was nice but boring and did not understand her obsessions. Lucky nice and boring James Brolin got her after her movie career, after 50% of her obsessions had died off or he’d be on the junk pile too.

R121, her friendship with Clinton was very real and close. My guess is that you did not read the memoir nor do you know much about the Clintons. A recurring theme in Streisand’s life is close friendships with older women from Clinton to Cis Corman th M Albright and others. Mentors, role models. Streisand remains quite close to both Bill and Hillary.

FYI, I am not pledged to worship my mother for the rest of my life either. Rather I have sought to understand her and be able to forgive her to cool the anger. No big wup- many do the same including Streisand who describes her life long process. F it rgiveness is not a one time event. It’s a process and continuous.

You’re obviously a very troubled human being and I pity you, R129.

FYI, Streisand only knew Virginia Clinton Kelly for a short period of time when the photograph in question was taken, which you would know if you had in fact read her memoir carefully and/or knew much about their “relationship”.

R130 Eat shit, you stupid cunt. Not all of us had June Cleaver as mothers. You can save your sneering judgement for someone who gives a fuck.

R129 thanks for your post, which correctly describes what's in the book.

And also describes reality for many people.

R130 forgot his meds today.

R129 It isn't worth it. Arguing with the mentally ill rarely is.

R122, R131 and R132 are all the same misguided, misinformed, neglected, unloved and quite possibly abandoned individual.

Anyway, let's get the topic back to my favorite topic.....ME!

If Babs had a bad relationship with her mother, then that's her truth. She should be able to put that in her autobiography. Time doesn't heal all wounds.

It's more than obvious, R135. Isn't that kind of repetition in the same thread what gets people red tagged?

The pic was taken during the 93/4 New Years concerts in Vegas- the first time Streisand had sung for pay in decades. She flew Virginia and her mom to Vegas. Her mom did not show for the first concert preferring to go out with some friends. The action speaks for itself.

I found it odd that she doesn't mention how her mother was as a grandmother to Jason. Sometimes, the role of the grandparent is completely different than how they act as a parent.

R139, Diana attended the following evening’s performance.

R140, Nor does she mention Jason’s relationship with Elliott’s parents.

My question is, even though it pained her, didn't Babs KNOW her mother? Why is she so shocked that her mother came to the second show, wouldn't hold her hand in the photo...all of this stupid stuff should have been expected. Then how did her mother take Barbra's gushing over other "mothers" like Virginia Clinton sometimes right in front of her?

I don't know if it's in the book, but decades ago I heard Barbra say that her mother was nicer after she got alzheimers because she didn't know her daughter was a famous singer.

I was a fan so approached the book with interest especially when Amazon UK began selling the Kindle version at £2.99. She’s undoubtedly talented but her constant questioning would drive me insane. Her wanting to go through Barry Gibb’s lyrics for meaning in Woman In Love was hilarious - deep analysis of a Bee Gee lyric? Sure Babs.

I ended up skimming the book and felt at the end she comes across as an intense, wearying person - a huge talent though I imagine very, very hard work to be around.

R143, Such a cruel and heartless remark from a daughter, but sadly not surprising.

She is what a therapist would call hypervigilant.....which is where the perfectionist streak comes in.

But based on her childhood, there's at least some understandable reasons for it.

If 50% of Streisand's work was excellent, as a former fan, I'd excuse all of her mishegoss. But even with all of her over analyzing of EVERYTHING, editing for the perfect parts for a record, etc etc etc, 70% of her entire body of work is dreck!

This is the photograph that Streisand offers as proof that Virginia Clinton Kelly was a more loving woman than her mother Diana.

She was offered Beauty and the Beast but didnt like the lyrics (which include “learning you were wrong”). Celine Dion ended up singing it with Peabo Bryson.

Barry Gibb jokes about it, but described Babs as “angry.”

Her mother wore the most horrible wigs.

R149, when and where did he describe her as angry?

Does she talk about taking voice lessons in the book? She had a longtime vocal coach named Judy Davis, who also happened to be Judy Garland's coach. Barbra stayed in San Francisco for a month to take daily classes with Davis before she recorded the Funny Girl film soundtrack. She would call up Davis periodically throughout her career if she needed advice, like before she did her big comeback tour in 94. Davis said that Barbra already knew how to use her instrument instinctually, but just needed reassurance and some pointers on how to fine tune her voice.

Gershwin told me never to go near a singing teacher.

R151, it was a tv interview. I believe it was 60 minutes Australia or something like that. The title of the video on youtube is something like Last Man Standing, as he is the last Gibb brother alive.

Ive seen a couple interviews of Barry where he talks about Babs, so it may be a different one.

[quote]R123 Barbra, I was worried that you’d get a swelled head. Now cut your nails, meeskite. —D. Kind

Oh god. Does Babs talk about her Fu Manchu fingernail obsession? I think they’re so disgusting. How would one keep them clean?

R152, Barbra started working with Judy Davis at the very beginning, like 1963. It’s always described as a one time thing, that Davis helped her over some difficulties briefly. Not that I ever believed that. It’s like Allan Miller her acting coach. He was with her a looong time, helping behind the scenes. Barbra has tremendous difficulty admitting she was not a complete original who never had a singing lesson, was influenced by anyone or needed help from music/acting professionals.

Barbra also never talked about how much of an influence Lena Horne was on her singing style. Barbra revered Lena and was terrified to meet her, according to Arthur Laurents. She's only now admitting how much of an influence Judy Garland had on her.

Barbra always claimed in interviews that she only had one singing lesson in her life and that she hated it, but that was blatantly false. Her voice got considerably more powerful around the time of Funny Lady and A Star is Born. It's clear that she was doing vocal training during this period.

LAINIE gladly admitted Lena was a major influence and even made friends with her. Lena my-friends-are-only-black bullshit actually contributed a quote for a Lainie CD in the 1990s.

R154, you are correct. It was 60 Minutes Australia. He said he didn't want to work with her again because he didn't want to deal with her anger. I was shocked someone was so honest about her, if we are to believe him. I know two people who worked for her or with her, both had nothing but good things to say about her. She is clearly a complicated person who has had an extraordinary life, so it's not surprising she can be very different things to different people.

[quote]LAINIE gladly admitted Lena was a major influence and even made friends with her. Lena my-friends-are-only-black bullshit actually contributed a quote for a Lainie CD in the 1990s.

Well, they were probably bumping kitties. They were both gay/bi. I'm sure Lena loved sucking on Lainie's big ol' titties.

R154 . . .

I would believe Barry Gibb re: Babs. He was a hot songwriter (non-Bee Gees stuff) at the time he worked with Babs. She probably tried to micromanage the recording instead of trusting him as a songwriter & interpreter.

Comme ca.

R149 "She's happy and angry and happy and angry..."

After reading her book, I know exactly what she means. But I also know that quote would REALLY bother her.

R164 That should read "I know exactly what HE means" not she.

R163’s pic = Lena not interested in Barbra in the slightest

The Barry Gibb interview at R164 is a good watch, aside from him talking about Babs.

He's the oldest Gibb brother and the last one still alive.

Sounds like Robin was more professionally ambitious than Barry (and Maurice).

Are we done?

I think we were done by the end of the original thread.

Please, Barbra. Barbra, please.

These threads are part of my legacy, so keep them going, you lazy, ungrateful bitches!

He also says her loves her.

She says just the opposite in the book, R162. She was just another instrument on the Guilty album and completely submitted to Barry Gibb.

She says in the book she couldn’t make any sense of the lyric to Woman In Love but ultimately realised his lyrics were different than anything she’d sung before and just went with it. She loved the album. Given it sold 15M worldwide, I can’t imagine why Gibb would ever say a bad word against her.

They reunited for her One Voice concert and recorded another album together. Who knows what he’s talking about. Perhaps he means that everything with her remains a work in progress.

I found the chapter near the end about her mother really disturbing. Her mother was really cruel to her. It did make the prospect of a Gypsy film seem really interesting. (It’s funny how she always refers to the Roz Russell film and pretends the Bette Midler version doesn’t exist.)

But by the end of the book, with endless details about films that never even happened like The Normal Heart and Gypsy, it seems a shame she never really figured out how to work WITHIN the system, to compromise just that little bit - something all filmmakers have to do - and get things made.

I mean, The Normal Heart stuff - firstly, it’s a good thing she never took it upon herself to do something about the Civil Rights Movement since we’d probably still be waiting for her version of In the Heat of the Night or Sounder or whatever.

But also, her ideas for The Normal Heart sound terrible and it’s embarrassing that she couldn’t realise she was not the person for that job. (And I love Mark Ruffalo’s awkward, slightly fey performance as Ned Weeks, btw.) Barbra should’ve just butted out of that one.

But, I don’t know, I believe are did break barriers as a female director so maybe that does account for her lack of output. But, y’know, so did Penny Marshall.

I like that mentions Liza a few times near the end of the book. She almost seems a little envious of her extroverted nature.

^ HA!

Her mother was the biggest KUNT since Kunta Kinte.

When Barbra moved to Manhattan at 16, Diana would regularly cook and bring her her food.

How many mothers would do that?

^^^all Jewish ones, except Stephen Sondheim's.

I resemble that remark.