Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Women We Love: Barbra Streisand

Object of our affection: Barbra Streisand, actress/ singer/composer/director/writer/producer.

- Where do you start with Miss Barbara Joan Streisand? She has conquered virtually every aspect of show business ... and has the awards to prove it (including lifetime achievement honors from the American Film Institute, the Kennedy Center Honors and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association). In addition to her performances on stage and screen, she is one of the most commercially and critically successful female entertainers in modern entertainment history and one of the best selling solo recording artists of all time.

- In the small but scene-stealing role of Miss Marmelstein in the musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale, she took Broadway by storm, followed by her star-making turn as the Funny Girl herself, Fanny Brice, in both New York and London. She won a special Tony Award in 1970.

- She would reprise her acclaimed performance of Brice in her film debut, Funny Girl, which won her an Academy Award and the first of seven Golden Globes. Additionally, she is the only person to have won Oscars for both acting and songwriting (for "Evergreen", the "Love Theme" from A Star is Born). Her film career has run the gamut from musicals (Hello, Dolly!, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Funny Lady) to dramas (The Way We Were, A Star is Born, Nuts) to comedies (The Owl and the Pussycat, What's Up, Doc?, The Main Event), culminating in directing herself in all three genres (Yentl, The Prince of Tides and The Mirror Has Two Faces, respectively). Most recently, she co-starred in the hit Meet the Fockers, and is set to return for its sequel, Little Fockers.

- Her first record, The Barbra Streisand Album, won the singer her first two Grammy Awards. She would go on to win seven more, for such other classic albums as My Name is Barbra, Color Me Barbra and The Broadway Album. She has recorded more than 60 albums (including 29 top ten hits), and her many hit singles include "Happy Days Are Here Again", "People", "The Way We Were", "Evergreen", "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" and "Somewhere".

- For television, she has won four Emmys out of nine nominations for her legendary musical specials, including My Name is Barbra, A Happening in Central Park, Barbra Streisand ... and Other Musical Instruments, Barbra Streisand: The Concert (which also won the Peabody Award) and Timeless: Live in Concert. She returns to TV this Saturday on the CBS special Streisand: Live in Concert, which will feature performances from her 2006 concert tour.

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