Barbra Streisand: When a star was born
A portrait of American singer-actress Barbra Streisand, November 10, 1964. In addition to her meteoric recording career, the superstar burst onto the scene in the 1960s with hits on Broadway and a string of Emmy Award-winning TV specials on CBS.
"I Can Get It For Your Wholesale"
Barbra Streisand as Miss Marmelstein in the musical "I Can Get It For Your Wholesale" (1962). When she auditioned for her first Broadway show, Streisand told CBS News' Anthony Mason, she asked for a chair. "One of the reasons I want to sit in the chair is 'cause I'm nervous. But the other reason is, I see if she's a secretary, she's gonna sing a song, it might be very funny if she rolls around in a secretarial chair."
Streisand got the part, but on the first day of rehearsal she was told the choreography for her big solo would be quite different - no chair. "And I said, 'Oh, I thought you liked my chair.' And they said, 'No, no, that was good for the audition. But now we're gonna stage it.' And I thought, I really tried hard, but I guess I didn't cut it. I didn't understand [the staging] from a truthful point of view. And Arthur Laurents kept saying to me, 'You're never gonna make it because you're so undisciplined.'"
During out-of-town tryouts, though, Streisand's insight into the character won out. "They said to me, 'Oh, do it in your damn chair!' And it stopped the show." Producer David Merrick put her picture - in the chair - on the outside of the theater ... and Streisand earned a Tony Award nomination.
"Funny Girl"
Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice in the musical "Funny Girl" (1964).
"Funny Girl"
Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice in the musical "Funny Girl" (1964).
"Funny Girl"
Barbra Streisand (Fanny Brice) and Sydney Chaplin (Nick Arnstein) backstage at the musical "Funny Girl" (1964). Both were nominated for Tony Awards for their performances.
"Funny Girl"
Barbra Streisand performs "Don't Rain on My Parade" in "Funny Girl" (1964). She would repeat the role in the 1968 film, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Though Streisand has only appeared in two Broadway shows, she has recorded dozens of show tunes. "I'm an actress first," she told CBS News. "Broadway songs tell a story, 'cause they're based on a character. And it's a play for me. It's, how does the character grow? How does she transform from the beginning of the song to the end?"
Barbra Streisand
A November 10, 1964 portrait of Barbra Streisand.
Barbra Streisand
American singer-actress Barbra Streisand poses for a portrait, February 16, 1965.
"My Name Is Barbra"
"My Name Is Barbra," the first of several specials in which Streisand starred for CBS, was originally broadcast on April 28, 1965.
"My Name Is Barbra"
Barbra Streisand sits on a kettledrum during a rehearsal for her first television special, "My Name Is Barbra," April 14, 1965.
"My Name Is Barbra"
Taped upon the release of her fifth, Grammy-winning studio album (also titled "My Name Is Barbra"), the show featured performances of such songs as "People," "I've Got the Blues," "Lover Come Back to Me," and (from her hit Broadway show "Funny Girl") "Second Hand Rose" and "My Man."
"My Name Is Barbra"
American singer and actress Barbra Streisand, in costume as a young girl, sits on a giant chair on the set of her first TV special, "My Name Is Barbra."
"My Name Is Barbra"
American singer and actress Barbra Streisand performs dressed as a little girl on an oversized set during her special, "My Name Is Barbra," April 12, 1965.
"My Name Is Barbra"
Barbra Streisand studies herself on a television monitor during taping of her special, "My Name Is Barbra."
Streisand told CBS News' correspondent Anthony Mason that she prefers the recording studio to concert performances: "Because it's private, basically. I can just be alone with the music in my headphones. When I sing with headphones, the sound is just - you're enveloped in the orchestra. And then my voice fits into that orchestra, which is much harder to do on stage, because I can't wear those things they wear in the - I don't like anything stuck in my ears. And so you don't get the same kind of sound when you're singing - I can't really hear myself. So it's not as much fun."
"My Name Is Barbra"
"My Name Is Barbra," the first of Streisand's specials for CBS.
"My Name Is Barbra"
Part of "My Name Is Barbra" was taped in the New York department store Bergdorf Goodman.
"My Name Is Barbra"
Barbra Streisand in "My Name Is Barbra."
"Color Me Barbra"
"Color Me Barbra," Streisand's second TV special for CBS, was originally aired - in color - on March 30, 1966.
"Color Me Barbra"
Streisand's "Color Me Barbra" included performances of "Yesterdays," "Where or When," and "Starting Here, Starting Now."
Her album, "Color Me Barbra," would win Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Female Vocal Performance.
"Color Me Barbra"
American singer and actress Barbra Streisand, in costume as the Egyptian queen Nefertiti, poses next to a bust of Nefertiti on the set of her TV special "Color Me Barbra."
"A Happening in Central Park"
Close-up of American singer-actress Barbra Streisand during her concert in Sheep Meadow in New York's Central Park, June 16, 1967.
"Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park," recorded live before a crowd of 150,000, was released as an album and broadcast on CBS on Sept. 15, 1968.
"The Belle of 14th Street"
Barbra Streisand appeared in a return to vaudeville in a revue titled "The Belle of 14th Street." Broadcast on CBS on Oct. 11, 1967, the show co-starred Jason Robards.
"Funny Girl"
In her very first movie, Barbra Streisand won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in "Funny Girl." (In a rarity for the Academy, Streisand tied with Katharine Hepburn, who also won for "The Lion in Winter.")
When New Yorker critic Pauline Kael reviewed "Funny Girl" she said the message of the film, and of Streisand herself, was that talent is beauty - to which Streisand disagreed.
"I think talent is one beauty. But then there's beauty!" she laughed. "I mean, I think that you have to be able to be photogenic. You have to have some good angles. You have to have a beautiful photographer. I adored [cinematographer] Harry Stradling and [director] Willy Wyler on my first film. They made me look beautiful. I couldn't believe how I looked on the screen. But no, you can't be a leading lady unless you look a certain way."
She laughs recalling that on one of her album covers, "one guy cut off my bump. And I went, 'What the hell?' You know, if I wanted a nose job I'd go to a doctor, not a retoucher! No, I love my bump. I love my bump! I would never let anyone touch it, because what if it changed the sound of my voice? What if it hurt? The idea of it was too weird to me. I just always believed in, be who you are. Embrace who you are. For some reason I was into that."
"Barbra Streisand ... and Other Musical Instruments"
Ray Charles was a guest on the 1973 TV special, "Barbra Streisand … and Other Musical Instruments," recorded when she was becoming - with hits like "What's Up, Doc?" and "The Way We Were" - one of the hottest stars in movies.
Anthony Mason asked Streisand, "When you ended up on the big screen, did you feel seen?"
"I did feel seen. But what I discovered was I don't like stardom!" she laughed. "I don't like what goes along with it. I'm really a workaholic. I'm really interested only in the creative process. I don't like to perform, I don't like to be photographed, I don't like to have to show up places, I don't like to have to do publicity. I don't like any of it!"
"Barbra Streisand ... and Other Musical Instruments"
Barbra Streisand rehearses for her 1973 television special "Barbra Streisand ... and Other Musical Instruments." Streisand sang some of her best-known songs, including "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade."
For more info:
barbrastreisand.com
By CBS News.com's David Morgan and Lauren Treihaft