In what way does Barbra Streisand prefer her film performances to her stage performances? What insecurity did she have in relation to her first film?
Perhaps movies aren’t the first thing you think of when you consider Barbra Streisand’s long career. But, she found success in Hollywood just as she did on Broadway and in the music charts. She writes about her Hollywood acting career in her memoir My Name Is Barbra.
Read more to learn the highlights of Barbra Streisand’s film career.
Barbra Streisand’s Film Career
Barbra Streisand’s film career, while not what she’s most famous for, is notable. Streisand says that anything she performs onstage is gone as soon as the show ends, but movies last forever. She finds it satisfying and reassuring to know that something she made will outlast her.
(Shortform note: Creating something that will outlive you is a common way of coping with the fear of death. Many people take comfort in the idea that what they’ve done will survive after they die and therefore that people will remember them. In a sense, they feel as if they’ve outlived their deaths by doing so.)
(Shortform note: The factual details of Streisand’s career are readily available. Therefore, we focus mainly on what she says about her personal experiences as a performer rather than reiterating all of the specific roles she played.)
Streisand’s first role in a movie was reprising the role of Fanny Brice from Funny Girl. She says that she was nervous to be on the big screen because she didn’t look like other movie stars of the time, such as Marilyn Monroe, and she thought audiences would reject her because of it. However, that wasn’t the case; Streisand won her first Oscar (Best Actress) for her role in Funny Girl.
(Shortform note: Though movie audiences clearly didn’t reject her, Streisand’s unusual look—and her nose in particular—have been the subject of countless discussions and debates over the years. Many people find her unattractive and wonder why she never got plastic surgery; many others find her extremely attractive, and some credit her with helping to redefine the standards of beauty.)
Streisand has starred in many movies, but her most commercially successful role was as Esther Hoffman in the musical drama A Star Is Born. This was also the most profitable movie for her, since her contracted pay included a percentage of the gross earnings (though she doesn’t say exactly how much she made for that role).
(Shortform note: Paying top stars a percentage of a movie’s earnings is a relatively common practice known as first-dollar gross—so called because the actor starts earning money with the first dollar the movie makes, rather than having to wait for the studio to turn a profit on it. However, some sources say that the term is misleading and that top stars are generally paid a large sum of money upfront, then begin receiving a percentage once the movie has earned enough money to cover that initial payment. In other words, “top-dollar gross” stars get a guaranteed minimum payment for their work, plus extra if the movie is successful enough.)
A Star Is Born includes the song “Evergreen,” which earned Streisand another Oscar (for Best Original Song). “Evergreen” also won three Grammy Awards: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Arrangement, and Song of the Year.
(Shortform note: Composer Paul Williams, who collaborated with Streisand on the music for A Star Is Born, was somewhat bemused by how popular “Evergreen” became. Williams was quoted as saying that he expected the big hit from that movie to be “With One More Look at You,” which he called one of Streisand’s best performances ever.)
