PDF Summary:My Name Is Barbra, by Barbra Streisand

My Name Is Barbra is the 1,000-page autobiography of Barbra Streisand, perhaps one of the most successful and well-rounded performers in history. As a testament to her career, Streisand is an EGOT winner (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards), a feat that only 24 people have achieved.

This guide will take you through Streisand’s remarkable life, as told by Streisand herself. We’ll examine her personal life—how she was raised, how she describes herself, and her various romantic relationships. Then we’ll explore her extensive career. Finally, we’ll discuss her legacy: her philanthropic work and what she hopes to leave behind after she passes away.

Our commentary will provide some background information about the entertainment industry and the people Streisand discusses. We’ll also examine some of the psychology behind Streisand’s drive to perform and escape from reality. Finally, we’ll discuss what other prominent figures—such as composer Paul Wiliams—have said about Streisand and her work.

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(Shortform note: Though Streisand doesn’t say why she broke things off with Newley, accounts from his ex-wife Joan Collins may provide some clues. Collins describes him as shallow and self-absorbed, with a taste for younger women (though she vehemently denies that he was a pedophile). Furthermore, tabloids have reported rumors that Newley regularly cheated on his wife. The fact Newley said—or rather, sang—that his breakup with Streisand was his fault also supports these stories.)

Jon Peters: A hairstylist whom Streisand met when she asked him to design a wig for her. She describes Peters as being bold and outspoken. For instance, at their first meeting, he scolded Streisand for keeping him waiting; shortly after that, he crudely complimented her body. Streisand says that she actually enjoyed this treatment—Peters acted like his authentic self and talked to her as if she were a regular person. However, Peters used her money to buy a house in his name and to pay for landscaping and construction projects that Streisand hadn’t agreed to, prompting her to end the relationship.

(Shortform note: In various interviews throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Streisand and Peters said that they were, in essence, too similar to each other to succeed as a couple; both of them were strong-willed and determined to be in charge. While this willfulness is why Peters wasn’t afraid to speak his mind to Streisand—which she appreciated—it also led to them endlessly butting heads, such as when Peters took her money for his own projects and assumed that Streisand would be OK with it. Although Streisand says that the two of them are much better off as friends than as romantic partners, Peters continues to insist that she was the greatest love of his life.)

Streisand’s Current Husband: James “Jim” Brolin

Streisand describes her current husband, James Brolin, as attractive, considerate, and very masculine. Her favorite thing about Brolin is that he doesn’t feel threatened by her success and doesn’t try to hold her back professionally; on the contrary, he encourages her to pursue opportunities and helps in any way he can.

(Shortform note: The reason some men feel so threatened by their wives’ success while others don’t may have to do with how successful these men feel they are. A study by the American Psychological Association says that men’s self-esteem suffers when their romantic partners succeed at things they (the men) feel like they’ve failed at. So, in this case, perhaps Gould felt threatened by Streisand’s success because he wasn’t satisfied with his career as an actor—and, conversely, maybe Brolin doesn’t feel threatened because he is satisfied with his successes.)

Streisand explains that she met Brolin in 1996 at a dinner party hosted by one of their mutual friends. He was sporting an unusual haircut that day, and Streisand’s first words to him were to ask who had messed up his hair. Far from being offended, Brolin—a professional actor like Streisand—was pleasantly surprised to meet someone in the industry who spoke her mind freely and honestly. They didn’t speak to anyone else for the rest of the party, and then they went back to Streisand’s home where they kept talking late into the night.

(Shortform note: Though he hasn’t won as many awards as Streisand, Brolin is a star in his own right—he’s best known for his roles on TV shows such as Marcus Welby, M.D. and Hotel. Brolin has won two Golden Globe awards and one Emmy award, and he was nominated for several more. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In addition to his professional success, Brolin’s reputation is also positive; the press tends to agree with Streisand’s description of him as attractive and caring.)

Streisand and Brolin lived together for about two years before getting married in 1998, and they’ve been happily married ever since.

What Brolin Says About Streisand

Brolin’s account of that first dinner party is a bit more extreme than Streisand’s. He says that he found Streisand’s straightforwardness extremely attractive; for him, it was love at first sight.

Later, during an interview about their marriage of (at the time) 24 years, Brolin shared some tips that he believes are key to a successful relationship:

First, you and your partner should know the other’s history so you understand each other’s motivations and traumas—in other words, why you both act the way you do, especially when upset.

Second, as partners, you need to be patient with each other because both of you are going to make mistakes and upset each other sometimes. On that note, Brolin says that it’s important to know when to walk away from a situation for a little while and cool down.

Finally, you and your partner should know how to negotiate with each other. This is crucial because there will be times when you can’t agree on something and need to work out a compromise.

Streisand’s Career

Streisand’s career as a performer is what she’s best known for. In this section, we’ll describe the manager who supported Streisand’s success, then we’ll discuss Streisand’s remarkable achievements in theater, as a singer, on television, and in movies.

(Shortform note: The factual details of Streisand’s career are readily available. Therefore, this guide will focus mainly on what she says about her personal experiences as a performer, rather than reiterating all of the specific roles she played and the albums she recorded.)

Streisand’s Manager

While discussing her early career, Streisand introduces Martin “Marty” Erlichman, a personal manager who went backstage to speak with her after watching one of her shows. During that first meeting, Erlichman correctly predicted that she would become an EGOT winner (short for someone who’s won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards), and he offered to represent her in the entertainment industry. Erlichman was her career manager from then on, meaning he negotiated the contracts for nearly everything she did.

(Shortform note: Erlichman has a reputation as one of the best managers in the entertainment industry, with a keen eye for talent. While he’s best known for “discovering” Streisand and managing her career from the 1960s onward, he’s also guided the careers of numerous other stars in various forms of entertainment. For example, he’s managed the acclaimed comedians Joan Rivers and Chevy Chase, multi-platinum songwriter Bob Crewe, and even heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman.)

Theatrical Work

Streisand got her first acting credits at the age of 15, as an apprentice at Malden Bridge Playhouse. Her first role was a small part in a play called Teahouse of the August Moon. That same summer, she played a flirtatious office worker and a plain, bookish girl; though those roles were very different from each other, she received positive reviews for both. Streisand says that she felt miscast in some of the roles she played during her apprenticeship, but she didn’t care—she was just happy to finally be onstage.

(Shortform note: Even though Streisand felt she’d been miscast in her apprenticeship roles, the fact that she got positive feedback for two very different parts meant that she’d avoided being typecast. This is when actors are repeatedly cast in the same kind of role, like how John Wayne played numerous versions of a rugged, manly cowboy. Many actors fear being typecast because having to play the same kind of character over and over can feel like it’s suffocating their creativity.)

With Erlichman’s support, Streisand landed her first Broadway role at the age of 19: a young secretary named Miss Marmelstein in the play I Can Get It for You Wholesale.

(Shortform note: According to Jerome Weidman, who wrote Wholesale, the unusual choice to cast 19-year-old Streisand as middle-aged secretary Miss Marmelstein was made out of necessity. Streisand was such an exceptional performer that they absolutely had to cast her, but she had such a big personality and presence that she’d steal scenes if she were only in the ensemble, thereby ruining the show. Therefore, casting her as Marmelstein—a major character, but not a main character—gave her a chance to shine onstage, while still allowing more experienced performers to play the leading roles.)

In 1964, Streisand starred in Funny Girl as legendary vaudeville performer Fanny Brice. She adds that she was competing with some of the biggest names of the day for that part, including Carol Burnett and Anne Bancroft; being cast over such popular stars was proof of Streisand’s stardom.

(Shortform note: Although she’d been competing with some of the most popular performers on Broadway, some reviews of Funny Girl made it seem as though casting Streisand was a foregone conclusion. For example, one glowing review—before praising nearly every aspect of Streisand’s performance—said that she was the next best thing to reviving Brice herself to play the role.)

Streisand adds that she was nominated for Tony Awards for both of the aforementioned shows, but she didn’t win. However, in 1970, she was presented with a Special Tony Award for Star of the Decade. She says that award moved her deeply because it came from the theater community, which she’d come to view as her family.

(Shortform note: The Special Tony Awards are noncompetitive awards that the organization gives to recognize exceptional achievements in theater. By giving Streisand such an award, they were acknowledging that—though she hadn’t won either of the individual, competitive awards that she was nominated for—she’s a remarkable performer who deserved their recognition and acclaim.)

Singing

Streisand says that at first, she had trouble making ends meet as an actor, so she started singing at nightclubs to earn extra money. She adds that she only took a single music lesson; everything the teacher told her felt wrong and went against her instincts, so she decided to keep singing the way that came naturally to her.

(Shortform note: Pursuing a singing career without training, as Streisand did, can be dangerous. Untrained or improperly trained singers risk causing severe—and possibly permanent—damage to their voices by using incorrect vocal techniques. For instance, singer Adele’s career has been marked by repeated vocal injuries, followed by risky medical procedures and long hiatuses to recover.)

However, Streisand was able to use her acting training to emotionally connect with the songs she sang. She started thinking of each song as a miniature story with a clear beginning, middle, and end, so she invented characters and performed the songs as if she were in a musical, instead of simply singing them as herself.

(Shortform note: It’s not so unusual for a singer like Streisand to think of songs as stories; there’s a strong connection between songs and storytelling. Some of the oldest stories we know today, such as the ancient Greek epics The Iliad and The Odyssey, were often sung rather than spoken. This practice may have started because it makes stories more memorable, as songs can be powerful mnemonic devices.)

At 18 years old, Streisand started performing at a nightclub called the Bon Soir and quickly became an audience favorite. That was the start of her singing career. Streisand adds that, two years later, she returned to the Bon Soir for a two-week contract as a special headliner, which was a sign of how far her singing career had come.

(Shortform note: Streisand worked at the Bon Soir a total of four times from 1960 to 1962. The small nightclub shut down for good in the 1970s, and today it’s mostly remembered for being the place where Streisand made her debut as a professional singer.)

A few months later, Streisand signed a contract with Columbia Records to make an album. The contract Erlichman negotiated gave her creative control: She decided which songs would be on the album, and it couldn’t be released to the public until she approved it. Streisand says that such an arrangement was unheard of for someone recording their first album.

Streisand recorded the album, simply titled The Barbra Streisand Album, in 1963. It won two Grammy Awards: Best Female Vocal Performance and Album of the Year.

(Shortform note: Giving Streisand creative control over her first album was her manager’s choice, not her own. Erlichman justified the unusual decision by saying that Streisand was a unique singer, and he wouldn’t allow her sound or her style to be diluted by meddling from Columbia Records. His gambit paid off: The Barbra Streisand Album went gold, selling around 500,000 copies. It also spent nearly two years on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, a weekly list of the most popular albums in the US.)

Movies

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.)

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.)

Directing

Streisand adds that she’s come to dislike a lot of the tedious work that comes with acting, such as learning lines and spending hours each day getting her hair and makeup ready. She finds directing to be more difficult than acting, but also more interesting and more fulfilling.

(Shortform note: Another reason Streisand likely enjoys directing more than acting is that it gives her greater creative control over the movie—more than she’d have in a typical acting role. As we’ve repeatedly discussed, Streisand values her autonomy and likes to be in charge of her creative projects.)

Streisand has directed numerous movies, but the most noteworthy of these is her first: the 1983 musical drama Yentl, which she also co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in.

(Shortform note: Streisand’s decision to write, direct, produce, and star in Yentl reportedly didn’t go over well with much of the (male) elite of Hollywood. The film was largely snubbed at that year’s Oscars, which some in the industry believe to be retaliation at Streisand rather than a result of the movie’s quality.)

Yentl won a Golden Globe award for Best Picture, and Streisand became the first woman to receive a Golden Globe for Best Director.

(Shortform note: The Golden Globes are annual awards granted for excellence in film and television, both in the United States and abroad. Though not part of the coveted EGOT awards, the Golden Globes are prestigious in their own right, and receiving one is considered a great honor. Furthermore, as of 2023, Streisand is one of only three women to have ever won a Golden Globe for Best Director. The others were Chloé Zhao, who won the award in 2021, and Jane Campion, who won it in 2022.)

Television

While Streisand’s work in television isn’t as well-known, she has numerous television credits to her name and has won multiple Emmy awards for her work in various TV shows and specials.

Streisand’s first TV special aired in April of 1965. The program was titled My Name Is Barbra, and it featured her singing the songs from her new album of the same name. (Shortform note: My Name Is Barbra (the TV special) is now available in its entirety for free on YouTube.)

The TV special was nominated for six Emmy Awards and won five of them, with Streisand herself winning the award for Individual Achievement by an Actor or Performer. However, she adds that she felt the greatest honor was when My Name Is Barbra won the Peabody Award for excellence.

(Shortform note: The Peabody Awards differ from other major awards in that they’re affiliated with a major university (the University of Georgia), and they focus on important people and important social issues; in the organization’s words, on “stories that matter.” Because of Peabody’s connection to academia, and its reputation for being highly selective, the Peabody Awards are highly prestigious in the entertainment industry.)

Barbra Streisand’s Legacy

Despite her extraordinary career, Streisand—who’s now in her 80s—doesn’t discuss her work when talking about her legacy. Instead, she says that her twin passions are politics and philanthropy; she wants to leave a kinder and fairer world for future generations.

Politics

Streisand describes herself as a feminist and a liberal; she holds up her life and career as testaments to those words.

Professionally, she shattered numerous glass ceilings in the entertainment industry, proving that women can be just as creative and successful as men. To people who respond negatively to her desire for creative control by calling her overbearing or a “control freak,” she asks why it’s a bad thing for a woman to manage her own projects when it’s expected for a man to do so.

(Shortform note: Though Streisand made great strides for women in the entertainment industry, it’s unfortunately still common for them to be mistreated and taken advantage of. For example, in The Woman in Me, pop star Britney Spears goes into detail about how her father—who also acted as her manager—forced her into a legal conservatorship so that he could remain in control of her life and her career. She suffered his control and his abuse for more than a decade before a court finally freed her from the conservatorship in 2021.)

Streisand openly supports liberal politicians. She performed at a fundraiser for Bill Clinton when he was running for president; she also supported Hilary Clinton’s 2008 campaign, then shifted her support to Barack Obama when he won the nomination. She adds that she was horrified by Donald Trump’s presidency and wrote the song “Don’t Lie to Me” in protest against him.

(Shortform note: To give an example of her political views, Streisand’s official website has rehosted an article from the New York Times—written shortly before the 2016 election—discussing the impact of liberal feminism and Obama’s presidency on white men in the US. In brief, the article says that many white men, who are generally used to having power, respect, and money, have failed (or refused) to change with the times. Therefore, Trump’s popularity was the result of men’s fury at a world that they believe is leaving them behind. While the facts and details of that article are open for debate, the fact that Streisand’s website is hosting it implies that Streisand believes what it says.)

Philanthropy

Streisand says that she’s used her money to support many causes she believes in, mostly related to feminism or environmentalism.

(Shortform note: Streisand’s net worth is an estimated $430 million as of 2023, and she prides herself on using that wealth to make the world a better place.)

Perhaps her greatest philanthropic achievement was founding the Barbra Streisand Foundation in 1986. It provides grants to a wide range of organizations, and it will be able to carry on Streisand’s philanthropic work after she passes away.

(Shortform note: The Streisand Foundation supports causes ranging from US voting reform to fighting climate change. The Foundation’s grants are so sought-after that it had to update its guidelines to make grant requests invitation-only.)

Streisand says that she’s also appalled by gender inequality in medicine. She lobbied politicians and provided research funding from her own wealth, thereby helping to drastically reduce the number of American women who die of heart disease. This was necessary because, until very recently, practically all medical research and treatments were focused on male bodies. As a result, the standard of care for women is substantially lower than it is for men.

(Shortform note: In Invisible Women, journalist Caroline Criado Perez explains that many pharmaceutical companies don’t test their products on women, and they simply assume that drugs will be equally effective on women and men. This is because hormones change drastically throughout the menstrual cycle, and researchers are concerned that those fluctuations will muddle the test results. However, because there are biological differences between male and female bodies, in many cases, treatments that were tested on men aren’t as effective on women—or, worse, may be actively harmful. Streisand’s lobbying and funding helped to draw attention to this problem and was one step toward closing the gap in the standard of care.)

Furthermore, Streisand endowed the Barbra Streisand Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). This is a center where people research topics that Streisand believes are the most pressing issues of today, including climate change, gender studies, and truthfulness in public discourse.

(Shortform note: The Barbra Streisand Center for Truth in the Public Sphere—the first of four planned centers of the Barbra Streisand Institute—had its inaugural lecture on September 12, 2023. Streisand gave the opening remarks, wherein she discussed the importance of truth in politics and the damage caused by lies, especially what she called the “Big Lie” that Biden had stolen the 2020 election.)