Her mother wanted her to be a secretary. She, in an act of rebellion, left her nails very, very long so that she couldn't even get close to a typewriter. Barbra Streisand wanted to be an actress. She decided to take to the New York stage, but her prodigious voice got in the way. The producers were eager to hear her tell it. The public, too. When her career as a singer had already skyrocketed, Streisand fulfilled her dream and stood out in theaters with her unforgettable Funny Girl. The rest is already legend. Legend of cinema and music.
Much has been written about her. Now, it will be Streisand who will give her own version of him. After years of announcing them, his memories finally arrive. They are titled My name is barbra, published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and will go on sale in the United States on November 7. My name is Barbra are a thousand pages of cinema, music, love affairs and gossip, the memories of a great star, who is now 81 years old.
What is known about the long-awaited autobiography of the protagonist of A Star is Born? According to her editor, the book is "frank, funny, opinionated and charming like Barbra herself." Streisand revealed some more things in a recent interview with Vanity Fair where the star says that writing her memoirs has taken her ten years and that the book, which lacks an index, has analyzes of her films, chapters dedicated to mythical figures like Marlon Brando and memories of her romantic relationships with Pierre Trudeau, Ryan O'Neal and Don Johnson. And also her marriage to James Brolin whom she married in 1998.
In addition, Vanity Fair has exclusively published a chapter of the book, where Streisand talks about one of her greatest successes in cinema, The Way We Were, a 1973 film directed by Sydney Pollack and co-starring Robert Redford. Barbra becomes Katie, a very politically active girl, a member of the Communist Party, a defender of the Spanish Republic who studies at the University in 1937. There she meets Hubbell (Redford), a wealthy boy, writer and great athlete whose interests and friendships They are very far from Katie's.
Katie notices Hubbell when she reads one of his stories. The couple meet again a few years later, during World War II, and fall in love. But over time the difference in characters will lead them to distance themselves. In My Name is Barbra, Streisand recalls the pre-production and filming of the film and also explains that she never really liked the final cut, because Pollack eliminated some scenes that, in her opinion, were key to understanding why the couple formed by Ketie and Hubbell broke up, despite being very much in love.
"It was a devastating loss for me. It hadn't even occurred to me that Sydney would cut the two crucial scenes from the movie," Streisand recalls. That was the moment when the actress and singer decided to start a new professional career, that of a film director: "I had always had control of my records, my television specials and my concerts. Then I knew that I also had to take control. control of my films. I had to direct."
And as a director she didn't do bad either. Yentl (1983) and The Prince of Tides (1991) were two of the successes behind the cameras for Streisand, who has two Oscars, nine Golden Globes, ten Grammys, five Emmys, a Tony and many other awards to her credit. .
By the way, Barbra, who seems to achieve everything she sets out to do, has also fixed The Way We Were by editing an extended version of the film with the scenes that Pollack cut out at the time. "If Sydney were alive, I would have no problem and I am happy to tell the public that they can now see the film as it was originally conceived. It has only been 50 years but my dream has finally come true," concludes Streisand.
