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| If America can be said to have a Queen of Show Business, then Streisand surely fills the bill. Absolutely uncompromising in her determination to excel in whatever she attempts, this performerproducer/director has fought every step of the way for respect in an industry that doles it out sparingly to women. A cabaret singer and recording artist who burst onto Broadway in 1962's "I Can Get It for You Wholesale," Streisand wowed audiences with her seemingly boundless energy and astonishing vocal range. She subsequently won a Tony nomination for her characterization of show-biz legend Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl," and taped a number of TV specials (one of which, 1965's "My Name Is Barbra," won her an Emmy) before starring in the movie adaptation of Funny Girl (1968), which earned her a Best Actress Oscar (in a rare tie, with Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter. Hello, Dolly! (1969) and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) followed, and despite their shortcomings, Streisand joined the firmament of great movie-musical stars. The genre was on the wane, though, and she elected to broaden her range in nonmusical vehicles. She scored as a comically crude hooker in The Owl and the Pussycat (also 1970) and as the madcap heroine of What's Up, Doc? (1972). Up the Sandbox (also 1972) gave her a more serious role. She was then paired with 1970s dreamboat Robert Redford in the romantic The Way We Were (1973, Oscar-nominated), a smash hit she followed with the feeble comedy For Pete's Sake (1974) and a surprisingly lame sequel, Funny Lady (1975). With then-boyfriend Jon Peters, Streisand turned producer; her 1976 remake of A Star Is Born earned her a Best Song Oscar with Paul Williams for "Evergreen," but irritated some observers who felt she lost objectivity as both producer and star. She slipped further with a pair of flop comedies, The Main Event (1979) and the underrated All Night Long (1981); in the latter she hurriedly replaced Lisa Eichhorn in midproduction, taking her only supporting role to date. Since then, her output has been meager, but she has revealed, from movie to movie, an increasingly impressive grasp of the filmmaking process. She donned the director's cap (as well as men's clothing) for the ambitious musical Yentl (1983; she also produced and cowrote), played a psy chotic hooker in Nuts (1987), and directed, produced, and costarred in The Prince of Tides (1991), enduring critical snipes along the way, but earning a growing degree of respect as well for her accomplishments. Divorced from Elliott Gould, by whom she has a son, Jason; he appeared as her offspring in Tides. |
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