Current:Home > reviewsBarbra Streisand details how her battle with stage fright dates back to experience in "Funny Girl" -TrueNorth Capital Hub
Barbra Streisand details how her battle with stage fright dates back to experience in "Funny Girl"
View
Date:2025-04-14 17:18:00
Despite her celebrated career, Barbra Streisand said that her performances have been shadowed by a fear of forgetting her lines — a fear that took root during her early days in Broadway's "Funny Girl."
She said the off-script, on-stage behavior of her "Funny Girl" co-star Sydney Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's son, drove her into therapy and instilled a deep-seated anxiety about live performances.
"He kept talking to me on stage under his breath. Not looking at me in the eyes. You know, looking, like, at my forehead or my hair or something. And talking. Like a crazy person," she told "CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King.
"And it was driving me insane," she said. "That threw me so off that I thought, 'What, what am I, what is my next line?'"
"I never lost that, that fear of performing, fear of forgetting my lines," Streisand said.
The Oscar-winning actress and singer details her anxiety in her new memoir "My Name Is Barbra," which is being released on Tuesday. Her struggle with stage fright was so intense that after forgetting lyrics during a 1967 concert in Central Park, Streisand avoided public performances for nearly three decades.
Her new book also details her childhood. With the loss of her father when she was just 15 months old and facing discouragement from her mother, she credits her pursuit of acting as a way to find a sense of belonging and love.
"Even though my mother said, 'You'll never make it as an actress. You know, you're not pretty enough,' or whatever, I thought, because I used to read movie magazines, right, and kind of dream, 'Is it, wouldn't it be wonderful?'" she said.
Her dreams and dedication have indeed paid off. Streisand's Malibu home has been personally curated, from her legendary garden to what she calls "the mall," featuring unique shops and an antique clothes room.
"I'm so finicky, and when I love something, I don't care how much it costs," she said.
Streisand recently celebrated her 25-year marriage to actor James Brolin, who said he asked Streisand to marry him three times before she agreed.
And Brolin shared a personal detail about their early relationship: "I had been literally — it's a wild word, but I had been celibate for three years saying, 'Who needs this?'" After two previous marriages, he said he wanted to avoid "getting involved in a lousy situation."
During an anniversary celebration, Brolin read her a letter, saying, "You know someone is right for you if you love to be with them all the time. And when I go, when I finally go, I will love you then."
"Home is not a place. Home is a person," he added.
As for who could play Streisand in a potential future film, she suggested she doesn't want to think about it yet.
"I don't know of anyone who can," she said.
- In:
- Barbra Streisand
veryGood! (56)
Related
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Woman sues Cold Stone Creamery over pistachio ice cream not containing pistachios
- Will Smith confirms he tried to adopt 'I Am Legend' canine co-star
- India's Narendra Modi sworn in for third term as prime minister
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- Ryan Reynolds Brought a Special Date to a Taping of The View—And It Wasn't Blake Lively
- How Austin Butler Feels About The Carrie Diaries More Than 10 Years Later
- How to stop Google from listening to your every word
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Revolve Sale Alert: Up to 82% Off Under-$100 Styles from Nike, WeWoreWhat, BÉIS & More
Ranking
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- YouTuber Myka Stauffer Said Her Child Was Not Returnable Before Rehoming Controversy
- Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman Are Ready to Put a Spell on Practical Magic 2
- These American Flag Swimsuits Are Red, White & Cute: Amazon, Cupshe, Target, Old Navy & More
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- Pennsylvania Senate passes a bill to outlaw the distribution of deepfake material
- The Rev. James Lawson Jr. has died at 95, civil rights leader’s family says
- Dan Hurley turns down offer from Lakers, will stay at UConn to seek 3rd straight NCAA title
Recommendation
Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
Horoscopes Today, June 8, 2024
It's almost a sure bet the Fed won't lower rates at its June meeting. So when will it?
National bail fund exits Georgia over new law that expands cash bail and limits groups that help
Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
Rihanna Shares Rare Look at Her Natural Curls Ahead of Fenty Hair Launch
Teton Pass shut down in Wyoming after 'catastrophic' landslide caused it to collapse
BBC Journalist Dr. Michael Mosley’s Wife Breaks Silence on His “Devastating” Death