Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand has been married twice. From 1963 to 1971, she was married to actor Elliot Gould and the couple had a son, Jason Gould. In 1998, she married actor James Brolin. They have no children together but Brolin has two children from her first marriage.

She has been romantically involved with Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

In 1986, she founded ‘The Streisand Foundation’ that has donated over $16 million for noteworthy causes like voter education, women’s issues, civil rights, and nuclear disarmament.

Barbra Streisand was born into a poor Jewish family and lost her father when she was just a year old.

She made her stage debut with a solo act while she studied at the Jewish Orthodox Yeshiva of Brooklyn. She later attended the Erasmus Hall High School.

She did not attend college and moved to New York City after graduating from high school.

During her teenage years she worked as a singer at a nightclub, after which she appeared in ‘Summer stock theatre’ and a number of ‘Off-Broadway productions like, ‘Driftwood’.

In 1960, she moved to New York and sang in a number of prominent nightclubs like Bon Soir and the Blue Angel.

In 1961, she made her debut on television with ‘The Tonight Show’ and sang Harold Arlen’s ‘A Sleepin Bee’. The same year she became a semi-regular on ‘PM East/PM West’, a late night talk show.

In 1962, she rose to fame with the Broadway musical ‘I Can Get It For You Wholesale’ as ‘Miss Marmelstein’. She also started appearing as a guest on ‘The Tonight Show’.

In 1963, her debut album titled ‘The Barbra Streisand Album’ was released by Columbia records which reached the eighth spot on the billboard charts. The album was certified Gold.

Her 1968 film ‘Funny Girl’ earned $ 58.5 million at the box office and in 2006, the film appeared at the 16th spot in American Film Institute’s list of the Greatest Movie Musicals.

‘A Star is Born’, released in 1976, earned $80 billion at the box office and received good reviews. The film’s theme song ‘Evergreen’, sung by Streisand, became a huge hit and featured at the number one position on the Billboard 200. The track also appeared in ‘Diana, Princess of Wales: Tribute’, a tribute album.

Her 2009 Gold certified album ‘Love Is the Answer’, reached the number one position on the Billboard 200, making her the only artist to have a number one album to her credit for five consecutive decades- the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and the new millennium.