Streisand
Page 63
p. 32 ‘Couches to me ...’, Life, December 1963.
p. 36 ‘It was so strange ...’, Playboy, October 1977.
p. 37 ‘I remember their taking ...’, ibid.
p. 37 ‘I hated those men ...’, ibid.
p. 38 ‘You are not leaving ... ‘, ibid.
p. 38 ‘He never talked to me ...’, ibid.
p. 39 ‘Why do you take his side ...’, ibid.
p. 40 ‘Barbra was a very complex child ...’, Daily Mail, 23 April 1994.
p. 40 ‘I knew that she resented ...’, ibid.
p. 40 ‘Ever sleep on a couch ...’, Life, December 1983.
5
p. 42 ‘He was really mean to Barbra ...’, People, 12 December 1983.
p. 43 ‘When she came home ...’, Daily Mail, 23 April 1994.
p. 44 ‘When I was nine years old ...’, Playboy, October 1977.
p. 44 ‘She was critical of me ...’, ibid.
p. 45 ‘I was a character in the movie ...’, interview, Barbara Walters, Museum of Broadcasting.
p. 46 ‘Somehow, it made me think ...’, ibid.
p. 46 ‘a smart-ass remark ...’, interview.
p. 47 ‘In every other high school ...’, ibid.
p. 47 ‘I never knew how big ...’, Frommer and Katz, It Happened in Brooklyn, p. 178.
p. 47 ‘between the kids from the poor part ...’, ibid.
p. 47 ‘I was never asked to any of the proms ...’, Playboy, October 1977.
p. 48 ‘some of the kids ...’, interview.
p. 48 ‘She often appeared ...’, ibid.
p. 48 ‘Why go out for an amateurish ...’, Playboy, October 1977.
p. 49 ‘great echo sound ...’, ibid.
p. 49 ‘It’s only wind and noise ...’, ibid.
p. 50 ‘My mother went first ...’, Streisand, record notes, Just for the Record.
p. 52 ‘At first, I was awfully disappointed ...’, ibid.
p. 52 ‘It was a thrilling experience ...’, Life, December 1983.
p. 52 ‘I was so sure Barbra ...’, Daily Mail, 23 April 1994.
6
Malden Bridge was recreated from interviews with former members of the company and archival material.
p. 53 ‘I was this absolute misfit ...’, interview, Barbara Walters, Museum of Broadcasting.
p. 53 ‘he would sit there ...’, Playboy, October 1977.
p. 54 ‘Ma, look, one bedroom ...’, ibid.
p. 54 ‘I wouldn’t take just stuff ...’, ibid.
p. 55 ‘Incidentally ...’, interview, John Patrick.
p. 55 ‘Can’t you just see me ...’, Seventeen Interviews with Film Stars and Super Stars, Macmillan, New York, 1965, p. 147.
p. 56 ‘I loved the idea ...’, Playboy, October 1977.
p. 57 ‘There’s something about her ...’, Reise, Randall – Her Name is Barbra, p. 48.
p. 57 ‘It was the single worst ...’, ibid.
p. 57 ‘I never meant to neglect ...’, Daily Mail, 23 April 1994.
p. 59 ‘She was extraordinary ...’, interview.
p. 59 ‘A week or two later ...’, Riese, Randall – Her Name is Barbra, p. 53.
p. 60 ‘I had never been exposed to literature ...’, ibid.
p. 62 ‘I learned a lot in Brooklyn ...’, Los Angeles Times, 16 March 1965.
p. 62 ‘I would read magazines ...’, ibid.
p. 63 ‘When I sing ...’, ibid.
p. 63 ‘It’s not the best production ...’, Rivers, Enter Talking, p. 59.
p. 63 ‘The place seemed furnished ...’, ibid., p. 61.
p. 64 ‘The actual performance ...’, ibid., p. 64.
p. 64 ’She was going to be ...’, Jordan, The Greatest Star, p. 31.
p. 65 ‘She was waiflike ...’, interview, Milton Mensch.
p. 65 ‘We lived in total poverty ...’, Jordan, The Greatest Star, p. 32.
p. 66 ‘I kept telling her ...’, Riese, Randall – Her Name is Barbra p. 59.
p. 66 He was strumming ...’, Jordan, The Greatest Star, p. 33.
7
The author conducted interviews with Bob Schulenberg and Barry Dennen for this chapter. Schulenberg and Dennen were also given copies of their previous interviews with Rene Jordan for his 1975 book The Greatest Star which they claim contained erroneous statements attributed to them. They corrected and amended all quotes used from the book in this chapter. Interviews were also conducted with several other people who were close to Streisand during this formative time in her career.
p. 68 ‘swathed in cloaks and veils’, Jordan, The Greatest Star, p. 33.
p. 68 ‘What part ...’, ibid.
p. 69 ‘I feel that singing ...’, ibid.
p. 69 ‘I hear high range ...’, ibid.
p. 70 ‘The whole production was ...’, interview, Dennen.
p. 71 ‘We spent the afternoon ...’, ibid.
p. 71 ‘Trying this – trying that ...’, ibid.
p. 74 ‘I thought ...’, Dustin Hoffman, All about Barbra, Archives, Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.
p. 76 ‘The first time I saw her ...’, interview, Schulenberg.
p. 77 ‘She and Barry talked about ...’, ibid.
p. 78 ‘It looks good’, Jordan, The Greatest Star, p. 40.
p. 78 ‘Little girl ...’, Streisand, record notes, Just for the Record.
p. 78 ‘It’s curious ...’, ibid.
8
I am most grateful to the interviews given to me by Arthur Laurents, Lainie Kazan, Bob Shanks and several other people who were involved in or witness to this period in Barbra Streisand’s life, which have helped me to reconstruct the scenes in this chapter.
p. 81 ‘When she got off the ...’, Larry Storch, All About Barbra, Archives, Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.
p. 82 ‘A few days later ...’, Life, 9 January 1970.
p. 82 ‘At the Bon Soir ...’, ibid.
p. 83 ‘What do I do?’, interview, Dennen.
p. 84 ‘He really cares about me,’ interview, Schulenberg.
p. 84 ‘There was a certain date ...’, Jordan, The Greatest Star, p. 44.
p. 85 ‘They were very short-sighted ...’, Jordan, The Greatest Star, p. 48.
p. 85 ‘Well, what have you got lined up?’, Riese, Randall – Her Name is Barbra p. 86.
p. 85 ‘The tapes ...’, interview, Dennen.
p. 85 ‘I made her walk ...’, Time, 10 April 1964.
p. 86 ‘She was half ...’, interview, Schulenberg.
p. 86 ‘I said no to Barbra Streisand ...’, interview, Bob Shanks.
p. 87 ‘We went over them ...’, ibid.
p. 87 ‘a repentant lover ...’, ibid.
p. 87 ‘When I sang that ...’, Life, 22 May 1964.
p. 88 ‘Usually at the end ...’, Gavin, Intimate Nights, p. 248.
p. 88 ‘Do something!’, Time, 10 April 1964.
p. 89 ‘I was pretty hard to reach ...’, Streisand, record notes, Just for the Record.
p. 89 ‘I can’t stand it ...’, interview, Schulenberg.
p. 89 ‘I wrote that I was born ...’, Wall Street Journal, 14 May 1993.
p. 90 ‘I remember ...’, Jordan, The Greatest Star, p. 54.
p. 91 ‘The part I liked best ...’, Streisand, record notes, Just for the Record.
p. 93 ‘Do you like it?’, Howard Kissel, David Merrick – The Abominable Showman, Applause Books, New York, 1993, p. 237.
p. 93 ‘Is this girl sane?’, ibid.
p. 93 ‘I had never seen her ...’, interview, Laurents.
p. 94 ‘When she sang ...’, ibid.
p. 94 ‘How many times ...’, Kissel, David Merrick, p. 237.
p. 95 ‘When I returned ...’, Life, 22 May 1964.
p. 95 ‘This strange-looking ...’, ibid.
p. 95 ‘A freak ...’, ibid.
9
This chapter has been enormously helped with interviews with Arthur Laurents, Jack Kruschen, Peter Matz, Garson Kanin, John Patrick, Lut
her Henderson, Lainie Kazan and numerous members of the companies of I Can Get It for You Wholesale and Funny Girl, and with Arthur Gelb of the New York Times. The author was also given access to Garson Kanin’s private Funny Girl archival files.
p. 99 ‘Bad for Barbra ...’, interview, Kruschen.
p. 100 ‘I was tough ...’, interview, Laurents.
p. 100 ‘She looked like ...’, Playboy, November 1970.
p. 101 ‘This child was too good to be true,’ ibid.
p. 101 ‘He’ll never dance,’ ibid.
p. 102 ‘When an entertainer ...’, ibid.
p. 102 ‘He was always doing bits ...’, ibid.
p. 103 ‘I used to hear her warm up ...’, interview, Kruschen.
p. 103 ‘Nobody remembers ...’, interview, Laurents.
p. 104 ‘Two singers ...’, interview, Arthur Gelb.
p. 104 ‘I couldn’t believe ...’, All About Barbra, Archives, Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.
p. 105 ‘mousey-coloured hair ...’, ibid.
p. 105 ‘We were walking around ...’, Life, December 1963.
p. 105 ‘About 4 a.m.’, ibid.
p. 106 ‘The only window ...’, Playboy, November 1970.
p. 106 ‘Get rid of it ...’, Jordan, The Greatest Star, p. 69.
p. 106 ‘I knew no one ...’, interview, Laurents.
p. 107 ‘I told her ...’, interview, Laurents.
p. 107 ‘I have dealt with revolting people ...’, Jerome Weidman.
p. 109 ‘So she came to me crying ...’, ibid.
p. 109 ‘Barbra decided ...’, Daily Mail, November 1994.
10
p. 110 ‘It was my love ...’, Daily Mail, November 1994.
p. 110 ‘I don’t think she even ...’, ibid.
p. 112 ‘It was a difficult thing to do ...’, All About Barbra, Archives, Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.
p. 113 ‘I was very friendly ...’, interview, Laurents.
p. 114 ‘They brought in a paid audience ...’, Jordan, The Greatest Star, p. 182.
p. 116 ‘I hear that first album ...’, ibid., p. 84.
11
p. 119 ‘Elliott even looked ...’, interview.
p. 119 ‘I liked Ed ...’, Streisand, record notes, Just for the Record.
p. 121 ’I’m still here,’ Home Box Office, The Concert.
p. 122 ‘I didn’t have it to pay’, Playboy, November 1970.
p. 122 ‘I hope the Dodgers ...’, ibid.
p. 126 ‘Merrick was never in favor ...’, Jordan, The Greatest Star, p. 98.
p. 127 ‘I pointed out that Bancroft ...’, interview, Patrick.
p. 127 ‘A classmate of Ray’s ...’, ibid.
p. 127 ‘Ray thought ...’, ibid.
p. 128 ‘Mr Robbins ...’, ibid.
p. 128 ‘Isobel was an excellent ...’, interview, Kanin.
p. 129 ‘I liked Barbra immediately’, ibid.
p. 130 ‘She was playing Streisand’s record ...’, Edwards, Judy Garland, p. 209.
12
For this chapter, interviews were conducted with Garson Kanin, Marian Seldes, John Patrick, Luther Henderson, Lainie Kazan, Peter Matz and various other people. Mr Kanin also kindly allowed the author to go through and use material, including letters, in his files from the stage production of Funny Girl, which he directed.
p. 132 ‘People like to feel miserable ...’, New Yorker, November 1929.
p. 132 ‘It was scary ...’, Playboy, October 1977.
p. 135 ‘If we could give him an image ...’, Kanin’s private papers.
p. 136 ‘Her voice came off ...’, Jimmy Breslin, Daily News, 4 December 1965.
p. 136 ‘Elegance is making an art of life ...’, Kanin’s private papers.
p. 137 ‘Finally, it penetrated ...’, ibid.
p. 138 ‘Once in a while ...’, interview, Patrick.
p. 138 ‘It’s a front, Barbra ...’, Life, 22 May 1964.
p. 139 ‘a screaming, four-letter fight ...’, ibid.
p. 139 ‘Elliott was fighting ...’, interview.
p. 140 ‘an absolute hush ...’, Taylor, Jule, p. 244.
p. 141 ‘I got it now ...’, ibid., p. 245.
p. 141 ‘At that moment ...’, ibid.
13
Many of the quotes in this chapter came from the same source interviews and archival material as in previous chapters. The author also had access to several of the scripts in progress used during the out-of-town try-outs and the final production of Funny Girl.
p. 142 ‘She had a killer instinct ...’, interview.
p. 145 ‘For some reason ...’, interview, Patrick.
p. 145 ‘Our curtain went down ...’, Kanin archives.
p. 145 ‘Isobel felt ignored ...’, interview, Patrick.
p. 146 ‘Whatever Ray Stark ...’, interview, Kanin.
p. 147 ‘My own impression ...’, interview, Patrick.
p. 147 ‘A gardenia is like a free spirit ...’, Time, 10 April 1964.
p. 147 ‘She is like a barracuda ...’, ibid.
p. 148 ‘He looked at her ...’, interview.
p. 148 ‘I felt like such a failure ...’, Playboy, November 1970.
p. 153 ‘I always knew I wanted to be famous ...’, Look, 5 April 1966.
14
This chapter owes a great deal to two members of the Smith-Hemion production team who chose to be anonymous and to Rex Reed.
p. 155 ‘Some stories make it sound ...’, New York Herald Tribune, 6 September 1964.
p. 155 ‘I can always take down ...’, ibid.
p. 156 ‘I like listening to Streisand ...’, New York Herald Tribune, 1 March 1964.
p. 158 ‘Ya know, why me?’, Playboy, October 1977.
p. 162 ‘I did it for Ray ...’, Streisand, record notes, Just for the Record.
p. 162 ‘She was so vulnerable ...’, Daily Mail, November 1994.
p. 164 ‘OK, you have twenty minutes ...’, New York Herald Tribune, 27 March 1966.
p. 165 ‘She’s not dumb ...’, ibid.
p. 165 ‘Hoarse?’, ibid.
p. 165 ‘Somebody else could do this ...’, ibid.
15
Material in this chapter was gathered from the author’s own involvement in the adaptation of Funny Girl to the screen, correspondence with Sidney Buchman, interviews with Arthur Laurents and members of the London company of Funny Girl and archival material.
p. 168 ‘My husband and I ...’, Daily Telegraph, 3 March 1966.
p. 168 ‘I hope you will approve ...’, New York Times, 2 February 1966.
p. 168 ‘Those girls didn’t have a thing ...’, ibid.
p. 169 ‘The only thing she has not learned ...’, Look, 15 October 1968.
p. 169 ‘The only way I can account ...’, Life, 18 March 1966.
p. 169 ‘To say I love Barbra ...’, Gloria Steinem, Look, 5 April 1966.
p. 170 ‘I can’t suddenly get poor ...’, ibid.
p. 170 ‘She loves from the point of view ...’, Daily Mail, 9 September 1994.
p. 171 ‘I don’t want your child ...’, ibid.
p. 171 ‘The conversation all revolved around ...’, interview, Laurents.
p. 172 ‘Well, she isn’t my ...’, Hollywood Citizen News (by Sheila Graham – syndicated), 9 April 1966.
p. 177 ‘I’m not sure it was because I was an actress ...’, New York Herald Tribune, 7 October 1966.
p. 177 ‘My God, I’m a mother ...’, Ladies’ Home Journal, August 1966.
p. 178 ‘I remember two things ...’, interview, Laurents.
16
p. 183 ‘We were all very unsure ...’, Madsen, William Wyler, p. 381.
p. 184 ‘the worst time of my life’, Kanin archives.
p. 184 ‘They were getting ready ...’, Sharif, The Eternal Male, p. 73.
p. 185 ‘At that point I think ...’, Madsen, William Wyler, p. 387.
p. 185 ‘My principal concern ...’, ibid., p. 389.
p. 186 ‘I just don’t expect obedience ...’, ibid., p. 391.
p. 186 ‘going everywhere ...’, ibid., p. 392.
p. 186 ‘eleven versions of every scene ...’, Los Angeles Times, 17 September 1967.
p. 187 ‘I had good ideas ...’, Playboy, October 1970.
p. 187 ‘a certain type of woman ...’, Sharif, The Eternal Male, p. 77.
p. 188 ‘Did I love my wife?’, ibid.
p. 188 ‘He made himself ...’, interview.
p. 188 ‘what really got me down ...’, Playboy, October 1970.
p. 189 ‘I make women happy ...’, Sharif, The Eternal Male, p. 78.
p. 189 ‘If it was Barbra’s plan ...’, interview.
p. 189 ‘the self-confidence ...’, Sharif, The Eternal Male, p. 56.
p. 190 ‘Every day Barbra would see ...’, interview, Anne Francis.
p. 191 ‘I feel like a boxer ...’, Los Angeles Times, 17 September 1967.
p. 191 ‘People were saying ...’, interview.
17
p. 192 ‘Why in hell ...’, Chicago Tribune Magazine, 27 August 1967.
p. 192 ‘Barbra’s always been a cheapskate ...’, ibid.
p. 193 ‘It’s true I lusted ...’, Los Angeles Times, 27 October 1968.
p. 193 ‘I know Elliott thinks it’s just ...’, ibid.
p. 194 ‘I don’t believe ...’, Playboy, November 1970.
p. 195 ‘like a diva soprano ...’, Vogue, June 1970.
p. 197 ‘I talked to Elizabeth ...’, Hirschorn, Gene Kelly, p. 291.
p. 197 ‘strangely moved ...’, Hello, Dolly! Archives, Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.
p. 198 ‘Like Barbra ...’, ibid.
p. 198 ‘I’d heard ...’, Hirschorn, Gene Kelly, p. 293.
p. 199 ‘If only there’d been ...’, ibid.
p. 199 ‘What I needed ...’, interview.
p. 200 ‘painful to adjust ...’, Hirschorn, Gene Kelly, p. 294.
p. 200 ‘The trouble with Barbra ...’, ibid.