Biography
An iconic entertainer with over 70 million albums sold and Grammy, Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe awards for acting and directing, Barbra Streisand's popularity and creative output spanned over four decades. The New York cabaret singer first hit big as a pop singer and Broadway star in the 1960s. By the 1970s, she was the No. 1 female box office draw with a succession of gold albums that symbolized a new potential success for women in the feminism era. On film, Streisand won over audiences as fast-talking, quick-witted dames in "Funny Girl" (1968) and "What's Up Doc?" (1974), prior to maturing into an acclaimed film producer and director of "The Prince of Tides" (1991) and other stories of personal growth, like "Yentl" (1983). Streisand's musical output evolved from its theater roots to contemporary songwriters and she charted No. 1 albums in every decade, from The Way We Were in 1973 to Love is the Answer in 2009. Due to a crippling phobia of signing live, she virtually disappeared from stage performing for 25 years, but remained in the public eye with her film career and status as an active philanthropist in liberal political and social causes, even as unflattering tales of megalomaniac tendencies persisted in show business circles. Streisand shrugged off detractors by noting that healthy ambition in men was often perceived as an unattractive pushiness in women, and ultimately, Streisand reigned supreme for her artistic legacy and overall cultural impact in the latter twentieth century.
