Current:Home > NewsBarbra Streisand details how her battle with stage fright dates back to experience in "Funny Girl" -AssetTrainer
Barbra Streisand details how her battle with stage fright dates back to experience in "Funny Girl"
View
Date:2025-04-21 14:47:26
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! (7172)
Related
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- Last call at 4 a.m. in California? Governor says yes for one private club in LA Clippers’ new arena
- 'I am going to die': Video shows North Dakota teen crashing runaway car at 113 mph
- After Helene, a small North Carolina town starts recovery, one shovel of mud at a time
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- Do you qualify for spousal Social Security benefits? Here's how to find out.
- Things to know about the investigations into the deadly wildfire that destroyed a Maui town
- Former Iowa mayor gets probation for role in embezzlement case
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Jason and Travis Kelce’s Mom Donna Kelce Reveals How Fame Has Impacted Family Time
Ranking
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- Chad Ochocinco, Steelers legend James Harrison to fight in MMA bout before Super Bowl
- Target's 2024 top toy list with LEGO, Barbie exclusives; many toys under $20
- Detroit Lions fan wins $500,000 on football-themed scratch-off game after skipping trip
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- 'I am going to die': Video shows North Dakota teen crashing runaway car at 113 mph
- NFL MVP race: Unlikely quarterbacks on the rise after Week 4
- Human connections bring hope in North Carolina after devastation of Helene
Recommendation
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
Tesla issues 5th recall for the new Cybertruck within a year, the latest due to rearview camera
Our Favorite Everyday Rings Under $50
Judge blocks new California law cracking down on election deepfakes
Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
PFF adds an in-game grading feature to its NFL analysis
Officer saves missing 3-year-old child from potential drowning: Video captures dramatic rescue
Parole rescinded for former LA police detective convicted of killing her ex-boyfriend’s wife in 1986