Interviewee: Barbara Streisand
Interviewer: Julie Chen
Date: December 30, 2008

Barabara Streisand was born Barbara Joan Streisand on April 24, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. She attended Erasmus High School in Brooklyn and started out her singing career by performing in clubs.

By 1962, Barbara Streisand signed a contract with Columbia Records, where she released her first album, The Barbra Streisand Album, which earned her 2 Grammy Awards in 1963 — one for Album of the Year and another for Best Female Vocal Performance. She had her first Broadway appearance in I Can Get It for You Wholesale, which got her a Tony nomination and a New York Drama Critics Award. Her motion picture debut in Funny Girl earned her an Oscar award for Best Actress in 1968.

There is so much more in her roll of credits. Barbara Streisand further won Grammy awards for her outstanding vocal performances in People, My Name is Barbra, Evergreen, Guilty, and The Broadway Album. She also received two Grammy Special awards.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Streisand is the highest-ranking female artist on its Top Selling Artists list with around 147 million albums sold worldwide.

Streisand also won numerous Emmy awards for various performances including My Name is Barbra and Barbra: The Concert. She has also appeared in films including Hello, Dolly!, The Way We Were, A Star is Born, and Meet the Fockers. She also appeared in films that she directed including Yentl, The Prince of Tides, and The Mirror Has Two Faces.

Streisand was first married to actor Elliott Gould. They were married for 8 years and have one child. Her second marriage was to James Brolin in 1998.