Arka Evren

ACTOR

Barbra Streisand

Known for
Little Fockers (2010), The Way We Were (1973), What's Up, Doc? (1972), Funny Girl (1968)

92 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026

Barbra Streisand is an actor best known for Little Fockers, The Way We Were and What's Up, Doc?.

48 Interesting Facts About Barbra Streisand

  1. #001

    Barbra Streisand and Shirley MacLaine celebrate their shared birthday together every year.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  2. #004

    She was the first woman to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. As of 2013, she remains the only winner.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  3. #007

    In Funny Lady (1975), the dressing-room scene in which James Caan and Barbra sprinkle powder on each other's faces turned into a surprise for Barbra, who was expecting only a light dusting, but James conspired with director Herbert Ross to dump a storm of powder on her for dramatic and comic effect. It is one of her personal favorites.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  4. #008

    She has used the same assistant, a woman named Renata, for 37 years.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  5. #009

    Despite intense peer pressure, she always refused to have a nose job.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  6. #010

    She is the best-selling female recording artist in the United States.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  7. #011

    She is a close friend and Malibu (L.A.) neighbor of the Irish actor Pierce Brosnan.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  8. #012

    Both of her husbands, Elliott Gould and James Brolin, appeared in Capricorn One (1978).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  9. #016

    At the 2018 Golden Globe Awards ceremony, she criticized the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for not recognizing the work of female directors. Streisand won one of the prestigious awards in 1984 for Yentl (1983), but while presenting at that year's ceremony she pointed out that no other woman had won in the Best Director category before or since.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  10. #019

    Her highest-grossing single concert was on December 31, 1999, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, with $14,694,750.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  11. #020

    She had her late dog Sammie cloned.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  12. #021

    She was named the best-selling female singer of the 20th century. She sold more than 68 million records, including 47 Gold, 28 Platinum and 13 Multi-Platinum certifications.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  13. #022

    Big Business (1988) was originally written for Streisand and Goldie Hawn. When both turned down the offer, the project became a vehicle for Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  14. #023

    She prefers to be photographed from the left.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  15. #024

    She is able to order a full meal in Chinese, a skill she picked up while working as a cashier in a Chinese restaurant.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  16. #025

    She is close friends with Dustin Hoffman and Dick Van Dyke.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  17. #026

    At Erasmus High School she said she had an unrequited crush on a fellow student who would also become internationally famous: the chess prodigy Bobby Fischer.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  18. #027

    She claims she has not smoked since she was thirteen. When a film such as Funny Girl (1968) or The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) required her to pretend to smoke, she did not inhale.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  19. #028

    December 3, 2003 – A privacy-invasion lawsuit she filed after aerial photographs of her Malibu home were shown on a website devoted to the California coastline was dismissed from court by a California judge. She argued that the ruling would encourage stalkers.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  20. #032

    She once worked as a switchboard operator.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  21. #034

    She holds the second-most gold album certifications (47) {#1: Elvis Presley}.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  22. #038

    She has sold 71.5 million albums in the United States.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  23. #041

    She has the fourth-most number-one albums (8) {#1: The Beatles}.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  24. #043

    She ranks third among the top 40 albums (45) {#1: Frank Sinatra}.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  25. #044

    The "Streisand Effect" phenomenon is named after her; it describes how an attempt to hide, remove or censor a piece of information often backfires by publicizing that information far more widely, usually accelerated by the Internet.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  26. #045

    She ranks fourth among the top 10 albums (26) {#1: Frank Sinatra}.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  27. #047

    She rarely licenses her music for use in films or on television.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  28. #048

    She is a close friend of Shirley MacLaine and Donna Karan.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  29. #049

    After The Main Event (1979), her film output dropped significantly. She has appeared in only eight films since then.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  30. #055

    On 14 July 2007, she gave her first concert in Ireland, on the grand grounds of Castletown House in County Kildare.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  31. #056

    Mary Martin, Anne Bancroft and Carol Burnett were considered for the Broadway role of Fanny Brice before Barbra Streisand won it. Singer Eydie Gormé was also considered, but she objected when they would not cast her husband, Steve Lawrence, as Nicky Arnstein.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  32. #057

    On 17 August 2018, during TCM's Summer Under the Stars, she was honored with a day-long tribute to her film work.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  33. #061

    Barbra Streisand is the daughter of Diana Kind and Emanuel Streisand.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  34. #064

    Barbra Streisand supported Al Gore's presidential bid.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  35. #065

    Barbra Streisand is the artist with the fifth most entries on the Billboard charts, behind {#1: Elvis Presley}.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  36. #066

    Barbra Streisand's $16.6 million gross from seven performances is the second-highest-grossing American concert, at Madison Square Garden in 1994 (#1: $19 million, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, 15 performances, Continental Airlines Arena, 1999).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  37. #069

    Barbra Streisand studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village, New York City.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  38. #071

    Barbra Streisand has the longest span of top-20 hits on the Billboard pop music charts, 32 years and 7 months between "People" (released April 4, 1964) and "I Finally Found Someone" (released November 23, 1996).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  39. #073

    As a child, Barbra Streisand attended the Bais Yakov School in Brooklyn, New York.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  40. #074

    Barbra Streisand is very afraid of performing live and is allergic to horses.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  41. #075

    In 1966, Barbra Streisand recorded an American version of the French song "C'est si bon" (written in 1947 by Henri Betti (music) and André Hornez (lyrics)) for her album "Color Me Barbra". The musical arrangements were by Michel Legrand and the English lyrics were written by Jerry Seelen in 1949. Her version was the favorite of composer Henri Betti.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  42. #076

    Barbra Streisand wanted to play Sophie Zawistowski in Sophie's Choice (1982), but the role ultimately went to Meryl Streep.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  43. #077

    Barbra Streisand worked as a court clerk.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  44. #078

    Barbra Streisand endorsed Kamala Harris for president in 2024.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  45. #081

    Barbra Streisand ranked 31st on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  46. #082

    Barbra Streisand is the former sister-in-law of Randy Stone.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  47. #087

    Barbra Streisand was born at 5:08 a.m. (EST).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  48. #090

    The films Barbra Streisand turned down are The Young Lovers (1964), Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), The Devils (1971), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Playing for Time (1980), Cross Creek (1983), Bagdad Cafe (1987), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Shadowlands (1993), White Oleander (2002) and the miniseries The Politician (2019).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport

Continue through the archive