Barbra Streisand Biography

The legendary American actress and singer Barbra Streisand was born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. Streisand’s father was a well-respected educator who focused on helping the underserved, but sadly he passed away just a few months after Barbra’s first birthday, thrusting the young child and her mother into poverty. Young Barbra was a highly intelligent, inquisitive child, and she has stated in many interviews that she was strongly influenced by the movies of her youth, which inspired her to become an actress.

But it was her remarkable singing voice that made Barbra stand out from her peers. Throughout her childhood she sang at a number of local events, such as school plays, assemblies, and weddings, and so by the time she was a teenager she’d decided to record her first demo tape. She also began to read biographies on her favorite actresses, study world renowned plays, and explore various acting theories. In 1957 she landed her first stage role, and after graduating early at the age of sixteen, Barbra moved into New York City to begin pursuit of steady acting jobs.

After struggling to find serious acting work, Barbra returned to singing as a means to enter the entertainment business. A performance at a talent contest in Greenwich Village resulted in a standing ovation and a win for the competition, leading to Streisand’s first recording contract. The rest, as they say, is history.

Since then, Barbra Streisand has gone on to become one of the world’s most recognizable and accomplished singers, actors, and film producers. With a career spanning more than fifty years, Streisand is among the world’s best selling performers, with nearly 150 million records sold worldwide, and the only recording artist to date to have number-one albums in each decade of her career.

Her award-winning film performances include roles in Funny Girl, The Owl and the Pussycat, The Way We Were, A Star is Born, and Yentl, and Streisand has earned dozens of industry awards for her work, including nine Golden Globe Awards, ten Grammy Awards, two Academy Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award, just to name a few.

Today, Barbra Streisand is among the era’s most influential artists and performers. Her work outside of the entertainment industry includes support for various Democratic causes, gay rights, and her own foundation, through which has supported everything from environmental causes to civil liberties and nuclear disarmament.