Barbra Streisand is a legend. And she is a legend that is unstoppable. At 74, she’s not slowing down at all–if anything, she’s keeping herself extra busy, as she has a forthcoming album of duets, “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway,” which features a supporting cast that includes Melissa McCarthy and Jamie Foxx. She’s also working on a memoir set for release in 2017.
Because she’s been researching for her memoir, she’s been thinking back on the past a lot, as she told the New York Times. In particular, it’s made her think about her brief friendship and collaboration with Judy Garland, who was 41 when Streisand met her in her 20s. Together, they sang “Happy Days Are Here Again” (Ms. Streisand) and “Get Happy” (Garland)–which is absolutely breathtaking.
What Streisand will never forget, however, is the fact that Garland gave her some sage advice, which Streisand told the Times:
“Afterward, she used to visit me and give me advice. She came to my apartment in New York, and she said to me, ‘Don’t let them do to you what they did to me.’ I didn’t know what she meant then. I was just getting started.”
She also can’t help but think about her own mother, who “never complimented her” and pushed her to become a secretary (which is, as the Times notes, how Streisand got her notorious nails–since long nails made her unable to type).
Interestingly, Streisand laments her mother’s own talent, who worked as a secretary herself. She says her mother had a “beautiful voice,” but never did anything with it:
“She had talent. She didn’t have the drive. I said, “Why didn’t you do this, why didn’t you go after your dream?’ You know what I’m saying? You can have a dream, but how do you manifest it, how do you make it happen? Hard work, heart, taking chances—that was always my philosophy.”
This is why it’s shocking when Streisand claimed that she’s lazy (it’s hard to imagine an award-winning legendary singer, actor, and director being lazy):
“The thing is, I was always kind of lazy. On the one hand, I am—or I was—ambitious. On the other hand, if I was having a great love affair or something, I’d say, I don’t want to do anything else. I mean, searching for personal happiness was more important.”
Well, I can’t wait to read the memoir when it comes out–and find out more about what she divulges of her early childhood and life behind the scenes.
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