Streisand: Her Life

Singer. Actress. Producer. Director. Activist. Wife. Mother. Lover. Barbra Streisand has risen from humble beginnings to become one of the most talented, versatile, and influential women of our time. In STREISAND: Her Life, best-selling  biographer James Spada delivers the definitive biography of this one-woman conglomerate.

Based on more than 200 interviews with Streisand's friends, relatives, and colleagues, along with never-before conducted research, Spada uncovers surprising and often startling details of this very private star's life.  "For 30 years she has surprised, delighted, angered, polarized, and riveted the public," Spada says. "She is still going where many tell her not to."

In STREISAND, Spada  traces the life and career of Barbra with equal depth. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Streisand began performing in her teens as an actress; she only began singing on a dare. But it was because of her voice, which brought her cabaret bookings in the early 1960s, that she initially became famous.

Never conventionally beautiful, she knew she had to make her talent outshine her looks, and always refused to remake herself to anyone else's liking. That sense of resolve and single-mindedness paid off in the years to come, as success followed success: a record deal, the big break in Funny Girl on both stage and screen, and the transition from Broadway darling to the toast of Hollywood. As her movie career developed, the appeal of branching out into production and then direction became even stronger. Her 1983 directorial debut, Yentl, and her second film The Prince of Tides earned both box-office dollars and critical acclaim. An avid supporter of AIDS research and other charitable causes, Barbra has become more involved than ever in recent years as a political and social activist, but always continues to grow and take risks as an artist.

In STREISAND, Spada delivers not only a thorough look at this celebrity's multi-faceted career but also an in-depth examination of her  well-guarded personal life. We learn about her lovers, including Elliott Gould, Jon Peters, Don Johnson, and Elvis Presley, among others; her parents, including her complicated relationships with her mother and her abusive stepfather; and her son, including how she dealt with his homosexuality. Spada also provides a complete filmography and an annotated discography of the star's work, along with 32 pages of photographs.