Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand (78 page)

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“fascinated,” “to be protected”:
Time,
April 10, 1964.
a full-scale snowball fight: Gould described the snowball fight in
Time,
April 10, 1964. Streisand also described the snowball fight in
Life,
May 22, 1964. She conflated this event with another date she had with Gould, when they saw the film
Mothra,
describing both events as occurring on the same night. But
Mothra
did not show in New York until that summer.
Barbra was a combination of . . . “most innocent thing”:
Life,
May 22, 1964.

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“a throwback” to Louis Kind:
Vanity Fair,
November 1994.
Barbra’s “weirdness,” he realized: Gould said, “She always thought of herself as an ugly duckling, and made herself up to be weird as a defense.”
Time,
April 10, 1964.
“Like out of a movie”:
Time,
April 10, 1964.

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“Just thirty years”:
Philadelphia Inquirer,
February 12, 1962.

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“from Brooklyn and brought up”:
The Rosie O’Donnell Show
interview.

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tastes tended more toward musicals:
Philadelphia Weekly Press,
August 26, 2009.
“range and versatility”:
Philadelphia Inquirer,
February 13, 1962.

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“brings down the house”:
Philadelphia Inquirer,
February 13, 1962. Arthur Laurents, in the September 1991 issue of
Vanity Fair,
contended that out-of-town audiences didn’t “get” Streisand as Miss Marmelstein. This review, as well as other contemporary accounts, would seem to dispute that view. Although some accounts have said that Merrick persisted in wanting to fire her all the way to New York, this seems highly unlikely given that she was often the only cast member singled out for such unqualified praise.
“She stops the show”:
Philadelphia Inquirer,
February 18, 1962.
“registered considerable enthusiasm”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in
The News Tribune
(Fort Pierce, Florida), February 21, 1962.
“as large and melancholy”:
Playboy,
November 1970.

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“Godfathering the romance”: Laurents,
Original Story By.
“most of [his] life”:
San Francisco Chronicle,
October 26, 1987.
“psychic power”:
Playgirl,
May 1975.
“trip on anything”:
Time,
September 7, 1970.
“communicate in a world”: Interview with Elliott Gould at
www.aish.com
.
“get beneath the roots”:
New York Post,
August 11, 2009.

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“too much pride,” “Four home runs”:
Playboy,
November 1970.
Lucille was the offspring: 1920 and 1930 U.S. Census.
“didn’t understand one another”: NYT, March 4, 1973.
“Be careful, don’t trust”:
Playboy,
November 1970.

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“in terror of conflict”:
San Francisco Chronicle,
October 26, 1987.
“Mr. and Mrs. Captain Marvel”:
Playboy,
November 1970.
“You won’t ever have”:
Esquire,
September 22, 2009.
“done out of love”:
Time,
September 7, 1970.
“fat ass”:
Playboy,
November 1970.
“creations of Hollywood”:
Life,
December 12, 1969.

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“looking to buy a kid”:
Playboy,
November 1970.
“very withdrawn”: Interview with Elliott Gould at
www.aish.com
.
“parenthesis-shaped legs”:
New York
magazine
,
December 31, 1979.
“Fix up his diction,” “Whoever got any”:
Time,
September 7, 1970.
“Mary had a little lamb”:
Playboy,
November 1970.

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“has-been”:
Time,
September 7, 1970.

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“got sick on the bus”:
Playboy,
November 1970.
“Telegram for Bill Callahan!”:
Playboy,
November 1970.
high-waisted dancer’s pants:
Playboy,
November 1970.

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“From the Deli Lama”:
Esquire,
September 22, 2009.

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“ferocity,” “scared of women”:
Village Voice,
September 8, 1987. Although in various interviews, Gould sometimes implied he had lost his virginity earlier, in a proposal for an autobiography that made the rounds of New York publishers, he claimed he had “surrendered” his virginity to Streisand in Philadelphia. See Spada,
Streisand: Her Life.
“terribly green”:
Playboy,
November 1970.

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“I bat from just one”: NYT, March 4, 1973.
“trying to become a man”: Spada,
Streisand: Her Life.
the man didn’t “necessarily”:
Playboy,
October 1977.

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the first commandment: Laurents,
Original Story By.
“sweeten” and “explain”: Stephen Sondheim to Roddy McDowall, March 5, 1962, McDowall Collection, Boston University.
“approach New York with”:
Philadelphia Inquirer,
February 18, 1962.

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“persevered ... despite the usual”:
Bedford Gazette,
February 16, 1962.
“were sprayed with sweat”: Laurents,
Original Story By.

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“stage newcomer”:
Boston Globe,
February 18, 1962.
“assertive young woman”: Riese,
Her Name Is Barbra.

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“generally entertaining”:
Boston Herald,
February 28, 1962.
“What, indeed, are they doing”:
Boston Globe,
February 28, 1962.
“the piece of blubber”: Laurents,
Original Story By.

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“Barbra is striking”: “My Life with Barbra,” unpublished manuscript by Donald G. Softness, courtesy Softness.
“by the name of Barbara”:
Pittsburgh Press, Radio-TV Editor
supplement, January 8, 1962.

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“Who does that girl”: Kissel,
David Merrick: The Abominable Showman.
Sam Zolotow had announced: NYT, December 4, 1961.

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“a likeable newcomer”: NYT, March 23, 1962.
“give affection or admiration”:
New York Daily News,
March 23, 1962.
“How to Almost Succeed”:
New York Journal-American,
March 23, 1962.

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“something of a find”:
Wall Street Journal,
March 26, 1962.

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“like a little orphan”:
Life,
May 22, 1964.

9. Spring 1962

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Rent was sixty dollars: In other accounts, the rent has sometimes been reported to be somewhat more than sixty dollars, but according to a letter from Evelyn Layton, who was trying to arrange for a friend to sublet the place, the rent was sixty dollars even. Evelyn Layton to Tom Higgins, July 8, 1963, Higgins Family Collection, NYPL.

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a disagreeable man: Softness, “My Life with Barbra.” According to various online sites, Oscar Karp was also the inspiration for Oscar the Grouch on
Sesame Street.

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declared the composition “beautiful”:
Redbook,
January 1968.
“things [she] could never afford”:
Us
magazine
,
October 9, 2000.
“the more money you make”: Kaufman Schwartz and Associates interview with Streisand, August 15, 1963, submitted to Sidney Skolsky, Skolsky Collection, AMPAS.
“What is this?”:
Us
magazine
,
October 9, 2000.

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what really made her happy: syndicated article that ran in various papers in late May through the middle part of June, as in the
Danville
(Virginia)
Register,
May 31, 1962, hereafter syndicated, May 31, 1962.
“What does it matter”: syndicated, May 31, 1962.
“jolly-dollying”: Walter Winchell’s syndicated column, as in
Daily Times-News
(Burlington, North Carolina), April 7, 1962, and elsewhere.

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“the Mayor of Forty-second Street”: NYT, January 30, 1994.

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“reading all the casting reports”: Leonard Lyons’s syndicated column, as in the
San Mateo Times,
April 23, 1962.
“strange color lipstick”: syndicated, May 31, 1962.

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“Instead of giving me”: Edward Robb Ellis,
A Diary of the Century
(New York: Kodansha, 1996).
“I used to baby-sit for a”:
The New Yorker,
May 19, 1962.

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“You know, like in”: syndicated UPI article, as in the
Press-Courier
(Oxnard, California), July 26, 1962, and elsewhere.
“not there at all”: Riese,
Her Name Is Barbra.

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“world’s greatest gate-crasher”:
Bridgeport Post,
April 30, 1962.
“never heard of her”: Scott Schechter,
Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend
(Boulder, CO: Cooper Square Press, 2002).

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“Streisand’s going to win”: Kissel,
David Merrick: The Abominable Showman.

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“Barbara Streisman”: Undated list in the Jerome Robbins Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division (hereafter JRC), NYPL.

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had soured on Bancroft: Many accounts of Streisand’s life have stated that Stark wanted Bancroft, but after at least late 1961, he was arguing against her, according to the Jerome Robbins Collection.
“new character based on”: Ray Stark to Jerome Robbins and Jule Styne, October 25, 1961, JRC, NYPL.
“the most exciting girl”: Ray Stark to Jerome Robbins, October 24, 1961, JRC, NYPL.
“a Spanish exclamation point”: Jim Bishop’s syndicated column, as in the
Newark
(Ohio)
Advocate,
May 5, 1963.

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bombastic and overwrought: I have based my descriptions of Robbins on a thorough review of his papers at the NYPL, as well as on Greg Lawrence,
Dance With Demons: The Life of Jerome Robbins
(New York: Penguin, 2002)
;
Deborah Jowitt,
Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004)
;
and Amanda Vaill,
Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins
(New York: Random House, 2008).
“that out of the fires”: John Huston,
An Open Book
(Boston: Da Capo Press, 1994).
“Commit”: LAT, August 27, 1967.

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had “more infectious enthusiasm”: Laurents,
Original Story By.
“to see her in person”: Ray Stark to Jerome Robbins, November 24, 1961, JRC, NYPL.

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“a natural comedienne who has been”: NYT, May 6, 1962.
she’d told her mother:
Life,
May 22, 1964.

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Bob Harris: He was also the father of actor Ed Harris.

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he’d accepted Jule Styne’s invitation: Most accounts of Streisand’s life have stated, or implied, that Stark first saw her perform at the Bon Soir in November of 1962. But it is clear from correspondence in the Jerome Robbins Collection that he had seen her by the spring of that year. Stark said, “Barbra was an unknown when she was first brought to my attention in
I Can Get It for You Wholesale
and at the Bon Soir in New York.” (LAT, August 27, 1967.) Since the Robbins correspondence shows Stark was sold on Streisand as the best choice to play Fanny Brice by the early summer of 1962, he must have seen her in these two places before that time. We know that Styne first saw Streisand at the Bon Soir in the spring, and we know that he brought Stark to see her, so it seems safe to conclude that it was sometime in the spring that Stark first saw her. He was back in Los Angeles by early June, when Hedda Hopper wrote in her column that he attended a party thrown by David Merrick at Chasen’s, having just returned from Europe (
Hartford Courant,
June 18, 1962). So it seems likely he would have seen Streisand in
Wholesale
and at the Bon Soir in late May. I am also grateful to Suzanne Merrill, widow of Bob Merrill, for her insights on the chronology.

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“a literal biography”: NYT, September 15, 1968.

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Stark’s grandfather had emigrated: The Stark family history comes from the U.S. Census, New York, New York, 1880–1930, as well as military and immigration records. Also see the NYT, April 18, 1925; February 25, 1996.

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“inattention to his studies”: Hal Boyle’s syndicated column for the Associated Press, as in the
Long Island Star Journal,
March 25, 1965.
“There’s something about having”: NYT, September 15, 1968.

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“decided to make a stab”: Hal Boyle syndicated column for the Associated Press, as in the
Long Island Star Journal,
March 25, 1965.

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“100 percent sole star billing”: Associated Booking contract,
www.barbra-archives.com
.
“terse, mocking intros”:
New York World-Telegram,
January 4, 1962.

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“Twenty-year-old Barbra”:
Variety,
May 30, 1962.

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“Do you know how wonderful”: “A Love Song for Barbra,” posted August 3, 2011, on the
Huffington Post
. Although the Bergmans wrote that this occurred when Streisand was eighteen, at her first Bon Soir appearance, she did not sing “My Name Is Barbara” until May 1962.
“a masseur, an analyst and a wife”: NYT, September 29, 1960.

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“of anyone else in the part”: LAT, August 27, 1967. It has become part of Streisand lore that Stark opposed her in
Funny Girl
right from the start, and only after much effort was he finally persuaded to cast her. But the Jerome Robbins Collection reveals that this was not the case at all. Although it seems to have taken Fran Stark longer to come around, Ray Stark was strongly in Streisand’s corner by the late spring of 1962.

10. Summer 1962

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thought the outfit was horrible: Spada,
Streisand: Her Life.
Earl Wilson was currently suggesting: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Galveston
(Texas)
Daily News,
June 28, 1962.

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William Morris Agency: Contract dated July 6, 1962,
www.barbra-archives.com
. Because Streisand was not yet twenty-one, her mother had to cosign with her. Diana chose to omit the “Kind” from her signature, using just “Streisand.”
“An unknown”: LAT, August 27, 1967.
“Miss Streisand has such”: NYT, June 10, 1962.
Reviews for
Pins and Needles:
For example,
San Antonio Light,
August 5, 1962.