Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand (83 page)

BOOK: Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand

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notes on Barclay Hotel stationery: These are all preserved in Robbins’s
Funny Girl
papers, dated February 19–February 29, 1964, JRC, NYPL.
“Hey, gorgeous, here we go”: Jule Styne to Jerome Robbins, February 19, 1964, JRC, NYPL.

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“not in keeping with the image”: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Lima
(Ohio)
News,
March 17, 1964.
“Everything we know of”: Undated rehearsal notes by Jerome Robbins, 1964, JRC, NYPL.

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“several extra coats of paint”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Lowell Sun,
February 20, 1964.
“for the first time since”: Edith (Stark’s secretary) to Jerome Robbins, February 24, 1964, JRC, NYPL.
“the top figure deal with”: Louis Sobol’s syndicated column, as in the
Cedar Rapids Gazette,
March 1, 1964.
the call from Earl Wilson: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Petersburg
(Virginia)
Progress-Index,
February 26, 1964.

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“dashing into the record stores”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Mansfield
(Ohio)
News Journal,
December 28, 1963.
“the arrangements, the cover”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
“Every moment in the album”:
Billboard,
February 29, 1964.
“spellbinding effect”:
Bakersfield Californian,
February 22, 1964.

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“oooooo, aaaaaay”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
“inadequate [about] singing”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
“a mixture of old and new”:
Oakland Tribune,
July 26, 1963.
A poll taken of teenagers:
Lowell Sun,
February 6, 1964.

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“like rituals performed”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Oneonta
(New York)
Star
, March 10, 1964.
“The craze to get in ahead”: NYT, April 26, 1964.
“should cut at least twenty-eight”: NYT, April 5, 1964.

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a handful of notes just for her: These are all preserved in Robbins’s
Funny Girl
papers, dated between March 1 and March 20, 1964, JRC, NYPL.

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“getting the laughs it used to”: Ray Stark to Jerome Robbins, March 20, 1964, JRC, NYPL.

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“the wrath of the public”: NYT, March 19, 1964.

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“one of the biggest deals”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Dunkirk
(New York)
Evening Observer,
March 5, 1964.
“in essence,” “a real character”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
Stark could be a bully: My description of Streisand’s relationship with Stark at this point is drawn from several interviews: Lainie Kazan, Anne Francis, and two very important anonymous sources. Also, Frank Pierson wrote in
New West
magazine, November 22, 1976, that Streisand told him on the set of
A Star Is Born:
“I can’t stand for someone to tell me what to do. Ray Stark always used to bully me, the son of a bitch.”

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shoved and kicked a photographer: Associated Press newswire, as in the
Lima
(Ohio)
News,
June 28, 1953.
“Look, if you’re prepared”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
“Fuck you”: Two company members, one of them Lainie Kazan, recalled Streisand saying “Fuck you” to Stark. The belief was that she said it very soon before opening night. Allan Miller recalled a similar moment for James Spada in
Streisand: Her Life,
although it is implied that the words were spoken at an earlier point in the previews, while Kanin was still director. The dialogue I have quoted here comes from Miller’s account. It could be that Streisand said “Fuck you” to Stark more than once. No one would be surprised. Elliott had a job: On March 17, 1964, in his syndicated column, as in the
Pasadena Star News,
Mike Connolly reported that Gould had been cast in Burnett’s forthcoming Broadway show,
The Idol of Millions,
later called
Fade Out—Fade In,
with music by Jule Styne. As Gould was not in this show, I suspect Connolly got the name of the project wrong, and it was
Once Upon a Mattress
he should have reported. The presence of Layton as director seems to confirm that. It’s possible, however, that Gould was going to be in
Fade Out—Fade In
and pulled out to do the film
The Confession.

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some blind items in the columns: Anne Edwards in
Streisand: A Biography
wrote that Earl Wilson had reported in the
New York Post:
“What new musical comedy star and her leading man are a romantic duet offstage to the fury of the actor’s beautiful wife?” Edwards did not provide a date for that notice, and a check of the
Post
from January to April of 1964 did not locate the quote. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t there; the
Post
is not digitized before the 1990s and searching has to be done on microfilm, so I may have missed it. But a digitized search of other newspapers that carried Wilson’s column in 1964 also did not locate the quote.
“The stories about the domestic”: Mike Connolly’s syndicated column, as in the
Pasadena Star News,
March 17, 1964.
“He handles it all very”:
Ladies’ Home Journal,
August 1966.
“So how do you feel?”: Interview on the
Robbins Nest
radio program, WNEW, broadcast March 28, 1964, included on the
Just for the Record
DVD.
“been open about two years”: NYT, April 5, 1964.

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“Barb, I brought you up to Fifty-third Street”:
Just for the Record
DVD.
“fashion wise”: NYT, April 26, 1964.
between fifteen and eighteen thousand dollars: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Lima
(Ohio)
News,
March 19, 1964.

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“You can be my bagel”: A copy was preserved in JRC, NYPL.
“Barbra Streisand crosses the stage”:
Time,
April 10, 1964.

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“She has everything that”:
Robbins Nest
radio program,
Just for the Record
DVD.

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“overlooking the lights”: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Galveston Daily News,
April 1, 1964.
“her face stiff, her backbone stiffer”: NYT, April 5, 1964.

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“You tired, honey?”:
Robbins Nest
radio program,
Just for the Record
DVD.
“people were pawing her”:
Life,
May 22, 1964.
“All those cameras and lights”: NYT, April 5, 1964.
“You didn’t bring chicken soup”: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Galveston Daily News,
April 1, 1964.

17. Spring 1964

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“looking as stylized and elegant”:
Life,
May 22, 1964.

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“Everybody knew that Barbra”:
New York Herald Tribune,
March 27, 1964.
“Hail to thee, Barbra”:
New York World-Telegram,
March 27, 1964.
“proves . . . she can sing”:
Wall Street Journal,
March 30, 1964.
“remarkable demonstration of skill”:
New York Daily News,
March 27, 1964.

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“honest emotion underneath”: NYT, March 27, 1964.

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champagne and chocolate cake:
Life,
May 22, 1964.
the island’s Blue Mountain Inn:
The Daily Gleaner
(Kingston, Jamaica), May 6, 1961.

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a rabbit, a canary: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Galveston Daily News,
May 25, 1964.
“locked up in prison”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
“inspiration wanes and craft”:
New York Herald-Tribune,
March 27, 1964.

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“Now that I’m supposed”: NYT, April 5, 1964.
“Happy Birthday”:
Life,
May 22, 1964.

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"nut on TV": NYT, July 4, 1965. I have drawn my account of the Winter Garden Kids from both this newspaper report, in which a teenaged Lippner was interviewed, as well as several personal contemporary interviews with Lippner.

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"how to approach a big sister": Spada,
Streisand: Her Life.
“threatened and frightened”:
Playboy,
October 1977.

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Presents were left:
Players,
Spring 1965.
“the real screwy ones”: Kaufman Schwartz interview.

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and a little embarrassed: This can possibly be deduced from Streisand’s statement: “I should have been in a different category,” in a wire-service story, as in the
Tucson Daily Citizen,
May 30, 1964.

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Under the Jamaican sun: Much of my description of
The Confession
shoot comes from
The Daily Gleaner
(Kingston, Jamaica), May 6, 1964.
“protect her,” “She was my woman”:
Playboy,
November 1970. I have also used various other interviews as context for his thoughts at this time.

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“a remarkable performance”:
The Daily Gleaner
(Kingston, Jamaica), May 6, 1964.
called him a “masochist”:
Time,
September 7, 1970.
Jack Jones suddenly froze: I have taken my description of the 1964 Grammy Awards from the NYT, May 13, 1964; the AP wire story, as in the
Hartford Courant,
May 13, 1964; and the UPI wire story, as in the
Oxnard Press-Courier,
May 13, 1964.

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“There’s nothing we can do”: NYT, May 12, 1964.

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“That’s my line”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
New Castle
(Pennsylvania)
News,
May 20, 1964.

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“simple [and] nonintellectual”:
Family Weekly,
February 2, 1964.

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“No, no, can’t be done”:
Family Weekly,
February 2, 1964.

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Barbra sauntered into fashion designer: Eugenia Sheppard’s syndicated column, as in the
Hartford Courant,
June 25, 1964.
for Cosmo Sirchio’s collection: Eugenia Sheppard’s syndicated column, as in the
Hartford Courant,
May 24, 1964.
“I am high fashion!”:
Family Weekly,
February 2, 1964.
named to the worst-dressed list: Louella Parsons’s syndicated column, as in the
San Antonio Light,
January 23, 1964.

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“ask how much things cost”:
Sunday Bulletin,
April 25, 1965.
pocket money:
This Week,
February 5, 1966.
“All you think about is”:
Family Weekly,
February 2, 1964.
million-dollar television contract: NYT, June 23, 1964.
Marty was crowing: Alex Freeman’s syndicated column, as in the
Hartford Courant,
September 1, 1964.

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“The screaming could be heard”: Alex Freeman’s syndicated column, as in the
Hartford Courant,
July 23, 1964.
Carol Burnett proposed a joint:
Hartford Courant,
October 11, 1964.
“traffic going by”:
O, The Oprah
Magazine,
October 2006.

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“Stardom is a part of”:
Vanity Fair,
September 1991.
“To end the rash of rumors”: Alex Freeman’s syndicated column, as in the
Hartford Courant,
May 18, 1964.
“going to be a big movie star”: Wire-service story, as in the
Uniontown
(Pennsylvania)
Morning Herald,
May 20, 1964.
“a bath in lava”:
Time,
September 7, 1970.
“Oh, God, don’t envy me”:
Playboy,
October 1977.

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“Being a star is being a movie star”: Rough copy for a “Tintype” column, 1964, Sydney Skolsky Collection, AMPAS.
“a practical person”:
This Week,
February 5, 1966.

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“off on the track of always”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
“I didn’t want you”:
O, The Oprah
Magazine,
October 2006.

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“alone with [her] thoughts”: Unsourced clipping, perhaps Dorothy Kilgallen’s column, circa summer 1964, NYPL.
“larger than life”: Interview with Elliott Gould at
www.aish.com
.

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“You must only give three-quarters”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
“I have visions in my head”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
“Her performances astound”: “Barbra: Some Notes” by Jerome Robbins, Roddy McDowall Collection, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.

Index

Note: Throughout the index, I Can Get It for You Wholesale is abbreviated as Wholesale.

Abbott, George,
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,
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acting.
See also
Miller, Allan; singing; Theatre Studio