Her Name is Barbra

There’s always been something about Barbra Streisand. For over six decades, she has defied and redefined expectations as a singer, actor, producer and director. She has received awards and accolades from numerous industry institutions, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, a special Tony Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and many others. The SAG Life Achievement Award ceremony, held during the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® on Feb. 24, was preceded by many who praised Streisand for her talent, unequivocal work ethic and lifelong accomplishments.

But when it comes to Barbra Streisand, there’s always more to be said.

Streisand got her start on Broadway, performing in productions such as I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962), but with the release of her debut album, The Barbra Streisand Album (1963), she became known to the world as a singer. Still, even with music as her medium, it was clear to listeners and concertgoers that her vocal performances were rooted in acting. As Maestro actor Bradley Cooper said when presenting her award, “Acting is the lens that Barbra has always seen performance [through] ... She never just sings a song; she tells a story. So while it may seem that Barbra began as a singer, she’s been acting all along.”

Her on-screen acting debut came in 1968 with the musical film Funny Girl, in which Streisand reprised her Broadway role as Fanny Brice, and later received the Academy Award for Best Actress. Other roles through the ’60s and ’70s included Hello, Dolly! (1969), What’s Up, Doc? (1972), The Way We Were (1973) and A Star Is Born (1976).

However, the heights Streisand reached in those early years did not come without strife. In her memoir, My Name Is Barbra (2023), she describes feeling “absolutely powerless” in steering films towards her creative vision. She was particularly against The Way We Were director Sydney Pollack’s decision to cut key scenes between her and co-star Robert Redford. The drive she felt to bring her imagination to life on the screen is what ultimately led her to transition into directing and her career-defining project Yentl (1983), the story in which its eponymous character, played by Streisand, disguises herself as a man for the opportunity to study Talmudic law.

The production, which took 15 years to greenlight, was not only the first time Streisand served as director, star, co-writer and co-producer, but the first time any woman had undertaken all four roles concurrently in a major studio film. In his review, the late film critic Roger Ebert wrote that the romantic musical “treats its romances with the respect due to genuine emotion, and its performances are so good that, yes, I really did care.”

During the 1984 awards season, Streisand became the first woman to receive the Golden Globe for Best Director, and remained the only woman to win the award for nearly four decades. Despite this accolade and many others for her subsequent projects, The Prince of Tides (1991) and The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), Streisand never received an Oscar nomination in the directorial categories. 

But even in the face of what many attribute to sexism within the industry, Streisand’s spirit is one of perseverance. Today, she is seen as a pioneering figure among female directors, and, in the end, her longtime advocacy for The Way We Were’s original scenes resulted in a re-cut of the movie’s ending — just in time for its 50th anniversary release in 2023.

But her enduring work hasn’t just been limited to Hollywood. The Streisand Foundation, established in 1986, has provided funding for numerous organizations that support women’s rights, civil liberties and the environment, among other causes. In 2021, she endowed the Barbra Streisand Institute at UCLA, and since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2022, has served as a UNITED24 ambassador, helping to raise funds for humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

With such a stellar career, an incomparable body of work and countless moments of personal triumph and professional perseverance, it was impossible to guess what Streisand would say when she took to the stage to accept her honor. In the end, her acceptance speech was so quintessentially her: self-reflective, rich with stories about lifelong friends, mentors and colleagues, and full of heartfelt gratitude towards actors and the influence acting has played throughout her life and career.

“I always thought acting was my education: trying to understand the character, having to do research, and immersing [myself] into the period,” she said. “It is really a privilege to be part of this profession. For a couple of hours, people can sit in a theater and escape their own troubles — what an idea! 

“To my fellow actors and directors, I’ve loved working with you, playing with you and inhabiting that magical world of the movies with you. Most of all I want to thank you for giving me so much joy [by] just watching you on the screen! Thank you for that.”

Nominated and voted on by the SAG-AFTRA National Honors and Tributes Committee, the SAG Life Achievement Award is bestowed to those who have contributed to improving the image of the acting profession and have a history of active involvement in public service endeavors. Streisand is the awards’ 59th recipient.

This item originally featured in the SAG-AFTRA spring 2024 magazine.