The Prince of Tides

One of the world’s most popular singers, an award-winning, versatile actress of stage, feature film, and television, a distinguished filmmaker, and a major producer, Barbra Streisand reigns as the grande dame of American entertainment. Raised in a middle-class Brooklyn household, the daughter of a high school teacher father who died when Streisand was a baby, and a mother who dreamed of the stage, she graduated from high school two years ahead of her classmates. As a young woman, Streisand attended acting classes and worked various odd jobs and in nightclubs, until she won a Greenwich Village talent contest. She landed her first major acting job in the 1962 Broadway musical I Can Get It for Your Wholesale and stole the show with her portrayal of frowsy secretary Miss Marmelstein. The 21-year-old subsequently debuted on Judy Garland’s television show, opposite Garland’s daughter Liza Minnelli and Broadway institution Ethel Merman. Streisand’s powerful, clear soprano, charisma, and unusual looks made her the perfect choice in Jule Styne’s and Bob Merrill’s musical Funny Girl in 1964. –allmovie guide