Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand (80 page)

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“A bump on a girl’s”: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Delaware County Times,
January 14, 1963.
“There is a full-blown”: Mel Heimer’s syndicated column, as in the
Masillon
(Ohio)
Evening Independent,
December 29, 1962.

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“I think Barbara Streisand is”:
Bridgeport Post,
January 25, 1963.
Barbra was set to fly out:
Hollywood Reporter,
February 1, 1963.

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“in a Broadway theater at last”: Dennen,
My Life with Barbra.
My account is also supplemented by a personal interview with Dennen.

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“should draw an enormous amount”:
Billboard,
March 23, 1963.
“getting the kind of reception”:
Billboard,
March 2, 1963.
“Miss Marmel Steisand”:
Boston Globe,
February 1, 1963.
had retreated to the back: See the series of photographs at
www.barbra-archives.com
.
reached only Midwest audiences: As an advertisement in the NYT on July 31, 1963, makes clear, Group W was planning to bring
The Mike Douglas Show
into the New York and other markets soon, but had not yet done so. “A big success in Cleveland,” the advertisement calls the show.

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“To the singer from”: Kaufman Schwartz and Associates transcript of interview, August 15, 1963, Sidney Skolsky Collection, AMPAS.

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“talked out of going”: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Manitowoc
(Wisconsin)
Herald Times,
February 28, 1963.
“something technical on”:
Playboy,
November 1970.

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“She was easily the kookiest”:
San Francisco Chronicle,
March 24, 1963.

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“Barbra Streisand is unquestionably”:
San Francisco Chronicle,
April 1, 1963.
“a vocal plumber”:
San Francisco Chronicle,
March 5, 1995.
“Well, my dear”:
San Francisco Chronicle,
January 31, 2001. The quote comes from Country Joe McDonald, who was also the one to liken Davis to Auntie Mame.

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“Singers are not known”:
People,
July 6, 1981.
“obstructing the performance”:
San Francisco Chronicle,
March 5, 1995.
“Funny singer Barbra Streisand”:
Galveston
(Texas)
Daily News,
March 28, 1963.

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“consciousness of an unconscious”:
People,
July 6, 1981.

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comedian Woody Allen: Allen closed at the hungry i on March 30, so he and Streisand overlapped by four days.
San Francisco Chronicle,
March 30, 1963.
“the most influential nightclub”: NYT, May 13, 1961.
“being catapulted into”:
Oakland Tribune,
April 13, 1964.

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“modestly disclaimed having”: NYT, May 13, 1961.

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“a tawny, feline, long-haired”:
San Francisco Chronicle,
April 1, 1963.
a young engineer named Reese Hamel: See
All About Barbra
fanzine, number 37, as well as
www.barbra-archives.com
. The recording of that night is available online.

13. Spring 1963

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“a potentially great new stylist”:
Syracuse Post Standard,
April 14, 1963.
“shows herself to be one”:
Altoona
(Pennsylvania)
Mirror,
April 8, 1963.
“the silk in ‘Happy Days’”: Walter Winchell’s syndicated column, as in the
San Antonio Light,
April 13, 1963.

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“almost definite”: NYT, April 26, 1963.
Investors had lost: NYT, May 4, 1963.

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“been signed for the role”:
Oakland Tribune,
March 23, 1963. The
San Francisco Chronicle
also reported she’d been signed on March 26. Both publications, however, referred to the Brice project as a film.
“They’ve been having a tough”: Mike Connolly’s syndicated column, as in the
Pasadena Independent,
April 18, 1963.
“That funny Barbra Streisand”: Mike Connolly’s syndicated column, as in the
Pasadena Star News,
May 7, 1963.
“an ordinary beauty shop”:
Cosmopolitan,
May 1965.

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“the most sought-after”: Payn and Morley, eds.,
The Noël Coward Diaries.

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The Barbra Streisand
Album
had reached:
Billboard,
May 18, 1963. Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul, and Mary, was higher than Streisand on the chart, but only as part of her group.
“much too busy”: This anecdote is recounted in Ballard’s memoir,
How I Lost 10 Pounds in 53 Years,
and was also told in more detail in a personal interview.

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Originally called La Vie en Rose: NYT, October 25, 1967.
“the town’s top agents”:
Billboard,
May 25, 1963.
Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn: Grant’s telegram was reported in Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Uniontown
(Maryland)
Morning Herald,
May 16, 1963. For Hepburn, see Riese,
Her Name Is Barbra.
“shouting their enthusiasm”: Louis Sobol’s syndicated column, as in the
Cedar Rapids Gazette,
May 19, 1963.
for his upcoming show: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Lowell
(Massachusetts)
Sun,
May 17, 1963, and Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as also in the
Lowell Sun,
May 19, 1963.
“A potent belter”:
Variety,
May 22, 1963.

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“with the talent and ability”:
Billboard,
May 25, 1963.
“Kenneth coif”:
Variety,
May 22, 1963.
“a different kind of mama”: syndicated UPI article, as in the
Columbus
(Nebraska)
Daily Telegram,
May 13, 1963.
“attempt one of the great”: syndicated Scripps-Howard article, as in the
Albuquerque Tribune,
May 13, 1963.

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“playfully mocked”:
Sir!
magazine, October 1963.
“juxtaposition of the music”:
Variety,
May 22, 1963.
“turning himself into a period piece”:
Billboard,
May 25, 1963.

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“an Armenian folk song”:
Saturday Evening Post,
July 27, 1963.
“The last act of
Tosca
”: syndicated Scripps-Howard article, as in the
Albuquerque Tribune,
May 13, 1963.
“a Flatbush gamine”: Alan Gill’s syndicated column, as in the
Cedar Rapids Gazette,
May 16, 1963.
“crawling under a table”: syndicated UPI article, as in the
Columbus
(Nebraska)
Daily Telegram,
May 13, 1963.

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hosted by Keefe Brasselle: According to the
Hartford Courant,
May 28, 1963, Brasselle had four summer shows taped and “in the can”; according to Alan Gill’s column, as in the
Cedar Rapids Gazette,
May 30, 1963, one of those shows was the one with Streisand.
“live in-between”: Unedited transcript of a Kaufman Schwartz and Associates public-relations interview with Streisand, August 15, 1963, submitted to Sidney Skolsky, Skolsky Collection, AMPAS. An extraordinary unexpurgated account straight from Streisand’s lips. Hereafter, Kaufman Schwartz interview.

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“down in her own purse”: Merriman Smith, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, wrote about the gala in a UPI report, as in the
Cedar Rapids Gazette,
May 26, 1963.
comedian Jack E. Leonard: Earl Wilson’s column, as in the
Idaho Falls Post Register,
May 24, 1963.
an electric bread slicer: My account of the dinner and gala comes from the NYT, May 25, 1963, and various wire reports.

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“Just as long as you’ve been”: This iconic meeting of Kennedy and Streisand has taken on much mythology over the years. Peter Daniels, who was there, gave his eyewitness account to Shaun Considine for
Barbra Streisand: The Woman, the Myth, the Music,
so I have based much of my account on his. However, Daniels told Considine that Kennedy used his back to sign Streisand’s program. But a photograph of the moment shows the president signing it in his hand as Daniels and Streisand look on. Merv Griffin, in his memoir,
Merv: An Autobiography,
wrote that he asked Streisand the next day why she’d broken protocol, but he did not seem angry that she had done so, despite what subsequent accounts have implied. In addition, Griffin said that when he asked Streisand what Kennedy had written, she replied, “Fuck you. The president.” This was clearly a joke, a good example of Streisand’s sense of humor. Kennedy wrote no such thing. But several accounts have presented the story as if it were true.
“Smart girl”: Merv Griffin with Peter Barsocchini,
Merv: An Autobiography
(New York: Pocket Books, 1981).

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“He knows you well”: Walter Winchell’s syndicated column, as in the
Lebanon
(Pennsylvania)
Daily News,
June 24, 1963.
“three-week showing”:
Chicago’s American,
June 13, 1963.
“somebody’s living room”:
Chicago Sun-Times,
August 21, 2005.

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“A cross between a sweet-voiced”:
Chicago Daily News,
June 15, 1963.
“That’s almost enough”:
Chicago Tribune,
June 16, 1963.
“alive and thrilling”:
Chicago’s American,
June 13, 1963.
“A fantastic first!”:
Billboard,
June 29, 1963.

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“do this [and] do that”: Considine,
Barbra Streisand: The Woman, the Myth, the Music.
“If I have ideas about sets”:
Playboy,
October 1977.

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“We don’t want to upset”: Spada,
Streisand: Her Life.
“a national reputation”:
Pageant,
November 1963.
“demanded” a copy: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Galveston Daily News,
May 31, 1963.

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“with the Bostonese”: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Idaho Falls Post-Reporter,
June 3, 1963.
the security guard at the Studio 50:
Saturday Evening Post,
July 27, 1963.
“which may star Barbra”:
Billboard,
June 1, 1963.
to an “ovation”: NYT, May 31, 1963.

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“practically at the contract-signing”: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Idaho Falls Post-Reporter,
June 13, 1963.
Barbra had already been: Mike Connolly’s syndicated column, as in the
Pasadena Independent,
June 6, 1963.

14. Summer 1963

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Liberace wanted his fans: My account of Liberace introducing Streisand, and their time together in Vegas, comes from Bob Thomas,
Liberace: The True Story
(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989)
,
as well as memories of several Streisand friends. Many of the stories of Streisand being hostilely received at the Riviera in previous accounts seem exaggerated since, with the exception of one snide
Hollywood Reporter
review, contemporary coverage of her time in Vegas was glowing. Still, friends recalled that Liberace did help prepare his audience for Streisand. My account attempts to reconstruct that experience as accurately as possible.

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two nights were “disastrous”: Considine,
Barbra Streisand: The Woman, the Myth, the Music.
thirty thousand souvenir postcards:
Oakland Tribune,
July 26, 1963.
“By far the hottest singer”:
Oakland Tribune,
July 26, 1963.
“the edge in experience”:
Van Nuys News,
July 5, 1963.
“assembly-line singers”:
Variety,
July 8, 1963.

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“If you haven’t heard”: Evelyn Russell Layton to Tom Higgins, July 8, 1963, Higgins Family Collection, Billy Rose Theatre Collection, NYPL.

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“burst to astonishing life”: LAT, June 28, 1963.
“a one-woman recovery”:
Oxnard
(California)
Press-Courier,
June 26, 1963.
“the year of Barbra”: Undated, unsourced AP wire story, clipping in Streisand file, NYPL.
“enigma of a gown”: Mike Connolly’s syndicated column, as in the
Pasadena Independent,
August 20, 1963.
“I don’t want to wrinkle”: AP wire story, as in
The Derrick
(Oil City, Pennsylvania), October 11, 1963.
she had found a new place: Some reports have said that Gould found the place on Central Park West. But he was in London through the second week of July, and it’s clear from the Kaufman Schwartz interview that Streisand had the apartment by then. Perhaps Gould made the final arrangements once he returned home.
“some of the best acting”:
Playboy,
November 1970.

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The lukewarm review:
The Times,
May 31, 1963.
“switch into certain inner”:
Playboy,
November 1970.
“After reading a zillion”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Salt Lake Tribune,
July 22, 1963.

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“What do you want”: Walter Winchell’s syndicated column, as in the
Eureka
(California)
Standard,
July 4, 1963.
“A refugee from Flatbush”:
Saturday Evening Post,
July 27, 1963.
his partner, Harvey Sabinson: The reason I’ve suggested that it might have been Sabinson is that Hamill later admitted to Streisand that he had spoken to Sabinson for the piece and that Sabinson may have been the source of a quote she objected to. Streisand revealed this in a “Truth Alert” on her own official website.

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“where people really lived”:
Look,
April 5, 1966.
“The personality of Anne”: Ray Stark to Jerome Robbins and Jule Styne, October 25, 1961, JRC, NYPL.
“suggestions, ideas, and material”: Floria V. Lasky to Ray Stark, May 1, 1963, JRC, NYPL.

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“no creative contribution”: Albert da Silva to Floria V. Lasky, May 17, 1963, JRC, NYPL.
“Make it like B.”: Script for
Funny Girl
dated June 19, 1963, BFC, LoC.
“become a caricature”: NYT, July 26, 1963.
“I’m not approaching it”: Kaufman Schwartz interview.

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“certain natural characteristics”: NYT, July 26, 1963.