Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand (82 page)

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Allyn Ann McLerie for the part:
The New York Herald-Tribune
reported on McLerie’s casting on November 14, 1963.
“quite beautiful”: Michael Shurtleff, on David Merrick stationery, to Jerome Robbins, August 6, 1962, JRC, NYPL.
“Latin as Yorkshire pudding”: Whitney Bolton, the
New York Morning Telegraph,
May 16, 1960.

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“That doesn’t happen”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Coshocton
(Ohio)
Tribune,
November 12, 1963.
“Everything seems like me”:
Boston Globe,
December 29, 1963.
“physical fitness special”:
Pageant,
November 1963.

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consideration of Tommy Leonetti: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Mansfield
(Ohio)
News Journal,
October 16, 1963.
“sounded like Minnie Mouse”:
People,
March 20, 1989.

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“maleness,” “sensitive, feminine side”:
Vanity Fair,
September 1991.
his star’s “misbehaving”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Daytona Beach Morning Journal,
July 13, 1962.
fashionable place to be seen: NYT, November 12, 1963.

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“bit role” in
Funny Girl:
Walter Winchell’s syndicated column, as in the
Logansport
(Indiana)
Pharos-Tribune,
November 20, 1963.
“Everybody knows Barbra Streisand”:
Van Nuys News,
November 19, 1963.
“no big thing”:
Playboy,
November 1970.
“consistent discouragement”:
Playgirl,
May 1975.

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“damnedest not to take seriously”:
Playboy,
November 1970.
“I get worried about such”: Walter Winchell’s syndicated column, as in the
Sarasota Journal
, October 2, 1963.
“The public throws”:
Van Nuys News,
November 19, 1963.

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“the younger-looking buyers”: UPI syndicated article, as in the
Redlands
(California)
Daily Facts,
November 13, 1963. The benefit fashion show was announced on November 8 in the NYT.

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“A kook is a person”: Associated Press syndicated article, as in
The Derrick
(Oil City, Pennsylvania), October 11, 1963.
“Anyway, here I was”:
Pageant,
November 1963.

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“A hoax,” Barbra thought: My description of Streisand’s reaction to Kennedy’s death comes from Spada
, Streisand: Her Life;
Considine
, Barbra Streisand: The Woman, the Myth, the Music;
and an undated newspaper clipping, “Barbra and JFK,” in the Streisand file, NYPL.

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“Controlled hysteria”:
San Francisco Chronicle,
December 6, 1963.

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“one-girl concert”:
Billboard,
November 30, 1963.
There hadn’t been a lot of publicity: Streisand had been scheduled to appear on
The Jack Paar Program
on November 29, apparently hoping to tape it right before heading out to Chicago. Her name was included in hundreds of TV listings for that date. Liberace was also scheduled to be a guest. It’s not clear if Streisand appeared, however; no video has surfaced, and the Internet Movie Database does not list her as a guest for that date, although it does list Liberace. Perhaps Streisand cancelled at the last minute in order to get to Chicago on time.

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“Not me”: Script for
Funny Girl,
dated December 1963, Bob Merrill Collection, LoC.

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“This is worse than opening night”: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Reno Evening Gazette,
December 16, 1963.
“life is too short to deal”: Kissel,
David Merrick: The Abominable Showman.
in excess of $100,000: Louis Sobol’s syndicated column, as in the
Cedar Rapids Gazette,
March 1, 1964.

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she wanted a raise to $7,500: Some reports have said that Streisand was originally signed for $1,500; however, Mike Connolly reported in his column that she was being paid $3,500, ten times what Merrick had paid her for
Wholesale.
As in the
Pasadena Star News,
October 29, 1963.
$350 a week, singing in clubs: Contracts between Lainie Kazan and the Colonial Tavern and Huddle’s Embers, May 21, 1963, and September 27, 1963, respectively, Lainie Kazan Collection, NYPL.

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specially tailored trousers: UPI syndicated article, as in the
Wisconsin State Journal,
January 19, 1964.
“vocal and dramatic coaching”: Contract between Seven Arts and Lainie Kazan, 1964, Lainie Kazan Collection, NYPL.

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“said very little”: Personal interview with Sharon Vaughn.
“reportedly getting the biggest”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Coshocton
(Ohio)
Tribune,
January 29, 1964.
“artistic responsibility”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
“affected by things”: Kaufman Schwartz interview.

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“didn’t think she wanted”:
Vanity Fair,
September 1991. Suzanne Merrill also provided additional information and confirmation of this episode.
“Don’t tell me not to fly”: Bob Merrill notebooks, Bob Merrill Collection, LoC.

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“in a desperate race”: NYT, May 24, 1964.

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“very probably made it difficult”:
Boston Herald,
January 9, 1964.
“This play is really about”: Associated Press story, as in the
Hartford Courant,
January 26, 1964.
“Ten years ago they started”:
Oakland Tribune,
December 13, 1963.

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“I don’t want to imitate”: Associated Press story, as in the
Hartford Courant,
January 26, 1964.
“Little girl”: Sheilah Graham’s syndicated column, as in the
San Antonio Express,
December 2, 1963.
“We hate each other”:
Boston Globe,
December 29, 1963. I am also grateful to Orson Bean, a close friend of Chaplin’s, for background on the relationship between Streisand and Chaplin.

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“very chummy”: Spada,
Streisand: Her Life.
“a note to the show”: The Garson Kanin papers at the Library of Congress do not contain any material on
Funny Girl.
Apparently Kanin or his widow, Marian Seldes, withheld these when the donation was made, for the material does exist, or at least, it
did
exist when Kanin shared the letter he wrote to McLerie, dated February 28, 1964, with Anne Edwards for her
Streisand: A Biography.
Kanin also supplied McLerie’s reply, which shows her to have been very gracious, calling her firing part of “the hazards of the trade.” McLerie had, perhaps, reason to be gracious: she’d been signed to a one-year contract, so unless a settlement was arranged, she’d still be paid her full year’s salary.
“the length of the musical”: NYT, December 30, 1963.
“a little Burmese idol”: Cecil Beaton,
Photobiography
(Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1951)
.

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Barbra was “on fire”: Theodore Taylor,
Jule: The Story of Composer Jule Styne
(New York: Random House, 1979).
“was to attempt to get her”:
Players Magazine,
Spring 1965.
“The actor has to have some”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
“loved [her] . . . wanted to make”:
New West,
November 22, 1976.

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“Whatever happens to the show”:
Boston Globe,
December 29, 1963.

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Louis Sobol’s column featuring: Louis Sobol’s syndicated column, as in the
Cedar Rapids Gazette
, November 15, 1963.
no longer had any real friends:
Vanity Fair,
November 1994. In this piece, Streisand talked about the Cormans being her only friends, not accepting invitations, and not having people at her place.

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“encamped there like a pair”:
Time,
April 10, 1964.
remained very simple:
Playboy,
November 1970.
“I am now a mature”:
Pageant,
November 1963.
“And that’s what one year”: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Reno Evening Gazette,
January 10, 1964.

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“Streisand is an original”:
Cue,
December 28, 1963.

16. Winter 1964

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to make his move: I have based my account of the beginning of Streisand’s affair with Chaplin on accounts provided by Orson Bean and another friend of Chaplin’s, who said the affair began on the first night of their stay in Boston when Chaplin went to her room.
“the old things”:
Boston Herald,
January 9, 1964.

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“trying his best”:
Boston Herald,
January 10, 1964.
unapologetically liked sex: Consider her response to the question of her favorite sound on
Inside the Actors Studio.
It was “the sound of orgasms.”
“playing games with men”:
Playboy,
October 1977.

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“really didn’t have”:
Playboy,
October 1977.
“very self-destructive”:
Playboy,
November 1970.
“I’m just finding myself”:
Life,
December 12, 1969.
“trips,” “inner understanding”:
Playboy,
November 1970.
“Kid, you’re gorgeous”: Interview with Orson Bean, also referenced in many other accounts.

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the Harborne Stuarts:
Boston Globe,
January 13, 1964.

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“the songs were unimportant”:
Oakland Tribune,
February 2, 1964.
“wouldn’t open a can of sardines”: NYT, February 12, 1964.
all but two of the auditorium’s:
Boston Herald,
January 14, 1964.
“every Barbra Streisand fan”:
Lowell Sun,
January 14, 1964.
“a personality the crowds”:
Oakland Tribune,
February 2, 1964.

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“What begins with bright”:
Boston Globe,
January 14, 1964.
“more of a movie scenario”:
Billboard,
January 25, 1964.
“to sell the costumes and scenery”:
Lowell Sun,
January 14, 1964.
“a quality that makes you want”:
Boston Herald,
January 14, 1964.

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“The second act becomes”:
Boston Herald,
January 19, 1964.
“the weakness of the libretto”:
Boston Evening American,
January 14, 1964.
“a heavy, oracular style”:
Boston Globe,
January 14, 1964.
“auditioning for a punch”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Salt Lake Tribune,
February 1, 1964.

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“she was driving herself”: NYT, May 12, 1964.
“who makes every note sound”:
Lowell Sun,
February 3, 1964.
“Leave ’em laughing!”:
Boston Herald,
January 19, 1964.
“The first half is a delight”:
Boston Globe,
January 26, 1964, and other dates.
“they still haven’t decided”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Coshocton
(Ohio)
Tribune,
January 29, 1964.
“She excels . . . in every dept.”: Walter Winchell’s syndicated column, as in the
Eureka
(California)
Humboldt Standard,
January 27, 1964.
“Three years ago she lived”: Walter Winchell’s syndicated column, as in the
Nevada State Journal,
January 29, 1964.
“a sensation . . . but the book”: Hedda Hopper’s syndicated column, as in the
Lima
(Ohio)
News,
January 23, 1964.

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“a cult of worshippers”:
Lowell Sun,
January 14, 1964.
Joan Crawford made sure: Hedda Hopper’s syndicated column, as in the
Lima
(Ohio)
News,
January 23, 1964.
“If a musical comedy with”:
Boston Herald,
January 14, 1964.

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“Biggest screaming scene”: Walter Winchell’s syndicated column, as in the
Eureka
(California)
Humboldt Standard,
January 31, 1964.
last night of their Boston run: Lainie Kazan said “Something About Me” was performed on their last night in Boston.

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at the same hotel: Hotel assignments are given in a memo in the
Funny Girl
papers, JRC, NYPL.

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“Dear Gar”: Jerome Robbins to Garson Kanin, February 18, 1964, JRC, NYPL.
“The first triumph belongs”:
Philadelphia Inquirer,
February 5, 1964.
“The funny girl should”:
Philadelphia Inquirer,
February 9, 1964.

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Buzz Miller, one of the lead: See Vaill,
Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins.

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“The British group, something like”:
Zanesville
(Ohio)
Times Recorder,
February 15, 1964.
“impossible to get a radio”: Associated Press syndicated article, as in the
Portland Oregonian,
February 11, 1964.

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Dick Kleiner’s top picks: Dick Kleiner’s syndicated column, as in the
Lowell Sun,
February 17, 1964.
“
Funny Girl
must agree”: Dorothy Kilgallen’s syndicated column, as in the
Lowell Sun,
February 12, 1964.
“Tisn’t so, comes the word”: Earl Wilson’s syndicated column, as in the
Delaware County
(Pennsylvania)
Daily Times,
February 14, 1964.

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“graceful, nimble, handsome”:
Philadelphia Inquirer,
February 5, 1964.
rehearse the new “Sadie, Sadie”: Robbins’s schedule indicated on February 28 that the “new version of Sadie, Sadie” was to be rehearsed. JRC, NYPL. Earlier he had given a pep talk to the company.

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“Forty-one different last”:
Playboy,
October 1977.

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offered producer Kermit Bloomgarden: NYT, February 7, 1964.
“jet-fueled with the robust”: “Barbra: Some Notes,” a manuscript written by Jerome Robbins and submitted to Roddy McDowall for possible inclusion in his book
Double Exposure,
Roddy McDowall Collection, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.

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He’d just signed his contract: Contract between Jerome Robbins and Ray Stark, February 19, 1964, JRC, NYPL.
“After twenty years of working”: NYT, March 22, 1964.