Barbra Streisand in numbers (featuring Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau and Meet The Fockers)

With her 992 page memoir 'My Name Is Barbra' arriving on Tuesday (Nov 7), what better time to look back at the story of the Grande Dame
Getty Images
Joanna Taylor3 November 2023

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Near marriage to Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau, father of the country’s current PM, Justin. Trudeau Senior and Streisand actually first met in London, in January 1969, when they were both been seated at Princess Margaret’s table for a party at Claridge’s to celebrate the British film premiere of Funny Girl. Trudeau was in London for his first Commonwealth Conference and made quite an impression on the capital: at one point sliding down the banister of Marlborough House for the entertainment of the press.

27

Years she refused to charge people to hear her sing, for fear she’d get stage fright a second time. Though that certainly changed: Streisand was for a long time called 'the highest-priced touring act of all time'. Tickets for her 2007 comeback show at the O2 Arena, for example, cost as much as £500. Still, though that seemed outrageous at the time, the Rolling Stones went on to charge double that at their own comeback at the same venue in 2012.

2

Husbands who both starred in Peter Hyams’ Capricorn One: Elliott Gould and James Brolin. Streisand at one point also dated both Richard Gere and Clint Eastwood (though not at the same time).

53

Years since the grande dame became the second-ever EGOT - as in someone who has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award - a whole 20 years before BFF Liza Minnelli. Streisand has what is called a non-competitive EGOT, meaning that one of her awards - her Special Tony Award - was honorary.

6

Views of the Malibu photo that caused the ‘Streisand Effect’ phenomenon before she sued its taker, resulting in more than 400,000 views of the image. The phrase was coined two years later by Mike Masnick of Techdirt, while writing about Marco Beach Ocean Resort's takedown notice to urinal.net, who had used the resort's name. "How long", he wrote, "is it going to take before lawyers realize that the simple act of trying to repress something they don't like online is likely to make it so that something that most people would never, ever see (like a photo of a urinal in some random beach resort) is now seen by many more people? Let's call it the Streisand Effect."

1960

The year Streisand dropped the second ‘a’ from her name because she wanted to seem ‘unique’ — signing up to a life of misprints.

4

Shops Streisand has in the underground ‘mall’ beneath her house, which sell gifts, vintage clothing, dolls and sweets. Though she is far from the only famous person to have an extravagant addition to her home. Lady Gaga has a bowling alley in her mansion, while Celine Dion had a water park on her estate. Paris Hilton's mansion, meanwhile, has a separate mansion for her dogs, and of course there are Kim Kardashian's notorious bathroom sinks.

2015

Year Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for ‘meritorious contributions to the national interests of the United States.’ Obama also gave the medal to Diana Ross and Bruce Springsteen.

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