Barbra: An Actress Who Sings
An unauthorised biography by James Kimbrell, published by Branden Publishing Company, Boston
Filmography, Discography, bibliography are all words that spring to mind when trying to describe this book. Volume I (of presumably a 2-volume set) gives us Ms Streisand the Acress and Singer, but precious little about Streisand the Woman. Certainly we learn of her affair with Jon Peters; but this is probably one of the too-few instances when we hear about her private life.
Streisand the Actress seems to be an entirely different person from the plitical and social-awareness campaigner, as th singer is totally different fromthe aforementioned two. Her temper is legendary, and she does not sufer fools gladly- but she has also alienated many co-stars, directors, producers, camera-men etc. Mr Kimbrell is obviously a fan of Ms Streisand, but he is not afraid to pull any punches when describing her behaviour on and off the set.
The gorgeous voice (we learn) is a little unsure of itself, which accounts for her giving only four (I was surprised to learn) publich performances in her entire career. Her singing career is very well covered in this volume – but Please! no more underlining of titles, dates, names etc. It is so infuriating and distracting.
Streisand is not afraind to tackel political issues as well. Money form her own pocket was used to fund a campaign to unseat Senator Jesse Helms. All that can be said is Good Luck on this one, Barbra!
Certainly a book for all Streisand fans; but I think I will wait a while, as this is definetly not the Definitive Biography.
Peter G Simms
Community Journalist
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