Barbra Streisand has revealed that she hasn’t had ‘much fun in her life’ in a new 992-page memoir.
The 81-year-old American singer and performer stated she now wants to make up for the years she spent not deriving any emotional or professional satisfaction from life in a recent interview with BBC Breakfast, which was conducted ahead of the publication of her memoir.
“I want to live life,” she told the BBC’s music correspondent Mark Savage. “I haven’t had much fun in my life, to tell you the truth. And I want to have more fun.”
Instead, Streisand said she wants to get in her husband’s truck and “just wander”.
“Hopefully with the children somewhere near us,” she said. “Life is fun for me when they come over. They love playing with the dogs and we have fun.”
The singer reminisces on her life and career in her upcoming 992-page autobiography, My Name Is Barbra. It also includes an extensive list of the many meals she has had over the years.
At the age of 15, Streisand moved out of her Brooklyn, New York, home and started working weekends as a theater usher while also taking a job as a clerk to gain experience in the Broadway theater industry. However, Streisand was aware at the time that stardom was her destiny.
“I got paid $4.50, I think it was, but I always hid my face because I thought someday I’d be well-known,” she told the BBC.
“Isn’t that funny? I didn’t want people to recognize me on the screen and know that I once showed them to their seats.”
In the 1960s, Streisand’s career in entertainment took off after she participated in a talent competition held at a Manhattan homosexual bar, where she won $50 and a complimentary dinner as the prize. Record labels and celebrities took notice of her performance, and she soon had bookings for events all around Greenwich. Funny Girl, a musical that was largely based on the life of vaudeville comedian Fanny Brice, marked Streisand’s Broadway debut.
