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Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
In a thoughtful and heartfelt speech, Barbra Streisand accepted the SAG Life Achievement Award on Saturday, paying tribute to the industry’s roots and extolling her undying passion for the craft.
“For a couple of hours people could sit in a theater and escape from their own problems. What idea! Moving pictures on a screen,” she said in comments that followed a nearly minute-long standing ovation as he took the stage.
“I can’t help but think about the people who built this industry. Ironically, they were also escaping their own problems,” she continued, in a contemplative but forceful tone. Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer and the four Warner brothers (all of them Jews who changed their names when they came to the United States, Streisand noted) “were fleeing all the prejudices they faced in Eastern Europe, simply because of their religion. And they were dreamers too, like all of us here tonight. And now I dream of a world in which those prejudices are a thing of the past.”
The 81-year-old honoree also praised two Hollywood figures who played key roles in helping her branch out between singing and Broadway. “I was very lucky to have two brilliant men in my first film, funny girl: William Wyer, the director and his cinematographer, Harry Stradling,” Streisand recounted of the 1968 premiere. “These two men were extraordinary. They had no problem with a young woman who had opinions. I could suggest ideas for a scene to Willy and try out various lighting effects with Harry and they never, ever put me down. Looking back, they were really ahead of their time and that was fantastic. And, in fact, it set the tone for my entire career.”
Taking less time than the two hosts (Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper) who introduced her, Streisand covered some of the ground she did in her recently released memoir. my name is barbara. She recalled eating ice cream at her Brooklyn apartment and frequently going out to see movies, including Boys and dolls in 1955. The 25-cent ticket to that movie musical at Loews Kings offered a big dose of Hollywood glamor (“The sets! Oh my God, compared to our apartment, where my mother covered everything in plastic”), plus Marlon Brando. (“my first crush”).
After beginning her speech by noting that she has been a member of SAG for 60 years, Streisand came full circle at the end, celebrating the nature of acting and the still-energizing experience of seeing great performances. “I never went to college,” he said. “I always thought acting was my education.”
Praise for the recently released French film Une Belle Course (Driving Madeline) and its 95-year-old star, Line Renaud, Streisand said it showed “how you can make a deep connection with someone simply by telling the truth. He reminded me once again how much I love film and why we all strive to make the best films we can. And many people who have done that are sitting here tonight, in this room.” Addressing the actors and directors, he added: “I loved working with you, playing with you and inhabiting that wonderful magic of movies with you. Most of all, I want to thank you for giving me so much joy just seeing you all on the screen.”
The SAG honor joins a full list of professional honors for Streisand. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, a Kennedy Center Honor in 2008, an AFI Live Achievement Award in 2001, and a Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Golden Globes in 1999.
Streisand is an EGOT winner with two Oscars (Best Actress for funny girl in 1968 and Original Song for the love theme of A star has been born in 1977), four Emmy Awards, 10 Grammy Awards and a Tony Award for Star of the Decade in 1970. The latter came after nominations for the musicals I can get it for you wholesale in 1962 in her acting debut and originating the role of Fanny Brice in the stage version of funny girl in 1964.