How Legends are Born, Part 1: The Inimitable Barbra Streisand

The role of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl requires the actress to sing, dance, and bemoan her unattractive looks while being incredibly vulnerable in love to the handsome Omar Sharif.

Apparently Barbra shined in this part on Broadway before it was made into a film. Barbra was raised in Brooklyn; a little Jewish girl who had her father's nose and an unbeatable singing voice coupled with a knack for making people laugh. Her performance as Fanny Brice in the film is a tour de force of magnetism and emotion, as the singer's fictional life is charted through her rise as a Ziegfeld Follie to superstar, which mirrors Barbra's own rise during this film.

Barbra rose from Broadway star to Oscar winner and must-have actress and singer in the blink of an eye, all while doing it her way. She is an unconventional but most certainly gorgeous beauty, who has the style and grace to pull off even the most ridiculous outfits (see left). In Funny Girl she makes the audience laugh and cry and feel every heartbreak along with her through her impeccable timing and perfect vocals.

She could have been just another one-off Oscar, but her talent could not be ignored and she was just recently honored by the Kennedy Center for a lifetime of achievement in every field she has tried. She even makes Yentl watchable through her beautiful voice.

Where would Barbra be without Fanny Brice? It is likely that she would still be a star, but she most likely would have broken out through singing rather than acting. If you haven't seen Funny Girl, it deserves a watch (or three), as it shows today's starlets that actual ability can get you places rather than just the simple showing of skin. From the moment she steps onto the screen and utters "Hello, Gorgeous" we are all with her, excited by her beauty and surprise, and even through her losses and gains throughout the movie, nothing can top the high of her allegedly live singing of "My Man" at the end. Legend goes that she pre-recorded all of the songs and lip-synced them on set but she convinced the producers to do a live take of that song and that was the take used in the film. If you've seen it, you can see the power and simultaneous restraint in the song, and if not, take a gander and re-appreciate how Barbra became Barbra.

All images found on Google Images.