At 82, Barbra Streisand Revealed She's ‘Lazy’ & Explained Why She Won't Make Movies Anymore

Apr 26, 2024 by apost team

Barbra Streisand is an absolute legend in the entertainment industry. One of the few entertainers to have been awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award (EGOT), Streisand can do it all. 

After getting her start by performing in nightclubs and on Broadway in the 1960s, she soon transitioned to film. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her iconic portrayal of Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl" in 1968. She continued to succeed in Hollywood, both musically and in acting, even winning a second Oscar for her work composing music for the 1976 version of "A Star Is Born." At 82, Streisand is still a force to be reckoned with.

However, her love life is one aspect that isn't in the public eye as much as her career. She was married to actor Elliott Gould for much of the 1960s, and the couple has a son, actor Jason Gould. Streisand and Jason appeared as mother and son in "The Prince of Tides."

After divorcing Gould in the early 1970s, Streisand went on to have a couple of other relationships with people such as Don Johnson, Richard Gere and Andre Agassi over the next couple of decades. However, on July 1, 1998, Streisand married actor James Brolin, and they have since stood the test of time. 

Although Streisand has been revered as an entertainment icon for a long time, she has since stopped acting in films. Keep reading to learn more about Streisand and the reason why she might not appear in any more new films moving forward. 

Streisand was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 24, 1942. She is the daughter of Diana Ida, a woman who once considered a career in music, and Emanuel Streisand, a high school teacher. He met Ida at the school where he worked, where she was a school secretary.

Sadly, Streisand lost her father at a very young age, as he passed away just a few months after her 1st birthday from an epileptic seizure. The loss was devastating for the family and something that Streisand had to grieve for many years to come, especially once she understood the gravity of not having a father like many of her classmates.

As a child, Streisand had big hopes and dreams. She aspired to be someone famous one day. While many people would enjoy the hustle and bustle of New York, Streisand wanted to stray away from Brooklyn and hopefully move somewhere where she could make something of herself. She was known around the neighborhood as the girl that could sing as she always had a beautiful voice.

While Streisand is a talent recognized around the world, she had very humble beginnings. Her singing debut was at a PTA assembly. She went on to sing at weddings and summer camp and slowly started to work on finding a way to be more professional with her musical gift. 

Streisand has been hailed as one of the biggest and most talented living entertainers today. She has been acknowledged as a woman of power on many occasions. In 2023, she was honored with the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award, an award given to women who have taken on leadership roles and positively impacted many people's lives worldwide. 

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Although she’s an ultimate entertainer, the EGOT-winning actress revealed in a People magazine interview that she might not have the steam left to create another movie. According to her, it “gets exhausting” to come up with one only for it to not happen. 

"If I could have made my movies, I never would’ve written a book. I had such good movies to make, meaning they were about things I cared about, very interesting subjects that… Why did I only make 19 movies in my lifetime? I had many movies that I wanted to make, and then I get lazy," told the publication. "I don’t know. It’s complicated, but I am complicated, I guess… I get lazy. Bette Davis made 80 movies. I made 19. She’s a wonderful actress and she liked working. I like time off." 

In 2023, Streisand released her memoir, “My Name Is Barbra,” which instantly became a New York Times Best-selling book. The book contained anecdotes from her career, her life behind the camera, and her realizations in life as she has gotten older. 

Apparently, it was not the first time that Streisand expressed her decision to take time off from entertainment. In an interview with The New Yorker in 2018, she said she enjoys life with her husband and family. 

“I like real life, you know? I like being in real life, and I love my garden and my dogs and my husband and my son and my widening family, because my daughter-in-law is going to have a baby. My stepson, you know?” she said in 2018. 

Brolin and Streisand enjoy their time together as parents and grandparents to a well-loved blended family. When they tied the knot in 1998, Streisand served as a stepmother and grandmother to Brolin’s four children and their respective children, while Brolin served as a stepfather to Streisand’s only child, Jason. 

Are you a fan of Barbra Streisand? What can you say about her decision to stop making movies? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends and other Barbra Streisand fans out there!