Her own mother didn’t think she was “pretty enough” for an acting career; her charismatic nose and slight silver look brought her a lot of malice as a young star (including “anteater”, “seasick ferret”). But Barbra Streisand (81, 2 Oscars, 10 Grammys) became a megastar – and a men’s magnet!
In her biography “ My Name Is Barbra” (992 pages, available in English since November 7th), the otherwise notoriously private artist (worth around 400 million dollars) unpacks sparkling flirtations and fast-paced love affairs. Hollywood womanizer Marlon Brando († 80) wanted to do her laundry directly (BILD reported), Don Johnson (73) was allowed to unwrap it as a Christmas present and Andre Agassi (53) conquered Barbra in one fell swoop…
Barbara Streisand 1970 in “The Owl and the Kitten”
Streisand on her feminine appeal: “After ‘Funny Girl,’ my appearance was described as strange for years. It was true, I was different. But eventually I grew into my face.” AND: Her self-confidence grew with her fame! “I believe the world reflects how we perceive ourselves. When a woman feels beautiful, the world perceives her as beautiful.”
She “felt instinctively drawn” to a number of admirers. She writes of a “strong connection to certain men.” “I felt that Brando, and it’s happened a few other times in my life.”
Your explanation? “It could be the pheromones, or maybe it’s actually an electrical voltage between two individuals.”
The encounters were definitely electrifying…
1966 – MARLON BRANDO
She (then 24) met him (then 42) at a party in 1966. At the time, Streisand was married to actor Elliott Gould (now 85, divorced in 1971), and had their son Jason (now 56) at the end of the same year. And Brando had his beautiful wife Tarita Teriipaia (now 81, Polynesian dancer, divorced in 1972) with him that evening.
Nevertheless, the duo felt magnetically attracted and became entangled in a flirtation that lasted for hours!
Streisand writes: “About three hours into the conversation, he looked me in the eyes and said, ‘I’d like to f*ck you.’ I was amazed. ‘That sounds terrible,’ I replied. After a moment of thought, he said, ‘Okay. Then I would like to go to a museum with you.’”
Megastar Marlon Brando flirted heavily with Barbra Streisand – and clearly stated his sexual interest!
THUS he hit the bull’s eye with Barbra: “That’s very romantic. I would like that,” she said to Brando. “He had touched on one of my fantasies… going through a museum with someone I was very attracted to and looking at great art… exploring it together. Then I remembered his wife in the other room. ‘What about Tarita? Why did you marry her?’ Marlon and I didn’t mince words.”
The Hollywood heartthrob looked towards the other room and explained: “She’s like a ripe piece of fruit.” Streisand said: “I knew exactly what he meant. She was seductive, but was that enough? We talked about marriage…relationships. And then out of the blue he said something that shocked me. ‘I don’t think you’ll be with Elliott much longer.'”
His explanation? “He doesn’t look good enough for you.”
Barbra Streisand wrote her memoirs (by hand!) for over ten years, and the English edition has been available since November 7th (from 28.99 euros)
1987 – DON JOHNSON
At the end of 1987, Streisand’s four-year relationship with film composer Richard Baskin (now 74) collapsed. “Once again I was alone…” But not for long!
Streisand describes: “I went to Aspen over Christmas and there, at a party, a man came up to me. The guy was tall and tanned with an easy grin (and great teeth). His name was Don Johnson and he was the hot heartthrob from the TV series ‘Miami Vice’. I have to admit, I’m very attracted to attractive men (Okay, so I’m shallow!). It’s almost an aesthetic thing (…) like a work of art. I collect!”
After a short conversation, he took her by the arm and led her to a more private corner. Streisand enthuses: “I liked the way he took the initiative.”
Barbra Streisand spent a whirlwind few months with “Miami Vice” star Don Johnson. But he seemed unable to talk about problems and feelings: “Instead of talking about it, he became cold, suspicious and angry.”
And Don Johnson wooed her in every way: “He sent me flowers and called. He seemed caring and sensitive. Completely different from his ‘bad boy’ image. And he could be very romantic. I remember coming into the restaurant to meet him and he said ‘I looked at you and it made my heart sing’.”
Barbra Streisand enjoyed his attention like a spoiled teenager – something she hadn’t experienced: “I never went on dates as a teenager. So you could say I was making up for this missed time. I felt like a high school girl dating the football captain.”
But the pounding heart was soon followed by a headache.
“I had become close to Don very quickly, so I was disappointed that he couldn’t come to my birthday party in April. He was filming a film in Calgary. I flew there. A painful visit. I sensed that Don didn’t really want me there. He didn’t even want to listen to a demo of our song together. The duet was my idea. The session in the studio seemed to go well. But after that everything went wrong.”
Don Johnson (73) was briefly married to Melanie Griffith (66, left) in 1976. During his dalliance with Streisand, they apparently got back together, said YES again in 1989 and had daughter Dakota (34) in the same year!
Did the Hollywood beauty feel overshadowed by the music megastar? “Singing with me seemed to make Don insecure. And instead of talking about it, he became cold, suspicious and angry. Something I need in a relationship is honesty and communication…for someone to tell me how they feel. But Don didn’t want to talk about it, or anything that had to do with emotional issues at all.”
In response, Streisand also became increasingly withdrawn. “I was actually glad he had to go back to Florida. And then one day I called him in Miami and Melanie Griffith was on the phone. The fact that he didn’t have the courtesy to tell me the truth about her current relationship status was a problem for me. So that was it. The romance was over.”
“Today, 30 years later, we sometimes meet at mutual friends’ parties. We hug and he always whispers ‘I love you’ in my ear. I don’t say it back.”
1992 – ANDRE AGASSI
THEY were a couple that no one expected – not even Barbra Streisand herself!
“Brando was much older than me, but in one case the man was much younger… This connection was something I never would have predicted.”
She writes about the start of her athlete affair with Andre Agassi (53): “It started when Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas casino owner, told me he had a friend who ‘admired’ me… André Agassi. ,Who?’ Since I’m not interested in sports, I didn’t know him. Steve explained to me that he was a tennis champion playing at Wimbledon, so I said, ‘Wish him well from me.'”
The first serve was made – and Agassi stayed on the ball!
Barbra Streisand and tennis star Andre Agassi became close in 1992, and she cheered him on at Wimbledon in 1993. HE gushed about the interlude in his own biography: “Dating Barbra Streisand is like wearing hot lava! The public outcry only makes our connection even more interesting.”
“Then Andre called. He had just seen Lord of the Tides and wanted to tell me how much he enjoyed the film. We spoke for two hours. When he played at Wimbledon that summer of 1992, I managed to watch him on TV. I thought: He is at the peak of his abilities. He was also good looking and had nice teeth! When he won, I sent him a congratulatory telegram. Then came more phone calls and finally meetings. I liked talking to André… He was smart and what I found even more attractive was that he had an emotional wisdom beyond his years.”
Streisand doesn’t say a bad word about HIM – on the contrary: “It was a completely unexpected relationship and it was fun. After a dinner he sent me six dozen pink and yellow roses. He came out to my ranch. I remember playing tennis with him as a doubles partner (don’t laugh) and I pushed myself so hard that I tore my meniscus.”
The following summer she flew to London to see her lover play at Wimbledon: “The press was everywhere. So another game was on…avoiding the photographers. When Andre came over for dinner, his driver would hide him in the trunk (it was funny back then).”
For separation? No sound! What is known, however, is that Agassi already had a latent crush on Steffi Graf (54). Both were officially introduced to each other at the Wimbledon Ball in 1992 – and found great happiness together at the end of the 90s.
Andre Agassi had been raving about Steffi Graf since 1991, writing in his memoirs “Open”: “I was thunderstruck, absolutely enthralled by her modest grace, her natural beauty.” But it wasn’t until 1999 that they became a couple. The tennis legends have been married since 2001 and have two children
