Barbra Streisand facts: Singer's age, husband, children, net worth and more revealed

11 February 2021, 15:39 | Updated: 8 February 2022, 17:06

Barbra Streisand is one of the most iconic singers of all time.

There aren't many out there in the entertainment world who have won more plaudits and achieved more success than Barbra Streisand.

The American singer and actress has had a career spanning seven decades, and is one of the few entertainers who have been awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award (EGOT).

Barbra began her career by performing in nightclubs and Broadway theatres in the early 1960s, and after guest appearance on TV shows, she began a rercording career.

Barbra Streisand - Somewhere (Official Video)

Among her biggest hits include 'The Way We Were', 'Evergreen', 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers', 'No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)', and 'Woman in Love'.

By the end of the 1960s, she became a respected film actress, and in total has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling recording artists of all time.

1. Barbra Streisand age: How old is she and how big is her family?

   

   Barbra Streisand - Memory (Official Video)

   Barbra Streisand was born on April 24, 1942. She celebrated her 78th birthday in 2020.

   Born Barbara Joan Streisand in Brooklyn, New York, she was the daughter of Diana (born Ida Rosen) and Emanuel Streisand.

   Her mother was a soprano singer in her youth, but later became a school secretary. Her father was a high school teacher at the same school, where they first met.

   Read more: When Barry Gibb tenderly kissed Barbra Streisand live on stage at the 1981 Grammy Awards

   Streisand's family was Jewish, as her paternal grandparents emigrated from Galicia (Poland–Ukraine) and her maternal grandparents from the Russian Empire.

   In 1943, a few months after Streisand's first birthday, her father died suddenly at the age of 34 from complications from an epileptic seizure. The family almost fell into poverty as a result.

   She also has an older brother, Sheldon, and a half-sister, the singer Roslyn Kind, from her mother's remarriage to Louis Kind in 1949.

2. What are Barbra Streisand's biggest movies?

   After a successful music career in the 1960s, Streisand moved into film by the end of the decade.

   She starred in Funny Girl, for which she won the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.

   Read more: Barbra Streisand's 10 greatest songs

   Her other films include The Owl and the Pussycat, The Way We Were, and A Star Is Born, for which she received her second Academy Award as a composer.

   With 1983's Yentl, she became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. It won an Oscar for Best Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the first (and still only) woman to win that award.

3. What is Barbra Streisand's net worth?

   According to Forbes, Barbra Streisand has a net worth of around $400 million as of 2018 (£313m).

4. Who is Barbra Streisand's husband?

   

   Streisand has been married twice. Her first husband was MASH actor Elliott Gould, and they were married from 1963 to 1971.

   In 1969 and 1970, she dated Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. She had a relationship with hairdresser and producer Jon Peters in 1974, and he went on to be her manager and producer.

   Read more: Richard E Grant breaks down in tears after Barbra Streisand replies to letter 47 years later

   Streisand also dated tennis legend Andre Agassi - who is 28 years her junior - in the early 1990s.

   Her second husband is actor James Brolin, whom she married in 1998.

5. Does Barbra Streisand have any children?

   

   Barbra Streisand has one child: her son Jason Gould, with first husband Elliott Gould.

   Jason Gould was born in 1966, and is an actor, director, producer, writer, and singer.

   Aged 21 in 1988, he came out as gay. Barbra said at the time: "I would never wish for my son to be anything but what he is. He is bright, kind, sensitive, caring, and a very conscientious and good person. He is a very gifted actor and filmmaker. What more could a parent ask for in their child? I have been truly blessed."

6. Why does she spell her name 'Barbra' rather than 'Barbara'?

   Streisand changed her name from 'Barbara' to 'Barbra' because, she said: "I hated the name, but I refused to change it."

   She later said: "Well, I was 18 and I wanted to be unique, but I didn't want to change my name because that was too false. You know, people were saying you could be Joanie Sands, or something like that. (My middle name is Joan.)

   "And I said, 'No, let's see, if I take out the 'a,' it's still 'Barbara,' but it's unique."