My Name Is Barbra
Brooklyn Beginnings
Born April 24, 1942 in Brooklyn, NY. Father Emanuel, a schoolteacher, dies at 35 when Barbra is just 15 months old. Mother Diana remarries Louis Kind. Barbra finds surrogate family in neighbours.
The Teenage Dreamer
Age 14–15. Struggles with self-doubt and peer pressure, but dreams of becoming an actress. Performs in the school play Desk Set, playing the office vamp. Refuses to conform to others' expectations.
The Headshot
Age 16. Sends out her first headshot — unsmiling and unconventional. Reads Show Business magazine for opportunities. Is repeatedly told to change her name, nose and style. Refuses every time.
The Bon Soir
Age 18. Begins performing at the Bon Soir nightclub in Greenwich Village. Turns to singing to earn money while pursuing acting. Audiences are immediately captivated. Her reputation grows fast.
Miss Marmelstein
Age 19. Broadway debut in I Can Get It for You Wholesale. Fights to perform "Miss Marmelstein" in a rolling secretarial chair. Stops the show nightly. Receives a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress.
The Record Deal
Signs her first contract with Columbia Records. Label president Goddard Lieberson had initially resisted, but her talent won him over. This begins the longest continuous artist relationship in Columbia's history.
The First Album
Records The Barbra Streisand Album in just 3 days (Jan 23–25). Released Feb 25, 1963. Wins 3 Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best Female Vocal Performance, and Best Album Cover. She is only 20 years old.
My Name Is Barbra
Brooklyn Beginnings
Barbra is born April 24, 1942, in Brooklyn. Her father Emanuel, a beloved teacher, dies at just 35 when Barbra is 15 months old — from respiratory failure after a morphine injection given during an epileptic seizure. The family falls into near-poverty. Her mother Diana eventually remarries a man who is unkind to Barbra. Without a nurturing mother, Barbra finds warmth in neighbours and a local restaurant owner. This loss of her father becomes the defining emotional backdrop of her entire life.
The Teenage Dreamer
Barbra's early teens are marked by self-doubt and feeling like an outsider — but also by a fierce determination to become an actress. She performs in the school play Desk Set, playing a comic character with confidence beyond her years. She is told she doesn't "look the part," but refuses to accept that. This chapter shows how her sense of self was shaped early: she chose to stand out rather than fit in.
The Headshot
At 16, Barbra sends out her first headshot — deliberately unsmiling and unconventional. She reads performing arts magazines to find auditions. Industry insiders tell her to change her name, fix her nose, and soften her image. She refuses every suggestion. This chapter is a portrait of artistic identity: Barbra decides from the very start that she will succeed as herself, not as someone else's idea of a star.
The Bon Soir
At 18, Barbra begins performing at the Bon Soir nightclub in Greenwich Village. She originally wanted only to act, but singing was a way to make money. Audiences were immediately transfixed by her voice and personality. Her reputation grew quickly through word of mouth in New York's entertainment world. The Bon Soir buzz would eventually lead directly to her Columbia Records deal.
Miss Marmelstein
Barbra (age 19) auditions for I Can Get It for You Wholesale and lands the small role of Miss Marmelstein — a frumpy secretary — after being turned down for the ingénue part. She fights to perform her solo number in a rolling secretarial chair. The idea pays off spectacularly: she stops the show every night. She receives a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. This chapter shows her early instinct to trust her own creative choices.
The Record Deal
Barbra signs her first contract with Columbia Records. Label president Goddard Lieberson had initially been reluctant, finding her style unusual. But the momentum from her Broadway debut convinced him. The signing photo — with Lieberson, manager Marty Erlichman, and Dave Kapralik — captures this turning point. It begins what would become the longest continuous artist relationship in Columbia's history, lasting over six decades.
The First Album
The Barbra Streisand Album was recorded in just three sessions — January 23–25, 1963 — and released on February 25, 1963. It reached #8 on the Billboard charts and won three Grammy Awards: Album of the Year, Best Female Vocal Performance, and Best Album Cover. Barbra was just 20 years old. The chapter reveals her exacting artistic standards from the very start, and the extraordinary speed with which she went from Brooklyn girl to Grammy-winning recording artist.
- How old was Barbra when her father died, and how did that loss shape her childhood?
- What does the unsmiling headshot (Chapter 3) tell us about Barbra's personality?
- Why did Barbra start singing in nightclubs if she really wanted to be an actress?
- What was Miss Marmelstein, and why was the secretarial chair moment important?
- Name two people who were at Barbra's Columbia Records signing. What were their roles?
- How many Grammy Awards did The Barbra Streisand Album win? Name them.
- What is one theme you see repeated across all 7 chapters? Give an example.
- In your opinion, what was the single most important moment in these 7 chapters? Why?
One of the most important themes in Chapters 1–7 is Barbra's refusal to change herself to please others. Find an example of this theme in each chapter and write it below.
| Chapter | Title | How does Barbra refuse to change or stand her ground in this chapter? |
|---|---|---|
| Ch. 1 | Brooklyn Beginnings | |
| Ch. 2 | The Teenage Dreamer | |
| Ch. 3 | The Headshot | |
| Ch. 4 | The Bon Soir | |
| Ch. 5 | Miss Marmelstein | |
| Ch. 6 | The Record Deal | |
| Ch. 7 | The First Album |