Overview
The best-selling biographer of Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor tells the electrifying story of how Barbra Streisand transformed herself into the greatest star of her era, etching “an indelible portrait of the artist as a young woman” (Publishers Weekly).
In 1960, she was a seventeen-year-old Brooklyn kid with plenty of talent but no connections and certainly no money; her mother brought her soup to make sure she stayed fed as she took acting classes and scraped out a living. Just four years later, Barbra Streisand was the top-selling female recording artist in America and the star of one of Broadway’s biggest hits. Now the acclaimed Hollywood biographer William Mann chronicles that dizzying ascent, telling the riveting behind-the-scenes story of how Streisand and her team transformed her from an unknown dreamer into a worldwide superstar.
Drawing on the private papers of Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse, and interviewing scores of the friends and lovers who knew Barbara before she became Barbra, Mann recreates the vanished world of 1960s New York City and uncovers the truth behind the myths of her formative years. He shows us how Funny Girl was slowly altered, by Fosse and Robbins among others, from a Fanny Brice bio into a star-making vehicle for Streisand; takes us into the clubs and onto the set for her early nightclub and television appearances, including her torch-handing turn with Judy Garland; and introduces the canny marketing team whose strategies made her stardom seem inevitable. The Streisand who emerges is a revelation: a young woman who, for all her tough-skinned ambition, was surprisingly vulnerable in love.
Everyone who has felt outside the gate, as she once did, remembers a time when the newness and difference of Barbra Streisand changed everything and rewrote all the rules. In Hello, Gorgeous, Mann incisively illuminates the woman before she became the icon and pays tribute to one of the world’s most beloved performers.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
In previous biographies, William J. Mann has chronicled the lives of Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn, two talented actresses whose riveting beauty seemed to ensure their fame. With Hello, Gorgeous, he turns his attention to Barbra Streisand, who has been described impolitely as an awkward ugly duckling who gate-crashed her way to fame. That image, which Barbra herself reinforced with her early choice of roles, conceals her multiple talents, her extraordinary drive, and her complexity. In this full-bodied (656-page) exploration of Streisand's early years, Mann describes the rise of the Brooklyn-born singer who began her career in "off-off-off Broadway" productions and small gay Greenwich Village nightclubs. A fascinating biography that tells us how Barbara became Barbra.
The New York Times Book Review
…little of the fact and anecdote in Mann's 500 pages of text is new. But he has pored over previous books…and hundreds of clippings, done a few dozen interviews, delved deeply into the supporting cast and locales, and written a novelized biography notable for its breadth of detail and fair-mindedness.—James Gavin
The Washington Post
It's helpful to the uninitiated that Mann…once counted himself among the uninitiated. He approaches his work not as a starry-eyed super fan, but as a curious and meticulous journalist, one who is appropriately complimentary of Streisand but also candid about her shortcomings. This gives him the proper voice to relay what is essentially a recap of the era during which she proved that she was, as the Funny Girl song goes, a comer: the period between the winter of 1960 and the spring of 1964, when she changed from pimply, ambitious teen into Tony Award-winning Broadway star and enormously successful recording artist.—Jen Chaney
Publishers Weekly
Bestselling biographer Mann (of Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor) chronicles the dazzling series of events as Streisand “gate-crashed her way to fame.” Mann tightens the focus in this hefty volume to just the early, formative years of her career, choosing 1964 as his cutoff point. Beginning with her 1960 acting classes at age 17 and her friends then, he traces her journey as a performer. Boyfriend Barré Dennen steered her away from acting into singing, giving her an education on the great female vocalists and helping her develop a club act. After winning contests at a gay Greenwich Village club, she changed her name from Barbara to Barbra (to become “the only Barbra in the world”). Her nightclub performances “displayed the raw power of Piaf,” and word spread. After her TV debut on The Tonight Show, she arrived on Broadway in 1962 in I Can Get It for You Wholesale, followed by Funny Girl two years later. The marketing of Streisand and the men in her life are key themes throughout. Combining extensive interviews (some anonymous) and exhaustive archival research, Mann balances intimate personal details with audience reactions and critical acclaim to etch an indelible portrait of the artist as a young woman. 16-page and 8-page b&w photo inserts. Agent: Malaga Baldi, Baldi Agency. (Oct. 9)From the Publisher
"Trying to figure out the Barbra Streisand mystique is no easy task, but Mann expertly captures the launch of her remarkable career in the early 1960s when a unique 'star was born.' Mann's meticulous research and insightful analysis go deeper than any previous biography ..."-USA Today "Mann, who has written bios of Katherine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor, has found another great subject here, and he offers up many new tidbits about Streisand's early life: details of her first affair, with a bisexual actor; her rejecting moth's reaction to seeing her onstage for the first time; and some ruminations about those 3-inch nails."—People Magazine "[An] excellent new work ...One can only put down HELLO, GORGEOUS with renewed appreciation for Barbra’s single-mindedness, and with some glimpse of her inner struggle."
-Liz Smith, syndicated columnist "Notable for its breadth of detail and fair-mindedness . . . Mann vividly evokes the atmosphere of Streisand's New York." —The New York Times Book Review "Mann depicts not just her ferocious ambition and equally fierce insecurities, but also the people and strategies that enabled her rise. With many of those acolytes and assistants as sources, Mann provides an intimate, gossipy and sympathetic accounts of early Streisand." —The Forward "In his masterful book, Mann captures one of the most fully realized pictures of the multi-hyphenate superstar to date. . . . Many books have been written about Streisand but few, if any, put readers as close to the subject as Mann does."—The Miami Herald "[A] surprisingly suspenseful and masterfully paced biography."
—Kirkus (starred) "Streisand fans will come away feeling they’ve had a ringside seat at her early career, and they will leave the show applauding ."
—Booklist "A compelling, detailed look at the rise of the multitalented Streisand from 17-year-old unknown to chart-topping singer and Broadway star . Highly recommended for fans of Streisand, biographies, and theater."
-Library Journal "Combining extensive interviews (some anonymous) and exhaustive archival research, Mann balances intimate personal details with audience reactions and critical acclaim to etch an indelible portrait of the artist as a young woman ."
-Publishers Weekly