“No more talent than a butterfly’s fart”: Barbra Streisand Was Humiliated By Co-star Who Later Paid $5000 To Go To Her Malibu Concert
With a career spanning more than six decades and success in a variety of entertainment-related industries, actress and singer Barbra Streisand is considered one of the industry’s most successful artists. The performer is among the select handful to receive an EGOT award.
Under Gene Kelly’s direction, the actress starred in the 1969 American musical romantic comedy film Hello, Dolly!, which was adapted from Thornton Wilder’s play The Matchmaker. The film was based on a Broadway production of the same name that debuted in 1964. In the film, which wasn’t exactly a commercial hit but starred Walter Matthau, Michael Crawford, Danny Lockin, and others, Streisand talked candidly about how her co-star made her feel uncomfortable on the sets.
Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau disliked each other
According to a report by CBS News, the actor Walter Matthau, who starred with Barbra Streisand in Hello, Dolly hated her as she was running the show. He called her Miss Ptomaine. The reports said,
“He had just won an Oscar for ‘The Fortune Cookie.’ She was running the show. She was telling the director, Gene Kelly, how to direct that movie. Walter Matthau went to the head of the studio, Richard Zanuck, and Zanuck said, ‘I’d love to help you, but this is not ‘Hello, Walter’ we’re making.’ “
According to the Barbra Streisand, the actor had refused to be in the same room with the actress even though she was playing his love interest in the movie except when they were filming. He quotes,
“I told her to stop directing the f***ing picture, which she took exception to, and there was a blow-up in which I also told her she was a pip-squeak who didn’t have the talent of a butterfly’s fart.”
Barbra explained her side of the story in 1983 when she said,
“Walter Matthau closed his eyes and started screaming: ‘Who does she think she is’? I’ve been in 30 movies and this is only her second. The first one hasn’t even come out yet, and does she think she’s directing? Who the hell does she think she is?’”
She continued that she couldn’t believe it, she had no defense so she stood there and felt so humiliated that she started to cry, and then she ran away. And what came out in the papers was Walter Matthau complaining about Barbra Streisand.
Walter Matthau spotted at Barbra Streisand’s concert in 1986
According to reports by Barbra Streisand, the actor along with his wife Carol Matthau were spotted at the artist’s One Voice concert in 1986.
According to IMDB, the actor was seen in the audience at the actress’ concert at her Malibu Ranch where the invitations were extended to guests who could pay $5000 per couple to help establish the Streisand Foundation, which eventually supports numerous charitable organizations.
There were at the time a lot of rumors about the actress and the director hated each other but they were untrue. The director’s widow, Patricia Ward Kelly, stated in Barbra Archives,
“Gene loved Barbra Streisand. And he felt that she was a tremendous asset and a great actor. He went to his buddy, Willie Wyler, and asked, ‘What’s she like?’ And Wyler said, ‘She’s great but she just knows what she wants.’ And that worked for Gene, because that was Gene.”
She continued, “He had great respect for her, and he said she had this innate curiosity. She would ask all the questions, but she would learn, and she would remember.”
In her memoir My Name is Barbra, she wrote that even after all these years, she is still hurt by the insults and can’t quite believe the praise before adding that this is her legacy.
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