Meeting Barbra

Despite her odd spelling name, she was born Barbara Joan Streisand and decided to drop an “A” as it would be quirky and noticeable. She was born on April 25 1942 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, then an Orthodox enclave. She gave an homage to that closed world in “Yentl”, where a young girl dresses as a man so she too can read the Torah and Talmud, the foundations of their faith. This article from My Jewish Learning gives a fuller understanding of their beliefs and identity.

It was “Funny Girl” based on the Vaudeville-Broadway-Hollywood legend Fanny Brice, a musical that allowed her to bridge her musical background into movies. The career comparisons are strong, but Barbra encouraged them, using Fanny as a mentor.

But it was “The Way We Were” with Robert Redford that catapulted into the Hollywood arena as a dramatic actress, because outside of the theme song she never sings in the movie at all. That transformation is striking because her Aries at the ten house of dreams and aspiration is totally intercepted, making of course her fourth house latent too.

Fake it to you make it

The eleventh house preponderance in Taurus explains how her plain looks resounded with women: her hair and wigs, her love of Victoriana romantic costumes and pastels, her nails, all the accessories to create the image of beauty even if one does have the actual goods. And of course Taurus rules the throat that she often adores with chokers and then there is her voice — beautiful and angelic when she is singing; it originally had a strong Yiddish New York accent which worked well in Hello, Dolly.

There is a movie I saw once though I don’t remember the name now of someone finding themselves in a private jet. He opens (I think this is Billy Krystal?) the drawers in the bathroom and sees rows upon rows of nail polish and it hits him — Barbra. We all know she loves nails (Saturn in Taurus).

While I do not know much about her, though I did have an economics professor who grew up with her in Brooklyn but he did not say much about her other than being a great fan. Based on this chart, she worked very hard to transform herself into an Hollywood leading lady with her big nose, and rather plain looks, no one believed she could be a movie star, but that part of fortune in the creative fifth house is undeniable: E.C. Matthews calls it the Sweet Smell of Success. Robert Redford in the The Way movie is right, not everyone can handle that kind of aggression and luckily she met someone who could in James Brolin.

Sweet Charity

A bowl setup for Streisand, on the resourceful side of the chart, obviously needing to give and help others. Alas she does not really do that, her political campaigns are not charity work, so she is missing the proverbial boat.

 On July 1, 1998, she married James Brolin to whom she had become engaged in May 1997. His Libra ascendant is latent in the fourth house, and it is true, we rarely hear a peep out of him, so there is no chance of him upstaging the Star and that has worked out well for them both.