Looking Back at 2008...
Courtesy of BarbraTimeless.com
May
Bergman Tribute |
June
Beatty Tribute |
September
Obama Benefit |
September
Foster Tribute |
December
Kennedy Center Honor |
(Dec 1, 2008) - Career-wise, this past
year served as a respite for Barbra. She spent most of 2008
on the Obama campaign trail and on the celebrity tribute
circuit. Barbra's greatest accolade , short of winning an
Oscar, came in December when she was awarded a long overdue
Kennedy Center Honor. Though Barbra did not release any new
projects in 2008, the year ended on another high note with
her announcement a forthcoming new album.
February:
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The year's
first campaign event in which Barbra would participate
occurred at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles.
Barbra was on hand to introduce Senator Hillary Clinton
at a campaign event. Prior to Barack Obama winning the
democratic nomination for president, Barbra initially
threw her support behind Hillary Clinton. During the
event in February, Barbra said, "When I introduced
Hillary at the Aids Project LA Gala back in 1994, she
had just finished her first year as First Lady. I had
acknowledged during that speech the likelihood that
someday Hillary Clinton would be sitting in the oval
office. Now almost 15 years later, we no longer need to
imagine it…that moment is here."
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March: |
Barbra
opened up her home on March 1 for an exclusive
fundraiser supporting the eco-friendly group,
Waterkeeper Alliance. Environmentalist Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr. was on hand to lend support.
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April: |
Barbra's
philanthropic efforts made headlines when she endowed
the Los Angeles Cedars-Sinai hospital's women's heart
center with a $5 million grant.
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May: |
Barbra made a personal appearance
to honor her friends and long time musical
collaborators, Marilyn and Alan Bergman at their ASCAP
tribute in Beverly Hills.
One of Barbra's
greatest directors,
Sydney Pollack,
passed away. Pollack directed Barbra to her
greatest
dramatic performance (and her second Best Actress
nomination) in the film, "The Way We Were." In a
statement released by Barbra, she said,
"He knew how to tell a
love story. He was a great actor's director because he
was a great actor. And he was a very good friend,
someone I even shared secrets with."
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June: |
At
the American Film Institute's tribute to
Warren Beatty,
Barbra sent a video-taped message to honor the occasion.
The most memorable moments of the evening came when both
Barbra and former Senator George McGovern shared
memories of the historic Los Angeles Forum fundraiser
back in 1972. Barbra spoke of how life in America might
have turned out better had McGovern won the election.
She then introduced McGovern to the AFI audience.
McGovern, not surprisingly, wholeheartedly agreed with
her comments. The AFI tribute was broadcast in July.
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September: |
In
Beverly Hills, Barbra gave her only live performance of
the year. The occasion was a fundraiser for
Barack Obama
on September 16. Following her rendition of "When the
Sun Comes Out," Barbra introduced her candidate. Barack
Obama thanked Barbra by calling her "one of the
greatest singers of our generation." With economic
turmoil commanding daily headlines, the lavish event was
intentionally kept private. No official media footage
from this historic event was released.
Barbra charged up her video camera once again to tape a
tribute for music producer
David Foster.
During her taped message, Barbra thanked Foster for
"spending some of your musical life with me." The
Streisand tribute was shown to those in attendance
during the September event at the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay
hotel. Viewers at home got their chance to see it during
the PBS broadcast in December.
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October: |
Barbra and
James attended the Hollywood premiere of Josh Brolin's
new Oliver Stone biopic, "W."
It was an evening of fun and relaxation as Barbra and
James attended a post season baseball game at
Dodger Stadium.
A sixth inning glimpse of the Brolins enjoying the
festivities was broadcast around the country courtesy of
Fox Sports.
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November: |
Barbra hit the airwaves in a pre-election
media blitz.
She did a voiceover for a television public service
announcement supporting the non-partisan group,
Women's Voices, Women Vote. Shortly thereafter,
Barbra participated in a series of live radio call-ins,
encouraging people to vote, and to support her
candidate.
During one of her many pre-election day radio call-ins,
Barbra announced that she will begin recording a
new album
before year's end. The project will team Barbra with
contemporary jazz songstress Diana Krall.
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December: |
Her
Academy Awards notwithstanding, perhaps the greatest
award Barbra Streisand has ever received was the
Kennedy Center
Honor.
The event took place on December 6 during a ceremony at
the State Department in Washington, D.C. Politics was
put aside momentarily when President George W. Bush
welcomed one of his most outspoken critics to the White
House in a ceremony honoring the Kennedy Center
recipients the following day. In what became known as
The
Kiss Seen 'Round the World,
video footage of Barbra's meeting with the president was
broadcast by nearly every national and international
media outlet. The irony of her meeting with President
Bush was not lost on Barbra. In her blog she wrote,
"I guess in some small way, he and I proved that we
could agree to disagree, and, for that weekend, art
transcended politics." |
Sadly, we lost
several notable individuals this year, each having had a
meaningful association with Barbra Streisand's career.
Johnny Grant,
the honorary "Mayor of Hollywood" (who hosted the
Brolins at Jim's Hollywood Star ceremony), died in
January. He was a friend of the Streisand fan community.
Dwight Hemion,
frequent Streisand television collaborator and director
of "My Name Is Barbra," passed away in February.
Sydney Pollack,
who directed Barbra in "The Way We Were" (her most
successful and memorable dramatic film role) left us in
May.
George Carlin,
who played "Eddie" in "The Prince of Tides," died
unexpectedly in June. In July, record producer
Mike Berniker
passed away. He was the man who set the template for
Barbra's early recording career, producing Barbra's
first three solo albums and the studio version of
"People." In 1996, Mike shared his memories of those
extraordinary years with many of us who attended the New
York fan reunion. Sadly in September,
Paul Newman
died. He was a founding partner with Barbra at "First
Artists" and like Barbra, a steadfast philanthropist and
political activist. And finally, as 2008 drew to a
close, we got word of the death of veteran character
actor
Paul Benedict,
who went on location with Barbra to film one of the most
memorable sequences in "Up the Sandbox."
A very special thank you to
BarbraTimeless.com for the usage of this great report.
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