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:        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."
 
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.
 
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.
 
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."
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.