Barbra Streisand Praises The “Dreamers” Who Built Hollywood In Heartfelt Acceptance Of SAG Career Honor
deadline.comIn a meditative and heartfelt speech, Barbra Streisand accepted the SAG Life Achievement Award on Saturday by paying tribute to the industry’s roots and extolling her abiding passion for the craft. “For a couple of hours people could sit in a theater and escape their own troubles – what an idea!
Moving pictures on a screen,” she said after a nearly minute-long standing ovation. “I can’t help but think back to the people who built this industry.
Ironically, they were also escaping their own troubles,” she continued. Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer and the four Warner Brothers (all of whom changed their last names when they came to America, Streisand noted) “were all fleeing the prejudice they faced in Eastern Europe, simply because of their religion.
And they were dreamers, too, like all of us here tonight. And now I dream of a world where such prejudice is a thing of the past.” The 81-year-old honoree also hailed two Hollywood figures who played outsized parts in her being able to branch out from singing and Broadway. “I was very lucky to have two brilliant men on my first film, Funny Girl: William Wyer, the director, and his cinematographer, Harry Stradling,” Streisand recounted of the 1968 release. “These two men were extraordinary.
Read more on deadline.com