How Barbra Streisand Was ‘Hurt’ After Being Left Out of the Oscar Race for Best Director — Twice 

When the Oscar nominations come out, they usually bring with them a lot of big feelings. This year brings many history-making nominations, including Lily Gladstone as the first Indian actress to be nominated for an Oscar. Many other stars are also hoping to hear their name called for their first acting Oscars, including America Ferrera, Emily Blunt, Sterling K. Brown, Jeffrey Wright and Cillian Murphy.

This year, one third of the 2024 nominees are women, which is more than the previous three years. Among the nominees is Justine Triet for Best Director for Anatomy of a Fall. Triet, 45, is one of eight women ever to be nominated for the category; three winners include Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 for Hurt LockerChloé Zhao in 2020 for Nomadland and Jane Campion 2021 for The power of the dog.

And yet, it’s the little girls who make the headlines. This year, Greta Gerwig — who is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay — is not nominated for Best Director. But she was far from alone – Barbra Streisand was also there.

The singer, 81, looks back in her memoirs when she was left out of the Oscar nominations for best director My name is Barbraand the sting still remains.

Cover of ‘My Name is Barbra’ by Barbra Streisand.

Amazon

When Streisand didn’t win Best Director for her now-classic 1983 Yentl, her muzzle literally made her sick. “I tried to put a brave face on it,” she writes. “But the truth is I was devastated. I had the flu and rarely get sick… Did they reject me because they didn’t like the movie? or was it because they didn’t like me?”

The omission made waves at the time, with some reviewers suggesting that the Academy didn’t nominate Streisand not because of the film’s merits, but because of her gender.

Trembling, romance and Elvis: All the biggest revelations from Barbra Streisand’s new memoir

Many industry players have taken sides. Lee Grant then told PEOPLE, “[Streisand] he really broke down the door for women with this, not just opened it.” Streisand writes that she couldn’t bring herself to attend the Academy Awards that year, so instead she stayed home and watched it on TV, noting that she was “touched ” to see protesters outside the theater standing up in her absence.

In 1992, Streisand’s film, Prince of Tides, was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Original Score. Streisand starred in and directed the romantic drama about a man (Nick Nolte) struggling with the trauma of his Southern childhood, but was again left out of the best director nominations that year.

Barbra Streisand on the set of the movie ‘Prince of Tides’ in 1991.

Columbia Pictures/Courtesy of the Everett Collection

“I proved to myself that I can direct a film with him Yentl, and after that whole experience, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it again,” writes Streisand. “I am not nominated [for The Prince of Tides] hurt even more.”

The history of women nominated for best director at the Oscars

At the 1992 awards show, host Billy Crystal sang a parody of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from Streisand’s 1969 film. Fun girl this caused her to miss out on a nomination, and Liza Minnelli and Shirley MacLaine both said Streisand was “the director we would most like to work with.”

Streisand won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1969 for her role as Fanny Brice in the film Fun girl and for Best Original Song in 1977 for “Evergreen,” which was featured in A star is born making her the first woman to win an Oscar for musical composition.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The first woman to win an Oscar for directing, however, was Kathryn Bigelow for Hurt Locker. Streisand announced the winners during the 2010 Academy Awards and wrote that while she “felt a little pain,” she “happily announced [Bigelow’s] Name.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education