Banana Republic

. As of 2005, her US album sales rank her as the top-selling female recording artist in the US.
. In 1995 she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
. Among her many awards are two Oscars, six Emmys, eleven Golden Globes, ten Grammys, a Tony award, two Cable Ace awards, the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as a number of other awards.
. This "grand slam" as an honoree has never been duplicated by any other performer in history.

It has also recently opened stores in Tokyo, Japan. Over the years, Streisand has been the recipient of an award in every medium she has worked in. Today the company operates nearly 400 Banana Republic stores in the United States (including Puerto Rico), and approximately 25 stores in Canada. Streisand is considered a favorite icon to some in the gay community — some of her earliest performances were at gay clubs, her son Jason is openly gay, and in 1992 she campaigned against Colorado's Amendment 2, which prevented cities or state government from extending equal civil rights protections to homosexuals. To set itself apart from Gap as a more upmarket brand, Banana Republic occasionally buys and refurbishes historic buildings for its retail locations. This was affectionately satirized by Mike Myers's "Linda Richman" series of sketches on Saturday Night Live, during one of which Streisand herself made a surprise appearance with Madonna and Roseanne. For a time, Banana Republic ate into Gap's consumer base. Streisand's strong, larger-than-life personality has made her an icon to some members of her fan base.

The unique tourist-oriented items, which arguably gave the brand its differentiation, were phased out. Streisand lost the suit and was ordered to pay the photographer's attorneys' fees.[2]. acquired Banana Republic in 1983, eventually rebranding it as a mainstream luxury clothing retailer. She attracted unfavorable attention for a 2003 lawsuit she filed against a photographer whose aerial photos documenting the California coast included an image of her Malibu estate. Gap Inc. Streisand is known for her outspoken liberal political views, and is a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party. As Banana Republic expanded its retail operation, it became known for the themed decoration in its stores, often featuring authentic elements, such as real Jeeps and foliage, as well as atmospheric elements, such as fog and steam. She briefly dated Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the early 1970s, had long-term relationships with hairdresser-turned-producer Jon Peters and tennis player Andre Agassi, and later married actor James Brolin in 1998.

Peterman catalog later satirized on Seinfeld. She was married to Elliott Gould from 1963 to 1971, with whom she had her only child, son Jason Gould (who later appeared as her character's son in The Prince of Tides). The company competed directly with the J.
. The majority of sales came from its eccentric catalog, which presented high-end and unique items with chatty, usually fictional, backstories from exotic locations, as well as more pedestrian high-volume products deliberately spiced up with a similar treatment. The film was very successful commercially and Streisand garnered positive reviews. The original Banana Republic, which began in 1978, was a two-store safari and travel-themed clothing company. In 2004, Streisand reappeared on the big screen in the comedy Meet the Fockers, playing opposite Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, and Robert DeNiro among others.

Founded in 1969, The Gap is a mid-scale specialty retailer, while Old Navy was launched in 1994 as a value chain. [1] Some claimed that her well-known uncompromising, tough behavior was to blame for the slight, while others felt that Hollywood was punishing her for being a woman, and if a man behaved the same way, he would have been given recognition. Banana Republic is a chain of "casual luxury" clothing stores owned by Gap Inc., which also operates The Gap, Old Navy, and Forth & Towne stores. There was more controversy when Prince of Tides received even more nominations, including Best Picture, but Streisand still was snubbed for Best Director.
. There was controversy when Yentl received five Academy Award nominations but none for the major categories of Best Picture, Actress, or Director. Steven Spielberg called Yentl a masterpiece, and many critics praised both it and Prince of Tides.

For Yentl (1983) she was producer, director, writer, and star, an experience she largely repeated for The Prince of Tides (1991). She has produced a number of her own films, setting up Barwood Films in 1972. When High Society magazine later published the original photos of her bare breasts, Streisand sued them. She quickly regretted the move and bought up all prints of the film, deleting the scene.

In 1970, she had a topless scene in The Owl and the Pussycat. Streisand's initial outing with First Artists, while not a huge commercial success, was the personal Up the Sandbox (1972). Along with Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier, Barbra Streisand formed First Artists Production Company in 1970 so these actors could secure properties and develop movie projects for themselves. Her second Academy Award was as composer of the song "Evergreen", from A Star Is Born (1976) and was the first time a woman had received this award (the film itself, though, was widely criticized as a vanity project).

She also starred in the original screwball comedies What's Up, Doc? (1972), with Ryan O'Neal, and For Pete's Sake (1974), and the hugely successful drama The Way We Were with Robert Redford. Her next two movies were also based on musicals, Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly! (1969) and Alan Jay Lerner's and Burton Lane's On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970), while her fourth film was based on the Broadway play The Owl and the Pussycat (1970). Her first film was a reprise of her Broadway hit, Funny Girl (1968), for which she won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actress, sharing it with Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter), the first time there was a tie in this Oscar category. Guilty Pleasures (called Guilty Too in the UK), a collaboration with Barry Gibb and a sequel album to their previous Guilty, was released worldwide in 2005.

Her most recent albums have been Christmas Memories (2001), a collection of somber holiday songs, and The Movie Album (2003), featuring famous movie themes and backed by a large symphony orchestra. At the end of the last millennium, she still was the number-one female singer in the United States, with at least 2 # 1 albums in each decade since she had started out. She later toured Australia with that programme, called Timeless, which was also released on a two-disc album by Columbia. On New Year's Eve 1999 she returned to the concert stage, scoring another personal triumph for giving the highest grossing single concert in Las Vegas history to date.

Barbra Streisand: The Concert, went on to be the top grossing concert of the year, earned 2 Emmy Awards, the prestigous Peabody Award, and the taped broadcast on HBO is to-date, the highest rated concert special in HBO's 30year history. Ticket prices ranged from $50 to $1,500 - making Streisand the highest paid concert performer in history. Streisand also hit the cover of every major magazine, in anticipation of what TIME MAGAZINE named, "The Music Event of the Century." The tour was one of the biggest all-media merchandise parlays in history. Tickets to the limited tour were sold out in under 1 hr.

In September 1993, Streisand made news again, announcing her first public concert tour in 27years. A year later, Streisand made an unusal comeback, landing a #1 Album, BACK TO BROADWAY, which was certified Platinum prior to release. A Concert Tour was suggested to her and she debated it for nearly 2 yrs, due to her immense stage fright. However, Streisand's music career was on hold.

Streisand later introduced Clinton at his Inauguration in 1992. Streisand's concert fundraising events helped propel Clinton into the spotlight and into office. She was again, proclaimed the most influential entertainer by the New York Times, for her relationship with President William Clinton. Around 1992, however, music success was not in Streisand's favor.

The movie was a box office hit, bringing in close to 100Million at the Box Office and was Nominated for 7 Academy Awards. At the same time, Ms Streisand presented her 2nd film as a director, THE PRINCE OF TIDES. A separate disc, entitled "Highlights from Just for the Record" featured two dozen tracks, including live material, greatest hits, and rarities, from her early recordings up to 1991. In 1991 she released a four-disc box set, entitled Just for the Record.

The album featured some songs reworked by Stephen Sondheim especially for this recording, was critically acclaimed, nominated as ALBUM OF THE YEAR and landed Streisand her 8th Grammy as Best Female Vocalist. This was an unexpected commercial success, holding the coveted #1 BillBoard position for 3 weeks straight, and being certified 3x Platinum. Streisand returned to her musical theater roots with 1985's The Broadway Album. In 1982, music critic Stephen Holden wrote that Streisand was "The most influential mainstream American pop singer since Frank Sinatra.".

When the 1970s ended, Streisand was named the most successful female singer in the US, with only Elvis Presley and The Beatles having sold more albums. During the 1970s she was also highly prominent in the pop charts, with number-one records like "The Way We Were", "Evergreen", "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" and "Woman In Love"; some of these came from soundtrack records to her films. Starting in 1969, Streisand tackled contemporary songwriters; she foundered on attempts to tackle rock, but finally found success with the pop and ballad-oriented, Richard Perry-produced Stoney End in 1971, whose Laura Nyro-written title track was a big hit. Beginning with My Name Is Barbra her albums were often medley-filled keepsakes of her television specials.

Her early works in the 1960s (her debut, The Second Barbra Streisand Album, The Third Album, My Name Is Barbra, etc.) are considered classic renditions of theatre and nightclub standards, including her famously ironic version of "Happy Days Are Here Again". Barbra Streisand has recorded more than 60 albums, almost all with the Columbia Records label.
. The first special, My Name Is Barbra (1965), is considered by many to be the best, and has been praised by critics and fans.

After some notable television guest appearances, Streisand built on her success with a number of television specials for CBS. Starting in 1962 Streisand also appeared on Broadway, first in a small but star-making role in the musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962) when she was still a teenager, and then as lead role Fanny Brice in Jule Styne's and Bob Merrill's Funny Girl (1964). Her recording success continued, and at one time, Streisand's first three albums appeared simultaneously on Billboard's pop albums Top Ten - an amazing feat considering it was at a time when rock and roll and The Beatles dominated the charts. She signed her first recording contract with Columbia Records in 1962 and her first album, The Barbra Streisand Album, won two Grammy Awards in 1963.

It was also at this time that she shortened her first name to Barbra to make it more distinctive. She originally had wanted to be an actress, and appeared in a number of Off-Off-Broadway productions, including one with then-aspiring actress Joan Rivers, but when her boyfriend Barry Dennen helped her shape a club act — first performed in a gay bar in Manhattan's Greenwich Village in 1960 — she became a big success as a singer. Following a music competition, she became a nightclub singer in her teens.
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She was educated at Beis Yakov School and then famed Erasmus Hall High School, where she graduated fourth in her class, and overlapped by a year future collaborator Neil Diamond. This criticism, many speculate, led to a lifelong insecurity about her appearance, despite enormous success in every facet of show business. Her well-intentioned mother did not encourage her daughter to pursue a show business career, opining that Barbara was not attractive enough. Her father died when she was only 15 months old, and she had a lifelong turbulent relationship with her stepfather.

She was born Barbara Joan Streisand in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York then moved to another area in Brooklyn. .
. Barbra Streisand (born April 24, 1942) is an iconic American singer, theatre and film actress, composer, and film producer and director.

Tony Special Award (1970). Funny Girl (1964), musical - Tony Nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962), musical - Tony Nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical.