Streisand Talks About Judy Garland
Streisand plays the ultimate Jewish mama in her new comedy, “The Guilt Trip,” which I wouldn’t dream of paying to see. Yet I was fascinated to listen to this new interview with Babs on NPR. She revealed things I’d never heard. On her 1963 appearance with Judy Garland, she says: “I can remember it distinctly. … She was holding my hand and I thought, ‘Gee, she seems nervous.’ At that time, I wasn’t nervous. I was still very young, I think, about to do Funny Girl, and now, when I think back on it, I think, ‘Oh, my God, I know exactly what she’s feeling.’ Or, you know, the fears. It’s like, as you get older and people are kind of looking for you to fail more, I think — not people, not the audience — but, you know, critics or producers or whatever. And I just felt her. I felt her anxiety. … Part of me is much more relaxed than I’ve ever been, less frightened, less anxious. On the other hand, it’s a coming-of-age-thing, and she was much younger than I am, but there are things with careers. … I just understand the anxiety even though in a sense I’m calmer. It’s a dichotomy. It’s hard to explain. … You wonder, ‘Well, do I give it up? Do I retire? Or do I get more in before my time is up?'”
