BARBRA STREISAND: MY LIFE IN 10 Pictures

"IF I'D had a normal childhood, I probably wouldn't be who I am today,” confessed Barbara Joan Streisand, whose father died just 15 months after she was born. His passing led to a "very undisciplined life” where she found no supportin following her dreams as a poor girl in Brooklyn

“Nobody believed I could ever be a great actress and a singer except me. My mother laughed at my ambitions... I was always trying to prove to her that I was worthy of being somebody.” She did that and more racking up 50 gold albums and becoming one of the few people to ever win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. But Barbra, who turns 80 on April 24, has also achieved success as a mother to son Jason and wife to second husband James Brolin. “I know that to get the best out of people, you have to be kind and gentle and nurturing and caring,” she said.

“I wouldn't trade my life for anybody's. I like my life. I like what I've done. I like what I'm going to do.

1. 1962 UP FOR SALE Not only did 1 her Broadway debut in / Can Get It for You Wholesale make her a star, but it's where she met first husband Elliott Gould. I had to be a star. I never could have been in the chorus. I was the most hated girl on Broadway. I think that's why I married Elliott. He was the only one in the show who liked me [because] everyone expects you to slave in 70 plays before you make it.

2. 1968 FUNNY THING Though bringing her Oscar-winning turn in Funny Girl from stage to screen was the hardest work I've ever known, Barbra has admitted, I was always kind of lazy. On the one hand, I am - or I was - ambitious. On the other hand, if I was having a great love affair or something, I'd say, I don't want to do anything else.'I mean, searching for personal happiness was more important.