Barbra Streisand Barbra Streisand is one of the most influential people in theatre of all time. She has been in many shows and movies including Funny Girl and I Can Get It for You Wholesale, and has won Academy, Golden Globes, Grammys, Emmys, and Tony Awards. Her voice and charisma has inspired millions to go after their dreams of becoming actresses, actors, and singers. Barbra Joan Streisand was born on April 24, 1942 in Brooklyn, NYC, NY to Diana and Emanuel Streisand. Growing up, both of her parents worked in schools, her father a teacher, and her mom a secretary. Her father died when she was around 15 months old due to a complications after having an epileptic seizure. While Barbra was away at camp in the late 1940s, her mother remarried a used car salesman named Louis Kind, and Streisand was completely unaware that her mother was married - and pregnant. Her half sister, named Rosalind, was born in 1952. As a child, Streisand was very shy and describes her childhood as a painful experience. She often felt rejected by other kids because of her looks. Her stepfather was also emotionally abusive, and found no support from her mother, who thought Barbra was not pretty enough to make it in show business. Barbra went to school at Bais Yaakov School, and sang in the school choir. She also went to Erasmus Hall High School, where she met Neil Diamond, who she would collaborate with in the future. Before graduating from high school, Streisand traveled into New York City to study acting. She met Anita and Alan Miller at the age of 15, and made an agreement with the couple to babysit their children, and in return Alan would give her a scholarship to his acting school. She graduated from Erasmus High School at the age of 16, and was nu... ... middle of paper ... ...te on her face.”, but in the end, Ray Stark hired Streisand that very day. Sondheim soon dropped out of the show, and lyricist Bob Merrill took his place. The show starts to fall apart, and was temporarily shelved. When the show was finally ready, it opened in Boston, Massachusetts, but the was too long. The New York City opening was pushed back five weeks, and five songs were cut from the show. The show went through 17 previews, and finally opened on Broadway in March of 1964 and closed in July of 1967. The show went through a total 1,348 performances, and also played on London England’s West End in 1966. Streisand starred in the show in both countries, but had to drop out of the West End show after she became pregnant. There was also a national tour that took place in 1966, and it went through 30 states.The tour started in Pennsylvania, and ended in Wisconsin.
He was born in Palestine, Texas to the parentage of Clyde Burette Woodard and Marye Regina (McClung) Woodard at 9:45 AM at the Palestine Sanatarium. His parents lived in Elkhart, Texas where his father was the owner and operator of Woodard Cleaners and his mother, Bubbie, as he called her, was the owner and operator of a beauty shop.
Ruby Bridges was born on September 8, 1954, in Tylertown, Mississippi. When she lived in Mississippi her parents shared cropped lands with her grandparents. When Ruby was six years old her mom thought about her education and wanted to move. In 1960 Abon and lucille (Ruby’s parents) decided to move for a better change in life. Ruby and her parents moved to a good part of town where there would be less discrimination and hate in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Moreover, she managed to get a lot of fame in the same movies in which she started off small. Another thing that we can draw on from her incredible career is the fact that she was able to diversify so much that her career span over a range of different genres including theater, film, music and others.
In the essay “Cultural Baggage” by Barbara Ehrenreich in The Norton Mix, Ehrenreich claims that she possesses no type of heritage. She goes on to explain that in her life, she never learned any specific cultural values, and that her family has always lived with borrowed traditions. She closes by stating that she is proud of her lack of heritage and believes that the world would be better off without culture. Having no cultural background is a well-developed and agreeable idea because of the number of people who come from mixed and confusing backgrounds, the complexity of a mixed family tree, and the changing times and their effect on traditions.
Shirley Temple was born on April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, California at 9:00 p.m - a time significant to her because it told her she would always have a bit of catching up to do if she wanted to be on time for dinner (Black 5). As the youngest child and only girl in her family of five, she was her mother’s pride and joy. She had two supportive parents, Gertrude and George, and two older brothers, Jack and George Junior. Gertrude Temple was a stay-at-home mom while George went to work as a bank teller, which played in Shirley’s favor when she needed someone to manage her money later in life (Blashfield 55). Gertrude Temple has been called the first stage mother (Blashfield 22) for good reason. Shirley Temple was acting before she could read, so her mother helped her memorize her lines. Temple’s mother served as her private costume designer, and never failed to make the young star’s performance her best yet, by encouraging her to “Sparkle, Shirley Sparkle!” (David 2).
Josephine Baker was born to Carrie McDonald, in St. Louis, MO on June 3, 1906. The situation on who Baker’s father is up to debate, it is rumored that Eddie Carson was her father. Eddie Carson was a drummer and had an entertainment act with Baker’s mother. At birth, Baker’s name was Freda Josephine McDonald. (Robinson) Later, Baker changed her name when she got into the entertainment business. In her youth, Baker was always poorly dressed and hungry; she started working at the age of 8 years old. (Whitaker 64) She worked as domestic help for a white family; the woman of the house was reportedly abusive to Baker. At the age of 12, Baker dropped out of school. After Baker dropped out of school, she became homeless. (Wood 241–318)
Ethel’s life before Broadway speaks a lot to her career on Broadway. Ethel Agnes Zimmerman was born in the neighborhood of Astoria in New York. Merman showed her love for singing as a child, singing in the church that she went to with her parents. Also, she went to Vaudeville shows to watch stars like Fanny Brice perform (Kenrick). Ethel’s parents believed that she should gain an education because show business was not a viable career choice, especially for women in this period. She became a stenographer but continued to sing as nightclubs in New York for extra money (Kenrick). When her performances began getting recognition and her name more acclaimed, she shortened it to Merman and began performing in the Vaudeville Circuit at the Palace Theater (PBS).
Lizzie Andrew Borden was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, where she spent her entire life, in July of 1860. She lived with her wealthy father, Andrew Borden, and step-mother, Abby Borden. Lewis shares that Lizzie's biological mother, Sarah, passed away when Lizzie was very young and Andrew remarried just a couple years later. The three of them, along with Lizzie's sister Emma who was ten years older, lived a mostly simple life together.
She is fairly new to the work world and has lied on her resume’ to get hired, and realizes that the job is harder than she first thought. All hope is not lost because Violet assures her that she can be trained. She ends up succeeding at the company and telling her husband she will not take him back after he comes back begging for her love again.
Celia Cruz the Queen of Salsa well known all over the world for her outstanding performances and her message of joy to life. She was an artist with over six decades of success making her an inspiration to the Latin community as well as the rest of the world. CELIA CRUZ LIFE
Singer/actress Lena Horne's primary occupation was nightclub entertaining, a profession she pursued successfully around the world for more than 60 years, from the 1930s to the 1990s. In conjunction with her club work, she also maintained a recording career that stretched from 1936 to 2000 and brought her three Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989; she appeared in 16 feature films and several shorts between 1938 and 1978; she performed occasionally on Broadway, including in her own Tony-winning one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music in 1981-1982; and she sang and acted on radio and television. Adding to the challenge of maintaining such a career was her position as an African-American facing discrimination personally and in her profession during a period of enormous social change in the U.S. Her first job in the 1930s was at the Cotton Club, where blacks could perform, but not be admitted as customers; by 1969, when she acted in the film Death of a Gunfighter, her character's marriage to a white man went unremarked in the script. Horne herself was a pivotal figure in the changing attitudes about race in the 20th century; her middle-class upbringing and musical training predisposed her to the popular music of her day, rather than the blues and jazz genres more commonly associated with African-Americans, and her photogenic looks were sufficiently close to Caucasian that frequently she was encouraged to try to "pass" for white, something she consistently refused to do. But her position in the middle of a social struggle enabled her to become a leader in that struggle, speaking out in favor of racial integration and raising money for civil rights causes. By the end of the century, she could look back at a life that was never short on conflict, but that could be seen ultimately as a triumph.
Born in New York 10/15/1907, in suburban Ridgewood, New Jersey. Finished high school at Riverdale Country School. Finished high school at Riverdale Country School.
Without a doubt there is one major performer that certainly stands out within our pop culture world. The name of this very famous American icon is, Dolly Parton. Dolly has surpassed any rags to riches story that ever lived. She has touched the lives of so many individuals over many decades through her many talents. Dolly started her career at a very young age and continued fulfilling her life endeavors through country music, pop music, and even acting. This American icon didn’t stop with just her talents, she also gave back to our society through charity, fundraising, and establishing her own theme park. Dolly Parton was brought up in a very poor family, however through much dedication she became the famous icon everyone idolized today.
Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832 to Bronson and Abba Alcott. Abba Alcott was
Aretha was born into a family that attended a Baptist church, with her father named, C.L Franklin, who was a Baptist preacher and gospel singer. Her mother was also a gospel singer and somehow there came to be reports that her mother had abandoned Aretha and her siblings, but she claims it to be all a lie (“CNN”). She was the fourth of five children, and lost her mother in 1952, a few years after her parents had gotten divorced.