Barbara Joan Barbra Streisand born April 24 1942 is an American singer actress and director With a career spanning over six decades she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment and is among the few performers awarded an Emmy Grammy Oscar and Tony EGOT Streisand began her career by performing in nightclubs and Broadway theaters in the early 1960s Following her guest appearances on various television shows she signed to Columbia Records insisting that she retain full artistic control and accepting lower pay in exchange an arrangement that continued throughout her career and released her debut The Barbra Streisand Album 1963 which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year Throughout her recording career Streisand has topped the US Billboard 200 chart with 11 albumsa record for a womanincluding People 1964 The Way We Were 1974 Guilty 1980 and The Broadway Album 1985 She also achieved five numberone singles on the US Billboard Hot 100The Way We Were Evergreen You Dont Bring Me Flowers No More Tears Enough Is Enough and Woman in Love Following her established recording success in the 1960s Streisand ventured into film by the end of that decade She starred in the critically acclaimed Funny Girl 1968 for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress Additional fame followed with films including the extravagant musical Hello Dolly 1969 the screwball comedy Whats Up Doc 1972 and the romantic drama The Way We Were 1973 Streisand won a second Academy Award for writing the love theme from A Star Is Born 1976 the first woman to be honored as a composer With the release of Yentl 1983 Streisand became the first woman to write produce direct and star in a major studio film The film won an Oscar for Best Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical Streisand also received the Golden Globe Award for Best Director becoming the first and for 37 years the only woman to win that award Streisand later directed The Prince of Tides 1991 and The Mirror Has Two Faces 1996 With sales exceeding 150 million records worldwide Streisand is one of the bestselling recording artists of all time According to the Recording Industry Association of America RIAA she is the second highestcertified female artist in the United States with 685 million certified album units Billboard ranked Streisand as the greatest female artist on the Billboard 200 chart and the top Adult Contemporary female artist of all time Her accolades include two Academy Awards 10 Grammy Awards including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Grammy Legend Award five Emmy Awards four Peabody Awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom and nine Golden Globes